| RICHMOND NEWS | | |  | | | | BRENTFORD NEWS | | | | |
|
|
|
Richmond's Mona Lisa?
A larger than usual Richmond Society audience gathered in the Vestry Room on a cold evening to listen to Tony McSweeney's fascinating and amusing talk on unseen Richmond.
"A talented Midlands boy from Coventry" was how David Shaw, the evening's chairman, introduced Tony who had studied at Liverpool before gaining an MA at the Royal College of Art and going on to become a talented and successful illustrator and graphic artist. He is also now a member of the Society's Planning Committee.
Tony has been a Richmond resident for 15 years and from the outset has been fascinated by the sheer range of unusual visual delights that the town displays. It takes a particular eye' to spot these sights and it was clear that Tony has that talent for seeing the unexpected of today and capturing the sometimes hidden contacts with the past.
The wide-ranging illustrations began with photographs of signs on the Slug and Lettuce at the bottom of Water Lane which referred to Edward and William Collins 1835' and a similar notice on gates behind the White Cross, both of which pointed to the existence of an old brewery on that site. On a large wall behind The Old Ship is another reference to Richmond's past with a sign To Etheringtons Piano Galleries'.
In the reference library is another object, not so much a curiosity but more of an unexpected observation.
A piece of early Eric Gill lettering on the wall at St John the Divine reading, God so loved the World, was shown.
A couple of photographs illustrated the artist's power of observation - pictures taken from inside the White Cross appeared to show a bus travelling over a bridge to the island opposite, a trick of reflections but one which most of us would surely miss. And a wonderful piece of topiary in Cambrian Road in which a privet' steam engine adorns the front of its owner's house.
A number of other pictures resurrected parts of the town either totally lost or at the very least hidden from contemporary life. These included former cottages in Water Lane, remnants of which can still be seen on the walls at the rear of the remaining cottages next to the Watermans Arms and basement wine cellars below what is now All-Bar-One and the former ballroom in the old Greyhound Hotel off George Street.
Finally Tony McSweeney gave an insight into his own work. Peppered with wit and humour, the projects ranged from miniature signs, a replica of a wall-recessed post box and an insurance plaque to illustrations and collages for Country Life and other publications including a series entitled Peter Rabbit goes to War.
Included was a drawing of a Bauhaus dog kennel, inspired by Kandinsky, illustrations of a cat-walk of favourable and unfavourable vegetables, graphic artwork for advertisements and lastly an example of his work from the first edition of the Ux-bridge English Dictionary' including a hilarious take on Trigonometry involving Roy Rogers and Trigger and sub-Titled How a Cowboy finds His Horse.
The evening concluded with a lively discussion with the audience on various illustration topics and revealed yet more hidden and lost items that people remembered or whose whereabouts were still known.
Richmond clearly has much more to be seen than immediately meets the eye and an appreciative audience was left with the belief that the discovery and recording of such oddities was in safe hands.
The photographs are to be published as a book entitled Hidden Richmond, as suggested by Bamber Gascoigne.
Richmond Society's next meeting is held with the Kew Society on Thursday May 15: Addressing climate change in Richmond homes'. Venue St John the Divine, Church Kew Road, Richmond 7.30. 020 8948 0643.
1:10pm Thursday 1st May 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
