Rob Campbell on the artistic delights of the river – and a lovely new gallery – at Newnham, Gloucestershire…
By Rob Campbell
It’s always gratifying to find that someone shares your obsessions. One of mine is the Gloucestershire stretch of the muddy old River Severn, which is too often outsparkled by the nearby Wye and too easily driven over, or past, on the way to the mountains or the open sea.
Fortunately for lovers of the Severn, the late RWA academician Allan Laycock painted the river more than once, around the vast horseshoe bend at Newnham. That, and his related work, can be viewed online here and Allan’s biographical details here.
The tranquillity captured by Allan feels all the more profound given that Newnham is routinely the scene of a great natural drama, in the shape of the Severn Bore. The first sight of it is to be had from the village’s clock tower and, when the tide rushes up, this otherwise quiet village becomes busy with surfers and kayakers daring to catch the wave up river.
Just as fortunately, there is now an additional reason to stop by the river at Newnham, in the shape of the Sanctuary Gallery, which opened in 2021. The gallery is within one of the village’s delightful medieval buildings which hint at the past importance of the place. Newnham was once a significant port, sending timber and hides to Bristol, launching ships of up to 600 tons, and even being used as the launch point for Henry II’s invasion of Ireland.
It’s more peaceful now, although there was a bustle at the Sanctuary Gallery’s most recent private view, attended by more than 40 people on a cold and wet February evening. The current exhibition, Drawn to the Landscape, is a mixed collection of painting, ceramics handmade print and jewellery. Coming up next, from March 22, is Still Moments, featuring five artists.
Visitors to the Sanctuary may also look in on the upstairs studio of the gallery director, Sharon Harvey, who is also a professional landscape artist.
But don’t forget, while you are there, to marvel at the mighty Severn around Newnham. It has been a favourite spot for painters trying to catch the mysteries of this ancient land, with Wales looming beyond the forest in one direction, and the rest of Gloucestershire seemingly far way over the water in the other.
And if it whets your appetite, then other locally-held renditions of the area’s beauty include those by Alastair Flattely (Ebb Tide, Framilode, held at the Wilson in Cheltenham), and Charles Gere (The Severn Bore, held at the Museum of Gloucester).
Further afield there is also The Horseshoe Bend of the Severn, by Philip Wilson Steer, at Manchester Art Gallery (image top).
Rob Campbell is a freelance writer and editor. View his website here.
The Floating Circle 