Cliveden, Cookham and Stanley Spencer

Fernlea, birthplace and childhood home of Stanley Spencer

11.5" x 8.5", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencil in Daler Rowney sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

[Some of the content of this post was first posted on my Making A Mark blog on 2nd May 2007. I've added sketches and content. I intend to list this post - like the last one - in a new summary on this blog "Travels with a Sketchbook in the south of England"]

Yesterday (the last day of April) was a glorious day - sunny and warm with a clear blue sky and excellent light which wasn't dazzling. Coming back from a meeting in Oxford, I decided to try and visit two places near the M4o that I'd been wanting to get to for some time, knowing full well that I'd do neither justice. This was very much a late afternoon 'scout round and decide how soon I want to come back if at all' visit!

First I visited the National Trust gardens at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire. These are located north of Maidenhead and near the Thames just west of Heathrow. The wisteria was in bloom and looked great but there didn't seem to be many flowers out - it appears to be mainly a landscape garden.

I did two sketches of the view from the Orangery Cafe and from the terrace at the back of the main house. Neither of them are up to much - mainly because I'd forgotten to sharpen my pencils in the sketching pencil case after my last trip out - and had forgotten to pack my sharpener on this trip. The sketch of the garden was supposed to be a double page soread hence the odd composition. Notice also the avoidance of much use of the colour green in the subsequent sketches (at top and bottom)!

I then travelled on to Cookham, which is on the River Thames betwen Maidenhead and Marlow in Berkshire. The Cookham Festival is on at present and finishes on May 7th.

I drew Fernlea, the birthplace and childhood home of Sir Stanley Spencer in the High Street (see top) before walking around the village to see various places which feature in his paintings. I now know where the gallery about him and his work is (and that it's currently being refurbished). I finished off by having dinner at The Ferry - and drew the diners.

Diners at "The Ferry", Cookham
11.5" x 17", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Links:

• National Trust - Cliveden, Taplow, Maidenhead, Buckinghamshire SL6 0JA
  Telephone: 01628 605069
• Wikipedia - Cliveden
• Cookham
• The Sir Stanley Spencer Gallery - in Cookham and currently being renovated