Polesworth Painting

Art of the Waterways: NarrowBoat, Autumn 2010

Roger Wickson

Roger Wickson takes a closer look at the painting of Jim and Isaiah Atkins

In the Winter 2009 edition of NarrowBoat there are two good photographs of Thomas Clayton ‘gas boats’ in Osney Lock on the Thames. It is quite clear from the photographs that the butty Rea had been recently painted at Polesworth. It is not clear whether the motor boat, which is probably the Tweed, had been. This caused me to think more about Polesworth painting, which is some of the most fascinating and attractive that was ever to be found on narrowboats. Yet, as Tony Lewery pointed out in his article in the very first edition of NarrowBoat (Spring 2006), in recent years it has not received anything like the degree of public awareness, even among narrowboat enthusiasts, accorded to Braunston painting or Bill Hodgson’s ‘knobstick’ painting. To be fair, NarrowBoat has not neglected it; in addition to Tony Lewery’s article, Brian Collings gave it a positive mention in the Spring 2007 edition. The following edition contained a fine article by Harry Arn…