Happy 100th Birthday, Ronald Blythe

A long time resident of Bottengoms Farm in Wormingford, Ronald Blythe wrote a weekly column entitled Word from Wormingford in the Church Times for many years, which were collected into books including A Parish Year.  A keen supporter of the society, he has been a passionate advocate for all that is good in the Dedham Vale and the wider rural areas of Suffolk and north Essex. He is best known for his book Akenfield, which chronicled changes to rural life in Suffolk between the 1880s and the 1960s, based on recollections of villagers in Charsfield and Debach.  This was later made in to a film in which he featured as the vicar.