I have found myself drawn more and more to the writing of Ronald Blythe recently. Perhaps it’s the need to tune out of today’s world and immerse myself in the old England of Blythe and his contemporaries or maybe it serves as a reminder of the merits of gentle folk living a gentle life who understand the importance of nature connection and our allegiance, not domination to it.

Blythe is best known for Akenfield but in his diaries we find a man who stood tall in the company of other great nature writers such as his friends Richard Mabey and Roger Deakin. His combination of observations of local church life with the changing seasons of the countryside around his beloved home offer the reader a glimpse of how life can be lived if we really desire it.

But to think Blythe wrote picture postcard accounts of English life would be folly, he was a great watcher and listener who understood the physical realities of life working the land, his was an honest appraisal full of respect but not misplaced pity. He spent his life living alone writing about connections of all levels, he was a truly brilliant observer of people, nature and the elements and how they could and should work in tandem. Blythe was a gentle, intelligent man with an independent mind. His sense of nostalgia was grounded in realism and fact. Akenfield was a fine example of that and his subsequent diaries showed a man at peace with his lot.

Reading Blythe in a time of turmoil, division and greed makes his world all the more desirable. It is the easiest form of escapism because it costs nothing, Blythe’s great gift was to perfectly illustrate that which was around us if only we took the time to look. The key to a peaceful, happy life is to nurture and cherish the simple things nature, in particular, has to offer us. Blythe lived to a hundred years of age and close friends ensured he remained in his beloved home until the end. He was fortunate in that sense, he was keenly aware of how old age is looked upon, writing: ‘The old are cared for, surrounded with kindliness, and people are often interested in what they say; but they are not truly loved and they know it”.

Ronald Blythe’s diaries are a warm blanket, a welcome respite from the daily grind. A gentle reminder of how we can be and how much nicer our world could be if we so choose. His books contain lessons for us all and he was one of our greatest teachers.