The granddaughter of Letchworth master planner Barry Parker has welcomed the renewed attention around his work. This comes after the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation commissioned historian Dr Mervyn Miller to write the biography of the architect and planner who took his garden city designs around the world.
Barry Parker was an architect member of the Northern Art Workers Guild. He and his professional colleague Raymond Unwin were a good friends of Edgar Wood, whose assistant Cecil Hignet, joined them in designing Letchworth. Parker considered his finest house to be, “Whirriestone”, 15 Broadhalgh Avenue Bamford. (Bamford, like Birtle and Ashworth is a Middleton township which was transferred to Heywood in late Victorian times before being ‘rejoined’ with Middleton in 1974 via Rochdale Metropolitan Borough).
Letchworth Garden City broke the mould in town planning but possibly Barry Parker’s greatest achievement was the much larger third English Garden City, Wythenshaw near Manchester which was significantly bigger than the first two, Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City, combined.
Arts and Crafts Church photographer, Andy Marshall, is on a mission to collect 100 dates over 100 years, and display them in a very special print. CLICK HERE
You are invited to to the opening event…
Date: Tuesday 8th December 2015, 7pm – 9pm
Venue: Rosylee, 11 Stevenson Sq. Northern Quarter, Manchester M1 1DB
On Tuesday 10th November, I went to Warrington New Town for an afternoon seminar about Garden Cities and Suburbs – looking back at the successes and forward to the future. Driving there through the stunningly autumnal parkways of the new town reminded me about the enormous social progress that came out of the Arts and Crafts movement. Josh Tidy, curator of Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, spoke about the historic legacy of the first garden city.
The new towns, bigger successors to the original three Garden Cities of Letchworth, Welwyn Garden City and Wythenshaw, now lead the country in their growth and success with Warrington and Milton Keynes being the top of the pack. The place is such a civilised world away from the squalor of Victorian Britain. Edgar Wood would have been inspired! The event was organised by the Town and Country Planning Association, the successor of the original Garden Cities Association.
A painting by Edgar Wood comes home after 108 years. Joan now living in Seattle, bought the painting in Washington State in 1970 when she was a student. Now down sizing, Joan wanted to find a good home for the artwork and doing a search on Edgar Wood came across our web site, got in touch and the rest is history. The painting is of Nozzano Castello, Lucca and to have a closer look at where Edgar Wood travelled check out the link https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZBhxcTxpN0
Our thanks to Joan for generously donating the picture to the Edgar Wood Society.
It is that time of year when the Autumn leaves look better on the trees than blocking the box valley gutters. The result is water ingress leading to dry rot. Geoff will be in the valley gutters weekly for the next few weeks.
There was a good turn out for the Edgar Wood Society talk by Alec Hamilton on Arts and Crafts Churches. He certainly had the full attention of the audience as we learned about the criteria of what makes an Arts and Crafts Church. The photographs were superb, as was his talk both scholarly and lightened with amusing comments. Alec kindly distributed handouts, listing the churches featured in his talk. We are grateful to Alec for traveling all the way from Gloucestershire to give his talk and look forward to maintaining contact and reading his book in due course.
An expert on historic buildings has condemned the island’s record on architectural conservation.
Accredited architect and author Diane Haigh was in the island to give an illustrated talk at the Manx Museum organised by the Isle of Man Victorian Society to coincide with what would have been the 150th birthday of Baillie Scott, a leading light of the Arts and Crafts movement.
“Edgar Wood’s grandest design would have transformed part of Manchester and transformed it gloriously with a capital G. During research for a new book Lost & Imagined Manchester, coming out this week, Jonathan Schofield came across a scheme by Wood that if it had been built and somehow survived would have made excursions to Port Sunlight from Manchester redundant. This would have been the garden village/model village par excellence for the North of England, indeed, of anywhere in the country, complete with art gallery, public baths, meeting hall, extensive gardens, fountains, churches and a school.” Jonathan Schofield
Peacock feathers are back in the news and celebrated in a charming exhibition called Liberty in Fashion, which is running at the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey Street, SE1.
The show celebrates the 140th anniversary of the world-famous department store opened by Arthur Lasenby Liberty in Regent Street in 1875.
The Victorian designer, writer and social activist would be horrified at the message we are giving our children: that artistic vision counts for nothing. For him art was as essential as our freedom…
The Edgar Wood Society AGM was well attended, meeting in the lecture room for the first time. At the conclusion of the business session, Richard Fletcher gave an introduction to the Northern Art Workers Guild exhibition, which he and Nick Baker have curated. It was a good opportunity to meet members socially and view the impressive archive assembled to date.
A crafty move by Laing Art Gallery sees it add a regional twist to a touring Arts and Crafts exhibition which opens on Saturday.
The Newcastle gallery has teamed up with the National Trust to showcase some North East treasures including an engraved seat Lord Armstrong was painted sitting in at Cragside in the 1800s and a William Morris carpet from Wallington which has never been on public display before.
The Peter Conacher & Co organ, installed into the Arts and Crafts Church (Long Street Methodist) in 1930 gets a tune and inspection. The organ builders say this is a fine instrument and would benefit from a good workout. Is there any one out their prepared to give a recital?
At this month’s biennial of art nouveau and art deco architecture in Brussels, great buildings that are normally off limits to the public throw open their doors.
Volunteers Maureen and Alan close the gates at the end of the final day of Golden Cluster Month at the Arts and Crafts Church (Long Street Methodist Church and School). Over 300 visitors came from throughout the local area and the wider region. One couple travelled from Maghull, having picked up a leaflet at Ellesmere Boat Museum. Comments in the visitors’ book read, “Inspirational” “Wonderful building, an eye opener” “Peaceful”. The list could go on.
There was a great turn out to Wilson Potter’s Heritage Open Day soirée. People relaxed and savoured the moment in Edgar Wood’s Long Street School Hall, aka Middleton Edgar Wood Centre. It was a joint event where real ale and heritage aficionados mingled and enjoyed one another’s company.
Heritage Open Days got off to a busy start on Friday 11th September with over 45 visitors to the Arts & Crafts Church and Edgar Wood Centre, just one of the four Middleton Golden Cluster buildings open. Mr. and Mrs. Wild walked from Norden (most of the way) to visit the buildings! Nick Baker, Edgar Wood Society archivist, showed visitors around the new exhibition while the Middleton Family History Group explained how to explore the lives of our forebears.
Nick Baker, curatorMr. and Mrs. WildFamily History Group
On Saturday, Mayor Surinder Biant and Mayoress Cecile Biant were the first to arrive. They spent a good 45 minutes with Christine Grime before setting off to visit a further four buildings. Then came Merlin the Magician who performed throughout the day to coincide with the ‘land train’ running from the town centre arrived. ‘Train’ turned into ‘trail’ as Christine Grime took a group of visitors around the Middleton Arts & Crafts buildings, designed by Edgar Wood. One visitor came from Liverpool; each year he picks a different location to visit. Then on one land train, Edgar Wood himself arrived, albeit in the form actor Colin Meredith.
Christine with Mayor Surinder Biant and Mayoress Cecile BiantMerlin the Magician and visitorsChristine points to the carved initials T. B. W. – Edgar Wood’s father
Merlin the Magician in actionEdgar Wood arrives on the ‘land train’The prologue to the 90 minute Arts & Crafts trail which, on Sunday, was extended to over two hours!Lynden Easterbrook holding a jug made by James Smithies, and guide Sharon Dawson
A special treat was to meet Lynden Easterbrook, the great granddaughter of Middleton artist and metalworker, James Smithies, who is featured in the exhibition alongside Edgar Wood and Frederick Jackson. Lynden lives in the Inverness area of northern Scotland and travelled 400 miles to be in Middleton for the day, bringing with her various items that belonged to James Smithies, including an Arts & Crafts copper jug made by him.
Meanwhile at the top of the hill…
Walking up through Jubilee Park to St. Leonard’s Square, visitors Middleton Archaeological Society completing their three week excavation of Church House/Grape’s Inn where the rear walls, cellar, cobbled passage and a possible blacksmith’s forge have been unearthed. Norman Redhead, County Archaeologist, visited the site with the dig leader Robert Huddart and agreed there was a lot of interesting archaeology. Finds were displayed in Middleton Parish Church adjacent.
Norman Redhead and Robert HuddartBlacksmith’s forgeDisplay in Middleton Parish Church
Visitors were then treated to guided tours of Middleton Parish Church, the oldest building and finest interior of any church in the county. It is jam-packed full of historic art and craft work from medieval to modern times, including many Arts & Crafts workers, such as James Smithies, Edgar Wood, Christopher Whall and, in the 1960s, the designer George Pace. Over the past few weeks and over this weekend, a large number of people have visited St. Leonard’s and, this year, Rochdale Art Society mounted a special exhibition in honour of their late president, Colin Gilbert, who was a champion of the arts, a local historian and member of the church.
Colin Gilbert Memorial Art ExhibitionLooking through the medieval rood screenVisitor Refreshments!
Then down the other side…
Visitors went to see the wonderful sixteenth century Queen Elizabeth I Grammar School. The history of the school was shown on several display boards and around the building. Finds from the Langley Hall archaeological dig were exhibited and two cabinets showed various artefacts relating to Middleton. Visitors had fun locating the initials of the young Edgar Wood inscribed in three places. He was one of the school’s last scholars.
Visitors exploring.Historic china and artefactsGrammar School exhibition
Some visitors also went to see the Middleton Tapestry at Jubilee Library in the park and then popped over the road to visit the ancient timber framed Ye Olde Boar’s Head P.H. opposite.
We had a great turnout in all places. In the Arts & Crafts Church it was 45 on Friday, 60 on Saturday and 36 on Sunday afternoon, and there were plenty of complimentary remarks. People can still visit on Tuesday or Friday afternoons during September for ‘A Grand Day Out’ before we wind down – details are here.
Returning from holiday in Finland, Nick Baker, curator for Arts and Crafts Awakening project, has just a couple of days to finish the new exhibition at Middleton Edgar Wood Centre.
Called, ‘Middleton’s Arts & Crafts ‘Trinity’ and The Northern Art Workers Guild’, it’s looking pretty good already, as these photos show. The exhibition formally opens at 1pm, Sunday 13th September.
Barry Parker was an architect member of the Northern Art Workers Guild. He and his professional colleague Raymond Unwin were a good friends of Edgar Wood, whose assistant Cecil Hignet, joined them in designing Letchworth. Parker considered his finest house to be, “Whirriestone”, 15 Broadhalgh Avenue Bamford. (Bamford, like Birtle and Ashworth is a Middleton township which was transferred to Heywood in late Victorian times before being ‘rejoined’ with Middleton in 1974 via Rochdale Metropolitan Borough).
