Karl Wood and the Old Parsonage, Bishops Tachbrook, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

I'm grateful to Tim Lisle-Croft for sending me these images of the Old Parsonage, Bishops Tachbrook, near Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, which include a watercolour of the house (where Tim was born) by Karl Wood from 1945, and which Wood gave his parents (probably in exchange for a meal). Here Dr Douglas F. Lisle-Croft, Mrs Joyce K. Lisle-Croft and their three children lived: in all, the Lisle-Croft family lived there from 1938 to 1976.

Before 1904 the Rev John Thomas Hallett lived there. The house was demolished after the death of Tim's parents in 1976. This photo of the house was taken a little before the demolition: of note is the work on the chimneys since the painting was taken. Parsonage Close was built on the land.

Karl Wood's Baker Street Windmill. Orsett, Essex, UK

David Skelton of New Zealand sends me this superb shot of Karl Wood's oil painting of a smock mill which he rescued from oblivion. It's dated 1933 and Guy Blythman has identified it as Baker Street mill, Orsett, Essex. This is now a grade II listed building, and is partly a house conversion. Many thanks to both David Skelton and Guy Blythman for this.

Karl Wood, George Green and Simple Films Limited at Bromley House Library, Nottingham

This morning I was interviewed about Karl Wood by Stuart Cresswell, the Managing Director of Simple Films Limited, Welsford, Nova Scotia, Canada, in the splendid setting of the George Green Room at Bromley House, Nottingham. Stuart and crew are on the point of completing the filming of the hour-long The Mühlendämmerungs of Karl Salsbury Wood, a part-biography of the bookish windmill artist Wood, so this was a highly appropriate background.

The George Green Room with, from left to right: Paul Allen (Camera), Stuart Cresswell, and Charley Cresswell (Sound).

I also took the opportunity to photograph a few things that had escaped my attention when I last came here in June this year. Above is a representation of the plaque in Westminster Abbey, placed there on 16 July 1993, just two days after the bicentenary of the birth of George Green, who was a member of the library from 1823 to 1833.

Mrs Jane Moth (1824–1900), née Jane Smith, was George Green's eldest daughter.

Due to building works in June I was unable to get a decent view of the garden, but now there's a view of the back of Bromley House Library unhindered by scaffolding.

The garden of Bromley House Library.

An impressive 'mean time' sundial. A page of explanation is attached to it, but this is science so I won't run the risk of making a cock-up of a précis of it.

A very enjoyable morning: I look forward to the screening of the film and thank the crew for their relaxed style and their hospitality.

Thanks also to Dr Rowena Edlin-White and Carol Barstow for making this venue possible, and to the rest of the staff there today for their enthusiastic welcome.

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Bromley House Library, Nottingham
Windmill Wood: A Biography of Midlands Artist Karl Salsbury Wood

A Wood by Karl Wood (?)

David Essom of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, sends me this intriguing image of a windmill landscape painting which bears many of the hallmarks of the paintings by the artist Karl Salsbury Wood (1888–1958), who was born in Kings Newton, Derbyshire, and spent most of his life in Gainsborough.

 

The strange thing, though, is that the painting isn't signed the usual 'K S WOOD' (as in another example below) but 'A. WOOD'. But the above signature seems to come from the same hand, suggesting that Karl Wood was having a little joke by calling this 'a Wood' painting. This may well be a one-off, but if anyone is aware of any other paintings by 'A. Wood', then please let's hear of them. Maybe this is a tall order, but it would also be useful if anyone could identify the location of the painting.

 

More information about Karl Wood, particularly my biography, can be found be entering his name in the Blogger slug to the top left of this blog.

Karl Wood and Louis Oram Trivett in Nottingham

My biography of the eccentric artist and unsuccessful writer Karl Salsbury Wood (1888–1958)* is here, and it gives a brief mention of the lace manufacturer Louis Oram Trivett (1864–1933), known as 'The Orchid King' by many because he usually wore the flower in his buttonhole. Wood lived in Nottingham from 1902 to 1914, and spent some time working as a packer for Trivett at his premises in Trivett Square in the Lace Market in Nottingham.

Trivett's tower, the pinnacle of the factory, and still a local landmark.

*Wood wrote many detailed if highly idiosyncratic articles for the Gainsborough News about his cycling trips around the UK, during which he painted many architectural features, and windmills and their remains in particular. His burning ambition was to write a book titled 'The Twilight of the Mills', although I suspect that the (sometimes laughable) zeal with which he promoted this unwritten work made the quality of it a little questionable, and it's perhaps fortunate that the book was never published because some articles of Wood's on the subject render his research rather dubious: his knowledge of the location of the mills was excellent, although his knowledge of a mill's working was distinctly less so.

Plus, it may well have developed into a right-wing tract as opposed to a serious study.