 Many
readers of this column may remember the series of paintings called
‘Colours of the Cut’ that appeared in the inside back cover of the monthly
magazine Waterways World from 1987 to 1994.
 They were full colour diagrams of
the colour schemes and company liveries of boats and barges from all over
the waterway system, the work of Edward Paget-Tomlinson, the much
respected author, artist and canal historian who died last November. He
was a good friend of mine and a constant source of encouragement and
inspiration. (For more about Edward please
see my piece in this 'Off the Main Line’ series for
December last.) One of his major unfinished
projects was a proposal to turn the series into a book, an idea that has
been discussed and considered several times over the intervening ten
years. However it has now emerged that new plans for the book with a new
publisher were well advanced when he left his desk for the last time, and
I have been given the sad but enormously satisfying task of carrying this
project forward. Things are going well and publication is now planned for
September this year (and I suspect I will be tempted to talk about it even
more then.)The new book will contain
many historic black and white photographs as well as the coloured
illustrations and one of the preparatory tasks has been to sort through
Edward’s collection of archive photographs to find some suitable for the
job. One of several pleasant surprises was to discover just what a good
photographer he was himself, and how committed he was to waterways back in
the 1950s when he was simultaneously working on big ship history at the
National Maritime Museum, followed by his work as Keeper of Shipping at
Liverpool Museum. He was not just looking though - he was taking notes and
taking extremely good, clear, well-composed pictures too, and I will be
able to add many of the supporting photographs from Edward’s own personal
portfolio. As examples, and as a special treat, a couple are included here
from a whole sequence taken on the Grand Union Canal in 1956. |
|
I always knew that Edward worked hard but
having this opportunity to ferret about in his studio and office is even
more of a revelation of the breadth of his knowledge and the scale of his
achievements. Yes, there are boxes full of canal photos, and files full of
notes, and plan chest drawers full of drawings and paintings - ample
evidence one would think of a respectable lifetime’s work, but there are
almost equal amounts of research material about railways, and about
shipping, and trams, and horses… His library of transport books is
terrific, enough reading matter for several normal lives but one shelf is
full of books in German, just to add a little extra challenging flavour.
There are collections and notebooks and transparencies and project notes
for proposed books and a big stuffed guillemot in a glass case keeping a
beady eye on everything. What a man! And in amongst the paintings was a
single sheet with the three coloured diagrams shown here all entwined
together, which we have separated apart for clarity (top right and
below). With many thanks to
Pam Paget-Tomlinson for letting me use this painting, I offer to you, dear
reader, this world exclusive view of yet more of Edward’s unpublished
work. Look out for the big book in September - put it on your Christmas
list now!
The
book is now available from Landmark publishers -
more details and
order form. |
