Sunday 9 September 2012

On display at Heritage Day



Both the Worcester Park painting and its companion, of Haslemere were on display during Heritage Day, at St. Mary the Virgin, Cuddington. Having identified modern day Sparrow Farm Road as the likely location for the painting, it was interesting to hear the views of residents living along this road.

It was particularly intriguing to learn that those properties built on the right-hand side of the road had been constructed on raised concrete beds, in an effort to lift them above an area of land known to periodically flood. One resident showed me a photo from 1935, depicting the flooding of the playground area to the left.

Comparing the photo to the painting, it can be seen that the waterlogged natural pond exactly fits with residents’ recollections. This, together with a series of storm drains, now situated exactly where the pond appears in the painting, suggests to me that Sparrow Farm Road is increasingly likely as location painted by the artist.


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