An illustrated collection of Ronald Blythe’s regular weekly column on the back page of the Church Times, where, with a poet’s eye, he observes the comings and goings of the rural world he sees from his ancient farmhouse in Constable country.
Reviewed by Melissa Harrison in Slightly Foxed Issue 40.
Mellow Fruitfulness
MELISSA HARRISON
Gathered from his long-running weekly column in the Church Times, Ronald Blythe’s Wormingford books are an evocation of village life that, as a city-dweller, I find deeply comforting. To say that is to risk making his lovely miniatures sound twee or nostalgic, when in fact they are pragmatic about the changes that are happening in our countryside; what they offer, though, is a vision of life that has deep meaning, meaning created quite effortlessly from art and literature, the natural world and the kinship of neighbours . . .
Extract from Slightly Foxed Issue 40, Winter 2013
Mellow Fruitfulness
What do we lose when we become a nation of urbanites? A connection to nature, sometimes – though not necessarily. An awareness of the seasons, an understanding of the farming year; a sense of...
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