I read with great interest the report on the extraordinary Mark Catesby and his travels to America in the early 1700s.

It moved me to research him myself and here we have a citizen who is listed along side Christopher Columbus and Isaac Newton.
How can our own town council say it does not want to showcase him because they do not want to promote the work of just one artist. I'm assuming Gainsborough does not count as an artist then.

I wonder if any other town would celebrate Catesby, a member of the Royal Society, in such an understated way.

After all this is a man who risked his life to be the first to document and picture one of the last unexplored parts of the world and produced volumes of work that changed how we understood nature – surely he deserves more than a small meadow.

A statue, a permanent display of his work and his life in the town hall, whatever it is, something should be done.

So come on Sudbury – think of all those American tourists who would flock here; the beautiful display of his work that we could put up to impress visitors.

Few towns our size can lay claim to such a momentous man of his age. It is an insult to his achievements and a reflection on our inability to recognise them that he is not championed in Sudbury.

Joseph Scott

Waldingfield Road

Sudbury