A Day in Cookham and encountering a fascinating artist for the first time.

20 Oct

A short break with some long standing friends in Marlow. We were taken for a visit to the characterful village of Cookham.

We parked up on Cookham Common which is a National Trust site.

A walk along the Thames towpath is always enjoyable and all the more so in benign Autumnal weather.

An eye catching nomenclature.

Apparently, this property was apparently being considered for purchase by Frank Lampard; the call of Merseyside must have been too strong to resist.

Just imagine parading down those stairways.

Leaving the towpath we walked through Churchgate.

Then into Holy Trinity Churchyard.

Holy Trinity, Cookham, is nestled in the east side of the village, a place famous for being the birthplace and residence of the British painter Stanley Spencer.

It was only a short walk to the Stanley Spencer Gallery where there are a variety of exhibitions of Spencer’s work each year.

It is a small gallery but well appointed.
The artist featured a disused phone box adjacent to the entrance.

Each exhibit was accompanied by explanatory texts and it soon became obvious that Stanley Spencer had a unique talent and a love of the natural world that he revered in and around the village.

A neighbourly exchange .
Adding to the bin – what we would call composting- after his First World War experience – he served in a non combative role – he introduced everyday materials in to his work,as exemplified by the corrugated,metal cover. Regarding such everyday items as naturally occurring.
This is Christ preaching to the villagers.

There is an unfinished mural in the gallery depicting Christ at the Cookham Regatta.

His adult life was troubled – a needless divorce, an unconsummated hasty second marriage which ended no sooner than it had begun. The article below throws some light on the effects of his relationships on his two daughters in particular.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4722278/We-could-have-been-happy.html

And one of his most attractive paintings below.

From the Gallery it was a short walk to the house of some friends of our friends! This house and gardens has links with Spencer but to our delight we were invited in for tea and biscuits and made friends with a lovely dog.

Our host also showed us around his recording studios – being a music fan I was fascinated and impressed. There were awards on the walls signifying some very successful popular song writing – this was one such.

“ Would I Lie to You”, by Charles and Eddie https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=jTUVlYZRr90&feature=share

At last I can say I’ve been in a recording studio,even if I never got to make a record!

It was a novel end to a great visit to Cookham.

3 Responses to “A Day in Cookham and encountering a fascinating artist for the first time.”

  1. Bernard 21/10/2022 at 17:51 #

    Looks an interesting place to visit!

    Reply
  2. slodown 21/10/2022 at 18:04 #

    Fascinating and sublime

    Reply
  3. John Regan 22/10/2022 at 01:05 #

    Great day out

    Reply

Leave a comment