Richard Maslen is a poet living in Blythburgh and writing poetry about and inspired by the local area
ISBN 978 0 9545094 5 3
(currently out of print)
Richard arrived permanently in East Suffolk in 1986, from Nottingham via Hertfordshire. Writing since 1953, working in the South Wales docks in the R.A.F. at night began his particular love of places, people and landscape.
He is represented in many anthologies, is a prizewinning poet and recently saw his poems featured on the South Bank in London during the London Art exhibition "The Art of Love". Among the poems chosen by the Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, was "Two Sisters" which featured on the walls of the gallery.
His work to date encompasses not only landscape but family life, love, spiritual matters and much more. His new collection "The Magnifying Glass" is quite different and, he hopes, surprising!
A Selection of Richard's Poems
Blythweb are pleased to have permission to publish here a selection of Richard Maslen’s recent poems that have been inspired by and are about the landscape around Blythburgh in the Blyth Valley. Some of the poems are accompanied by Richard's photographs.
Some Favourite Websites For October 2025:
The Southwold Railway Trust – Open days at the Southwold Railway Steamworks project
The Southwold Railway was a 3-foot gauge line running between Halesworth and Southwold, a distance of almost 9 miles. Opened in 1879 and closed in 1929, it is remembered for its tall-chimneyed steam engines. The Steamworks project aims to restore this line.
Chris Pretty Mountaineering – Rock Climbing/Mountaineering Instructor and International Mountain Leader
Chris aims to give you an experience which ensures you are taught to the highest national standards and to ensure that you actually learn the skills required to rock climb, trek, navigate and otherwise move around the mountainous environment autonomously. The teaching is delivered by an expert team who are tried and tested in both their personal skills and their ability to teach and ensure learning with an emphasis on personal progression.
Green Haven Holidays - Wheelwrights Cottage – Self Catering accommodation for up to three people + two dogs, in Rumburgh near Halesworth
Just 500 metres to the dog-friendly CAMRA village pub! This beamed cottage has been beautifully modernised to provide one-bedroom accommodation with kingsize bed, plus additional single bed if required. WiFi. Front garden plus rear courtyard with outdoor furniture. Parking for two cars. Pets welcome at no extra charge. Short breaks available. Close to Halesworth and within 20 minutes drive to Southwold on the Suffolk Heritage Coast.
Logs Logs Logs – Family Firm delivering kiln dried logs to Norfolk and Suffolk, including Norwich, Diss and Woodbridge
Logs available in tipper loads and bulk bags for wood burning stoves, open fires and pizza ovens. In addition supplying firewood in bulk bags to Essex, Cambridgeshire, London and beyond.
Juliet Penwarden Coaching – Juliet Penwarden Coaching - Horse riding and care
Juliet is an experienced and qualified coach who places a strong emphasis on harmony between horse and rider and takes great pleasure in helping partnerships progress, whatever their goals.