Revisiting Hanworth's Largest Outdoor Street Art Gallery 2020

It may not be the lanes of Melbourne or the east end of London, but I keep returning to the stunning work being produced in this outdoor space beside a crematorium in south west London.

Most appealing to me is the large number of artists incorporating characters into their work.

Some are far more reminiscent of cartoons than "traditional" graphotism with its elaborate sense of design.

 

The Longford River at Feltham

The Longford River flows through south west London. Its path is not entirely natural, having been canalised at various stages and engineered to flow downhill in order to feed the majestic Diana Fountain in Bushy Park. It flows through various landscapes on its journey, including skirting the southern edge of Heathrow Airport and making its way through Feltham and Hampton.

So many local artists use Bushy Park as a source of inspiration for their landscape art that I wanted to focus some attention on the more overlooked landscapes through which the river passes, like this stretch of the river as it flows from Bedfont towards Feltham town centre, hinted at by the buildings on the horizon.

If you like it there are a variety of forms for you to own it available through my Red Bubble page.

Drawing with Russ Ep.1 - "I Can't Draw!"

My first YouTube tutorial, aimed at complete beginners, in which we explore how much you can convey with a stick man.

Anti-war Art

The creation of art that attempts to convey the sterile horror of war has a long history indeed.

Vasily Vereshchagin (1842-1904) was a Russian landscape painter of the nineteenth century and, for a time, an official war artist for the Russian army. His paintings often reflect his own direct experiences. 
He is often categorised as an anti-war artist because of the devastated landscapes he painted drew closely upon his own direct experiences, and were depicted in his distinctive crisp, unflinching classical realism. These paintings are like a "morning after" image, displaying the sterile destruction of life and civilisation that remains once the heat of battle has died down.

Vereshchagin dedicated 'The Apotheosis of War,' to "all great conquerors, past, present, and to come." It can be found today in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, which houses a great deal of his works. 'The Ruins of the Theatre in Chuguchak' (below) can be found in the Russian Museum in St Petersburg.
What makes paintings like these so powerful and disturbing to me is how often images like these have been repeated and recreated in the real world in the century and a half that has elapsed since their creation.

The lifelessness of Vereshchagin's landscapes are echoed by those of the British war artist of WW1 John Nash. The hideous mound of skulls in 'The Apotheosis of War' has been seen in the twentieth century too many times to count, perhaps most infamously and presciently in Cambodia of the 1970s.
In the last century we have seen the power of photography replace painting to convey the reality of war to the public. Think of those photographs of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which the Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett, who defied a ban on western reporters visiting the cities following the US atomic bombing, described as "a warning from history".
In the twenty-first century independent journalists like the British photojournalist Guy Smallman have produced similarly stark images on landscapes in Afghanistan. 
Others increasingly rely more on video, which can be easily distributed via social media to anyone with an Internet connection. For example, this footage shot by the British independent journalist Vanessa Beeley of Daraa al Balad in Syria I feel captures the same spirit of Vereshchagin's unblinking vision, which bears witness to our own inhumanity.

Today some of the best anti-war reportage is that which is created by the perpetrators themselves, and it is merely left to conscientious individuals to alert the general public to its existence, as US Army Private Manning did back in 2010.

Art in El Salvador

I have to confess to a quite extensive ignorance, until very recently, of the rich artistic culture of the tiny Central American country of El Salvador. Above the main entrance of Westminster Abbey, here in London, there stands a rendition in stone of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated on March 24 1980 by a CIA-backed death squad while saying mass, in the early stages of what would become a horrific, decade-long civil war.

So my abiding impression of this tiny country was one of darkness and pain.

What a delightful surprise it was, therefore, to discover the work of an artist like Fernando Llort, a Salvadoran artist who died only this year. Llort, described by some cultural institutions in the country as El Salvador's National Artist, produced bright, colourful, joyous paintings and murals, as well as a range of handicrafts. They have been described by some as reminiscent of the playfulness of Joan Miro.

Llort originally studied architecture before moving to Europe to continue his studies in theology in France and then Belgium, before settling on art while in the USA. To escape the tense political situation in the cities and large towns of his home country, Llort and a group of other artists moved to the town of La Palma, in the mountains up in the north of El Salvador, quite close to the border with Honduras.

Here they led a simple life, getting to know the landscape and people of the town well, and where Llort began to paint in the simple, two-dimensional primary colours he would later become synonymous with, where nature blends with day-to-day rural life. They carved handicrafts out of wood and sold them from their own Semilla de Dios (Seed of God) workshop, inspiring a local handicrafts movement, with many more cooperative workshops soon opening up in the local area.

Llort maintained his connections with the local handicrafts movement around La Palma even after he was forced to return to San Salvador.

You can see the work of Fernando Llort on his official website: https://www.fernando-llort.com

Hanworth's largest outdoor (unofficial) Street Art Gallery

An unofficial gallery of street art can be found in a derelict train yard. The site itself has been re-colonized by wilderness over the years, and recently has found itself slowly being transformed into an official Nature Reserve between Pevensey Road, Hanworth and South West Middlesex Crematorium.

Here are a few examples of the works on display by local artists. As is traditional, new works are painted over old. Presently you will find a nice mix of figurative and typographic. I'm afraid I do not know any of the artists whose work is presently on display, as I only became aware of the unofficial outdoor gallery when first attempting to walk the full Crane Valley, and I would caution anyone seeking to view the art in person to be careful as there is a lot of broken glass on the ground. Presumably some kind of interactive conceptual piece using found objects...

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If you like the Art Nouveau stylings of my May Day pencil drawing you may want to check out the higher resolution images now up on Red Bubble:

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Thanks to the magic of Red Bubble you can also wear the design as a T-shirt, put it on your wall, or should you wish, get it as a greeting card to fill with messages of solidarity for your friends and family.

Walking the Crane Valley, Part 2

About a year and a half ago Pevensey Road Nature Reserve, on the border between Hanworth (in the London Borough of Hounslow) and Heathfield (in the London Borough of Richmond) was so overgrown, its paths so ill-defined, that it was almost impossible to find a comfortable way through. It is still a spectacularly wild stretch of woodland, but over several months has been transformed (largely through the efforts of local volunteers), making its main pathway far easier to walk, and sunlight now able to reach low-growing plants.

The wilderness at Pevensey Road Nature Reserve matches that found along stretches of the Crane Valley to the north (covered in part one)

The results of recent volunteer efforts is clearer paths and better light

A "Green Gym" is held here most Mondays, where locals can get involved in maintaining this remarkable stretch of land which allows people to walk from Feltham to Hanworth Road through a landscape of relative tranquillity, away from the noise of some of the other main roads in the area. Hanworth Road itself is relatively busy, but a zebra crossing connects the walker from Pevensey Road Nature Reserve to Crane Park beyond. 

The River Crane, looking east from Hanworth Road at dawn

Crane Park is one of the most well-managed stretches of the whole Crane Valley. Its paths are wide and flanked by a cathedral of trees, home to a whole range of birds and wildlife. It is possible to walk the river on the north or the south side. On the north side of the Crane, the paths are tarmac and maintained by Richmond council, while on the south they are sandy but still good, and maintained by Hounslow council. The quality of the pathways makes this stretch of the Crane Valley the easiest for cyclists to ride too, although it is predominantly the preserve of dog walkers.

Sections of the park, such as the island at the centre, are maintained by London Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve. In other parts of Crane Park efforts have been made to restore a more natural character to the banks of the river (see above), reducing the effect of 'canalising' to create a better habitat for wildlife like water voles.

Just like at Donkey Woods, there are remnants of the areas' gunpowder industries on both the north and south side of the park. The picture above shows how much better this stretch of woodland is managed in comparison to the one taken at Donkey Woods that I used in Part 1 of this piece.

  

You can see the effects of 'canalising' as the river flows east. This photo was taken on the footbridge close to Mill Road, Twickenham.

The Chertsey Road is a loud dual carriageway that slices up this beautiful stretch of wilderness much as the Great South West Road does further north. However, if you stick to the north side of the river while walking through Crane Park the two underpasses enable you to walk seamlessly from one side of the road to the other. The photo featured above was taken not far to the east of the Chertsey Road in late summer, and I hope goes some way to conveying what an oasis of tranquillity this region is once you allow yourself to walk mere yards from the road.

Crane Park narrows somewhat as you follow the river east to Twickenham, and after crossing a small road you soon arrive at Kneller Gardens. This fairly modest sized outdoor space has been incredibly well equipped in recent years with a children's playground, tennis courts, free outdoor gym, cafe with drinking fountain, lots of benches, and not one but two foot-bridges that take you across the river (see above), which bisects for the first time since the Duke of Northumberland's River joins the Crane at Donkey Woods.

I remember this area back in the 90s as something of a forgotten wasteland. In fact, it had once been allotments which had fallen into dis-use and been closed by the council. Today the land has been revived as Mereway Nature Reserve, with beautifully carved benches and an area of open wilderness that is far better managed than before. While you probably have about the same chance of seeing foxes darting through the fence to railway land as before, there is now a far greater chance of foraging for blackberries and rose hips which grow freely here than just nettles.

You can follow the river somewhat sporadically as it passes alongside the railway lines and along the side of the increasingly better landscaped paths that skirt the outskirts of the once quite empty Craneford Playing Fields, at which point you will have to make a somewhat wider diversion around the houses before you can reconnect with the river beyond the rapidly renovating Twickenham railway station. The final spot along the river where you can comfortably stop before it joins the Thames at Isleworth is at Moor Mead Gardens in St Margarets.

Life along the River Crane at Twickenham

Walking the Crane Valley, Part 1

Just to the south of the Grand Union Canal's Paddington Branch and Bulls Bridge, running parallel to the busy Parkway dual carriageway, is a small unobtrusive river flanked by woods called the Crane. At various points along its journey its natural path has been altered by human development – through pollution and some canalising – and its identity is sometimes hard to determine, but it remains one of the most natural rivers in London. To the north of the Grand Union Canal the river which feeds the Crane is called Yeading Brook, which begins its journey in Harrow.

The entrance to Cranford Country Park in autumn, 
viewed from the bridge over the River Crane

If you leave the busy Cranford Parkway Interchange on the south-west of the roundabout and take a small slip road tucked between the Parkway and the M4 motorway you will find the main entrance to Cranford Country Park, which technically is part of the neighbouring Borough of Hillingdon. At this point the river itself follows the boundary between the west London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon, flanked by Avenue Park on the east side and Cranford Park on the west.
Nothing remains of the old manor house, the former residence of the Berkeley family, which was demolished in 1945. However within the grounds of the park you will find the small parish church of St Dunstan's, which dates from the 15th century and remains in use to this day. One quite notable thing about St Dunstan's, apart from its understated charm, is that it contains the interred ashes of the late comedy actor Tony Hancock.

Along the banks of the River Crane, viewed from the Cranford Park side

Perhaps the most unfortunate thing that history has inflicted upon Cranford Park is that, with the construction of the M4 motorway in the late 1950s, this beautiful expanse of land was effectively sliced in two. A small underpass behind St Dunstan's called Dog Kennel Covert connects walkers and cyclists to the northern section, which tracks the Crane north to where it intersects with the Grand Union Canal, while the vast majority of the park lies to the south of the motorway.

A footbridge over the River Crane, viewed from the Avenue Park side

It is this southern portion that makes for the most pleasant walking experience, with well maintained paths and a small iron footbridge which allows you to cross the river from Cranford Park to Avenue Park in neighbouring Hounslow. If you would prefer, you can follow the river quite easily as you walk south along the Hillingdon side, and as you walk you may catch sight of nuthatches and other small birds like the meadow pipit that have been spotted in this area, swooping across the wide open stretches beyond the thickly wooded section along the river itself. You may be more likely to see the giant metal birds taking off from the airport to the south west.

Berkeley Meadows in summer

A small road separates the broad expanse of Cranford Park from a smaller but perfectly formed park called Berkeley Meadows, which was once an area of marshy damp meadows used for grazing sheep and cattle, but which today has a good path, easy access to the river as it flows south, and a well maintained children's playground. It is now home to a wide range of wildlife including butterflies, birds, mammals and insects, and you may even glimpse the Kingfisher flying up and down the river. 

Beyond here we encounter our first challenge to our Crane Valley walk in the form of Bath Road, a noisy dual carriageway which forces a small detour east to where there are traffic lights. I find the practical benefit of the shops and supermarkets in Cranford (Indian, Polish and Tesco) make up for the inconvenience of the noise and detour.

A path leads from the river to Huckersby Meadows in Cranford

Recent developments have made it difficult to access the Crane directly from Bath Road, so its necessary to cut through Waye Avenue, a circular suburban street with access to a playing field at the southern end. From this field you can cross another small iron bridge across the Crane to the newly opened Huckersby Meadows, which has been revived by the London Wildlife Trust from a former car park and wasteland into a large stretch of land where cows now graze.

Huckersby Meadows is bordered to its west by Heathrow Airport's Eastern Perimeter Road, so if you want to follow the Crane further south it is better to stay on the east side and follow the path through Cranebank Park. This is well maintained with benches and information boards about the local non-human inhabitants, and as you walk you find yourself entering an oasis of remarkable peace and tranqillity, bar the periodic aircraft passing overhead.
The abundance of natural flora and fauna comes as quite a surprise given the highly urbanised environment of Hounslow, so the fact that you can find here an environment supporting a range of mammals like foxes, rabbits, weasels, moles and bank voles is remarkable. The very best time to walk this stretch of the river is in the warm dry months from May to September, as the southern part of the land can be prone to flooding in winter.

The benches along Cranebank make life easier for local artists

The Great South West Road presents the next challenge to anyone wanting to walk the Crane Valley in its entirety. It is a wide dual carriageway which also runs parallel to the Piccadilly line as tube trains briefly emerge into the light before reaching their final destination of Heathrow. The only way that presently exists to get to the south side of the road are traffic lights down at the junction with the A312 to the east. On the plus side it is worth reminding yourself that this is the most dramatic detour you will encounter throughout the whole of this route.

Having crossed the roaring danger of the Great South West Road you will be able to locate the Crane again by finding the entrance to the Causeway Nature Reserve beside an imposing advertising billboard. 

Winter sunlight through trees on the Causeway

The Causeway is a small but welcome respite from the surrounding roads and industrial estates of Hatton and North Feltham, a place where you can find damp-loving herbs such as Meadowsweet and Gipsywort growing amongst the grasses, and a cover for many small birds such as the blackcap or whitethroat.

Also, thanks to a well placed underpass, you can walk easily and safely south to the longer stretch of woodland which lies beyond known as Donkey Woods. Here you will encounter the first remnants of the local gunpowder industries that once filled the river with toxic pollutants. Just remember to wear your wellies. It can get muddy. Alternatively, as with Cranebank, you may wish to tackle it only in the warmer, dryer months of the year.

The view east from the raised boardwalk through Donkey Woods in late summer

The northern section of Donkey Woods has a raised boardwalk to take you across the wettest, widest section of the River Crane, while the southern section is easier to walk throughout the year. It is here, in amongst often dense woodland, that you will find the remnants of Hounslow's gunpowder industries of the past, and where the Duke of Northumberland's river also intersects with the Crane.

A remnant of one of the gunpowder factories, 

now reclaimed by nature and local graffiti artists

When you reach Staines Road at the end of Donkey Woods a crossing to your right will take you safely across the street to the shops and petrol garage, and it is behind this petrol garage that the entrance to Brazil Mill Woods is partially concealed.

Brazil Mill Woods, shown here in autumn, is quite well concealed behind a petrol garage

This part of the Crane Valley is just as wild as Donkey Woods, but the path is on higher ground so less prone to muddiness or flooding. At one point the river divides to form an elongated island, with two points along the rivers' journey south where footbridges enable you to cross to the broad expanse of rugged scrub and woodland in Hounslow Heath. Many years ago the Heath once covered an even larger area than it does now.

Brazil Mill Woods is certainly well concealed. The first time I attempted to walk the Crane Valley I was convinced that this stretch of the river had fallen into disuse and been closed off from human traffic. This is partially because when the petrol garage on Staines Road is busy the north entrance is rendered almost invisible to passersby, while at the southern end the river and accompanying pathway disappears under a railway bridge connected to a short but very dark tunnel. 

The gaping darkness of Cavalry Tunnel represents

more of an existential challenge to the walker than a physical one

Those brave enough to enter the darkness of Cavalry Tunnel will soon emerge into something of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where rusting railway paraphernalia share space with abandoned home appliances, and high fences designating the boundaries of railway land from public land brutally slice up what has the potential to be a remarkable natural reserve.

This section of the Crane Valley is the least cared for. It reeks of the forgotten and unloved. However, the truly intrepid explorer who persists through thick bushes of blackberry, nettle, wild hawthorne, and countless empty cans of lager, will eventually be rewarded by their first sight of Pevensey Road Nature Reserve. Occupying the boundary of Hounslow and Richmond boroughs, this part of the Crane Valley has seen a lot of work by volunteers over the last year or two to improve paths and manage the woodland areas for the enjoyment of all.

A small footbridge takes the walker across a tributary of the Crane

at Pevensey Nature Reserve

Visiting Faraday House

Michael Faraday was the self-taught chemist and physicist who, among numerous other achievements, was responsible for the discovery of electricity. In 1833 he was made Fullerian Professor of Chemistry, an appointment for life at the Royal Institution, and worked as a government researcher investigating, among other things, the causes of a disastrous colliery explosion.

Faraday came from a working class family, and became a devout follower of the Sandemanian branch of the Church of Scotland. He was offered a knighthood in recognition of his services to science, but declined it, as it was against the Bible to accumulate riches and pursue worldly rewards like titles. Faraday preferred to remain "plain Mr Faraday to the end." He also refused on ethical grounds to help develop chemical weapons for use in the Crimean war.

Faraday House, at 37 Hampton Court Road, Middlesex, was formerly the Master Mason's House. The building was awarded to Faraday as a grace and favour dwelling in 1848, after the Prince Consort is said to have made representations on his behalf. He spent his last years here, and true to spirit, turned down an offer of burial in Westminster Abbey, opting instead to be interred in the dissenters' section of Highgate Cemetery.

You can see a pencil study I did from a bust of Faraday, which sits in the British Library, on my Instagram.

A ride through the Heathrow villages

The River Crane passes through Cranford on its journey south to join the Thames. 

Berkley Meadows can be seen in the background of this pic

This is the record of a journey I made by bicycle in early May of this year, as research for a new project I am working on. The spring was just starting to give way to summer, so there were still a few trees bursting with blossom, but by now most were fully in leaf.

I followed the rough path of the Crane Valley, travelling north. The Crane is so-called because it is forged by the river of the same name, which back in the nineteenth century was a dumping ground for industrial pollutants from, among other things, a local gunpowder factory. The river has been cleaned up in recent years and is now increasingly a haven for wildlife.

Striking suburban architecture at the junction in Cranford 

(there are four sets of these faux medieval towers on each side of the intersection)

Continuing northwards I arrived at Cranford, a suburban town which is part of the London borough of Hounslow, and apart from the striking architectural features at one of its main junctions also includes the stunning Avenue Park. A beautifully maintained expanse of leafy colour, the park also has a very well equipped children's play area. What surprised me the most however was the free, open air gym equipment. 

One of many pieces of exercise equipment in the open air gym in Avenue Park

Heading west out of Cranford, and crossing the little stone bridge over the River Crane, I now found myself in Harlington, a small village which forms part of the neighbouring borough of Hillingdon, and includes the glorious landscapes of Cranford Country Park and Berkley Meadows. The latter takes its name from the wealthy family that once owned Cranford Manor.

The Bridge over the River Crane

(on the border between Hounslow and Hillingdon)

The journey west from Harlington to Sipson can seem repetitive at times, but as it is surrounded by fields on both sides it makes for an infinitely preferable route to riding along Bath Road, the busy dual carriageway which borders the airport to the south. 

The King William pub sits in the centre of Sipson, 

at the corner of the road to Harmondsworth

My journey took me through the small village of Sipson, which about ten years ago faced the prospect of complete destruction to make way for a third runway for the airport to the south. Due to a fierce campaign waged by a broad coalition of local campaigners and assorted eco warriors Sipson - including its church and local pub - still stands today.

A row of cottages in the heart of Harmondsworth village

On the road leading out of Harmondsworth village to the nearby Harmondsworth Moor

I ended the ride on this particular day in Harmondsworth village, which I still find striking in its traditional charm. There is a lot of beauty in this region, and I would urge anyone reading this to take the time to experience it themselves.

More doodles to follow soon.

 

Art for Spring

Some 'fineliner' drawings which attempt to capture the feeling of hope, optimism and renewed life that often accompanies the return of spring (in the northern hemisphere).

You can see more drawings like this on my Instagram.