Regina Poloniae

This installation in Hednesford's Roman Catholic church neatly sums up the influence of the local Polish population in this former mining town.

The Poles came here to work in the mines after the war, and brought their fervent native religiosity with them: the Black Madonna is a famous icon of Polish devotion.  The shield on the left shows the Polish eagle, and the one of the right shows the arms of the Papacy.  The words Regina Poloniae mean 'Our Lady, Queen of Poland'.

Venice... in Staffordshire

The annual Venice carnival, which runs for the twelve days before the beginning of Lent, is now under way.
Sadly, the nearest I shall get to Venice this year is this superb painting of the city by the Victorian artist William Wyld. You can see it in the Nicholson Institute (aka Leek Library). It’s part of the collection there.

Though it’s over 100 years old, the picture has a wonderful vividness.

Links: Venetian Scene by William Wyld (on BBC Paintings)

Dragon-worm at Sinai Park?

This could be a dragon-worm or wyrm (a strange medieval mythical creature), depicted on this beam at the 15th century Sinai Park House near Burton.  Or could it be just a smiling bird?
These restored timbers remind one that the richer medieval houses could be marvellously and colorfully painted indoors. What we see in historic buildings now is only a faint shadown of what things were really like.

The house is open to the public occasionally, even though two thirds of it is still (sadly) derelict.
Another photo I included on this blog about Sinai Park House was one of its swimming pool, which is not quite as salubrious as it sounds.

Link:  Sinai Park House

Estate village nurses its past

Maer village in west Staffordshire was what's known as an 'estate village' - in other words, the whole place owed its living to the local lord-of-the-manor. You might be a smallholder renting land & house from the manor, or a below-stairs servant - either way, you all deferred to the family living at Maer Hall (which is a vast establishment, and still there).

That sort of arrangement more or less collapsed in this country after the Second World War, but, curiously, at Maer, the feeling of being an estate-village lives on somehow.
For example, in the village hall, a previous member of the local gentry looks down, in this painting, on the activities of the present villagers.

Having the painting still hanging there at all seems vaguely old-fashioned to me, especially in the way it symbolises a much less democratic time.
But maybe Maer people are nostalgic for those times...  Possibly.

Murder most foul

This grisly painting hangs in the function room of the famous, historic Leopard Pub in Burslem. But it's an odd painting, you'd think, to be displayed in a place of relaxation...

But the Leopard is not just your usual pub, being redolent of lots of history (and ghosts). What's more, I'm told that this painting is by none other than Arthur Berry, the famous North Staffordshire poet, writer and 'primitivist' artist.

And... it is a depiction of what was supposedly a true event in the building. This young lady had her throat slashed in a back room of the pub some hundred or more years ago.
It's all rather too gory for me, and I tend to sit (whilst with my pint) with my back to it...

Arthur Berry at The Leopard

Arthur Berry is a poet, author and painter, but little-known outside north Staffordshire - where he was born and lived and died. His work - dark paintings and physical verse - is as rugged as this area.

At The Leopard, which is a heritage-pub in Burslem, and the one pub all visitors to the area MUST go to, the strange ballroom is adorned with fascinating paintings; and this portrait of Arthur has pride of place. (The singing dog is featured in one of his more surreal works).

Though a crochety man, he was a true native-poet of this place, and was much-loved.

Link: TV profile of Arthur Berry