Month: March 2012

There is continued confusion for walkers at the start of the Thames Path in London.

Thanks to the 853 blog it is now possible to look at the latest changes and work out a route.

More closures are due during the Olympics.

Three never seen before paintings by Stanley Spencer are to be auctioned in May.

All depict the Cookham area and include a view upstream of the Thames.

All three paintings have come from the estate of the artist’s late niece Pamela Spencer.

The sale is at Bonhams at the end of May.

Convoys Wharf on Saturday saw a remarkable occasion.

The riverside site in Deptford is one of last wharves to still cause walkers a long detour. But this weekend a tent had been erected by the developers who were seeking local views on the redevelopment of this very large site.

The wharf, at the end of Deptford High Street, is remembered best as the landing place for rolls of newsprint paper from Sweden destined for Fleet Street.

But the site should be highlighted as the location of Henry VIII’s dockyard. The open day allowed for viewing of the recently uncovered slipways and the foundations other buildings.

In later years the dockyard expanded to take over the garden of Sayes Court. Now now there are hopes that the new architect Terry Farrell will take this heritage into account in the landscaping opportunities.

The archaeological report should be fascinating.

Meanwhile it’s good to be able to report that Deptford High Street still has two pie and mash shops in addition its railway carriage tearoom.

Johan Zoffany lived at Strand-on-the-Green for the last thirty years of his life so it’s no surprise that the Zoffany exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts features Thames scenes.

The star attraction is Mr and Mrs Garrick by the Shakespeare Temple at Hampton. Hampton is upstream beyond Hampton Court and today the Temple is still seen from the towpath on the right bank.

Hampton Ferry, operating for at least 500 years, is shown as a horse ferry carrying a haycart.

David Garrick was Zoffany’s entry into the theatre world and in a painting of actor and dramatist Samuel Foote there is a map of the Thames hanging on the wall behind the figure.

Strand-on-the-Green is across the river from Kew Palace where George III spent a lot of time. Thanks to his prime minster Lord Bute, the King knew Zoffany and made him an early Royal Academician. King George and Queen Charlotte also gave Zoffany significant commissions.

On show are plenty of royal portraits.

A painting of the King’s doctor with his musical family depicts him on a barge in front of his home next to All Saints Church in Fulham. It seems that Zoffany placed them on the line of today’s Putney Bridge.

There are several self portraits of Zoffany and one painting of his wife. We are able to see how the couple looked when living in the 17th-century house near Kew although by then he was out of favour with the Royal Family. The Queen objected to Zoffany including two gay men in a painting which she had commissioned.

Zoffany used a Kew churchwarden as the model for Judas in a painting of the Last Supper. As a consequence it was never hung in St Anne’s Kew Green but stayed on the left bank where it now hangs in St Paul’s Brentford. Sadly the picture is not included in this exhibition.

But there is Zoffany’s small portrait of Thomas Gainsborough. Both artists are buried in the churchyard of St Anne’s.

Zoffany died in 1810 and this exhibition was planned for the bicentenary in 2010. It may be two years late but it’s worth the wait.

Johan Zoffany RA: Society Observed is at the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly from Saturday 10 March to Sunday 10 June; admission £9 (conc £7).

Abingdon has changed its name to Abingdon-on-Thames to attract more visitors.

The town used to call itself Abingdon-on-Thames and now the town council has won approval from the district council to make the old name official.

The welcome signs will be changed soon although the best welcome would be the reopening of the Nag’s Head pub on the bridge.

The local debate has continued since the decision last month.

The plan to replace the stolen Altwood statue on Ray Mill Island with a new cast looks like being fulfilled soon thanks to generous donations from Maidenhead councillors.

The story is in the Maidenhead Advertiser.

See Boulter’s Lock on pages 99 and 100.