The Times (£) on this Easter Monday has an obituary of Jean Leslie along with her photograph taken in 1942 by the Thames at Little Wittenham.
The MI5 secretary had been swimming in the river just before the black and white photograph was taken. This picture was to be ‘Pam’, girlfriend of a fictitious Major Martin. This was the name given to a body tipped overboard with forged papers and the photo.
It was an elaborate scheme to deceive the Germans as told in the film The Man Who Never Was.
I think the houses seen in the distance behind the young Jean, or ‘Pam’, are in Dorchester-on-Thames.
Convoys Wharf on Saturday saw a remarkable occasion.
The riverside site in Deptford is one of last wharves to still cause walkers a long detour. But this weekend a tent had been erected by the developers who were seeking local views on the redevelopment of this very large site.
The wharf, at the end of Deptford High Street, is remembered best as the landing place for rolls of newsprint paper from Sweden destined for Fleet Street.
But the site should be highlighted as the location of Henry VIII’s dockyard. The open day allowed for viewing of the recently uncovered slipways and the foundations other buildings.
In later years the dockyard expanded to take over the garden of Sayes Court. Now now there are hopes that the new architect Terry Farrell will take this heritage into account in the landscaping opportunities.
The archaeological report should be fascinating.
Meanwhile it’s good to be able to report that Deptford High Street still has two pie and mash shops in addition its railway carriage tearoom.
The Sharp Family, 1779-81 (National Portrait Gallery & the Lloyd Baker Trustees)
Johan Zoffany lived at Strand-on-the-Green for the last thirty years of his life so it’s no surprise that the Zoffany exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts features Thames scenes.
The star attraction is Mr and Mrs Garrick by the Shakespeare Temple at Hampton. Hampton is upstream beyond Hampton Court and today the Temple is still seen from the towpath on the right bank.
Hampton Ferry, operating for at least 500 years, is shown as a horse ferry carrying a haycart.
David Garrick was Zoffany’s entry into the theatre world and in a painting of actor and dramatist Samuel Foote there is a map of the Thames hanging on the wall behind the figure.
Strand-on-the-Green is across the river from Kew Palace where George III spent a lot of time. Thanks to his prime minster Lord Bute, the King knew Zoffany and made him an early Royal Academician. King George and Queen Charlotte also gave Zoffany significant commissions.
On show are plenty of royal portraits.
A painting of the King’s doctor with his musical family depicts him on a barge in front of his home next to All Saints Church in Fulham. It seems that Zoffany placed them on the line of today’s Putney Bridge.
There are several self portraits of Zoffany and one painting of his wife. We are able to see how the couple looked when living in the 17th-century house near Kew although by then he was out of favour with the Royal Family. The Queen objected to Zoffany including two gay men in a painting which she had commissioned.
Zoffany used a Kew churchwarden as the model for Judas in a painting of the Last Supper. As a consequence it was never hung in St Anne’s Kew Green but stayed on the left bank where it now hangs in St Paul’s Brentford. Sadly the picture is not included in this exhibition.
But there is Zoffany’s small portrait of Thomas Gainsborough. Both artists are buried in the churchyard of St Anne’s.
Zoffany died in 1810 and this exhibition was planned for the bicentenary in 2010. It may be two years late but it’s worth the wait.
Johan Zoffany RA: Society Observed is at the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly from Saturday 10 March to Sunday 10 June; admission £9 (conc £7).
The plan to replace the stolen Altwood statue on Ray Mill Island with a new cast looks like being fulfilled soon thanks to generous donations from Maidenhead councillors.
The street signs are being changed to include the Royal Borough of Greenwich. There is one already in Creek Road which includes a short stretch of the Thames Path.
The royal palace has been replaced by the Royal Naval College buildings now occupied by the University of Greenwich. The public enjoys has free admission to the grounds.
The National Trails website has posted advice to walkers on the Thames Path who reach Inglesham in Wiltshire.
It suggests that “the section of Thames Path between Upper Inglesham and Inglesham is currently best negotiated by taxi or bus”.
The section is just over a mile long and follows a main road rather than the river.
Taxis can be called out from nearby Lechlade on (01367) 252575 or (01367) 253424.
The fare is about £5.
Buses 64 and 74 run between Lechlade and Upper Inglesham except on Sundays.
Traffic has increase since the route was planned in the 1980s. A management strategy published in 2006 indicated that negotiations on an alternative route were “moving forward”.
