THERE can be fewer greater delights than a lazy stroll down an English country lane on a sunny day blessed by a gentle breeze.

By this measure, artist Richard Thorn, who is based in the Teign Valley, must have had a wonderful life.

Not only has he tripped down these enchanted dreamways but he has had enough time to stand and stare at them – and then paint pictures of what he found.

And now, to cap it all, he has assembled a delightful compendium of these rural idylls and put them in a quite handsome volume for all to see – if they have £25 going spare.

Thorn is a homespun talent, having been put on the pastoral route to painting pleasure at Newton Abbot School of Art in the late ’60s.

Many of the potent images in this book – Down An English Lane, A Celebration of Rural England Through The Paintings of Richard Thorn (Halstar £24.99) – were created around England’s fairest county, although there were some straying sorties into the likes of Cornwall.

The diligent wanderer has been spoilt for choice in subject matter as Devon, apparently, has more miles of roadways/byways than any other county in the country and has captured the essence of them in a rich mix of mood, light and colour.