Canon Brian Stevenson writes:

RONALD BLYTHE’s influence was not limited to the rural church or reader. His articles and books were greatly admired in city centres and elsewhere. Indeed, I was on the 214 bus from King’s Cross to Islington on Tuesday 17 January when I read his obituary in The Times. I shed a tear as we climbed the Pentonville Road. I was pleased to note that, in the Church Times obituary (Gazette, 20 January), his serpentine narrative and random rambling was touched upon. I tried to emulate his style in my parish-magazine articles and preaching, and felt that I was succeeding when I was accused of meandering. I once made a pilgrimage to Wormingford to see his pulpit and Bottengoms. As we left, a small aeroplane was taking off down a grass runway. He himself has now risen into the heavens.

Canon Adrian Copping adds: Ronald Blythe’s gentle, godly, and “priestly” presence is well described by your columnists Canon Angela Tilby and the Revd Dr Malcolm Guite (27 January). In my teenage years, I was a neighbour, only one field’s edge walk away from Bottengoms. We often met at the same Wormingford bus stop, when Ronald travelled to Colchester, or to London to meet his literary agent, and I went to school. On the bus together, he felt like a friend and was especially encouraging of my A-level English studies. Many years later, on seeking ordination, I wrote to tell him, and we exchanged memories of the shared joys of walking “by the river and through all the footpaths . . . in such a beautiful place”. His presence, as his writing, really did feel like a blessing.