The landscape of the Weir at Spetisbury on the river Stour, was painted while the family was on a summer holiday there staying in a small caravan (trailer) that was parked in a farmer’s field with a view of the river.  My mother had made arrangements with one of the other parents, the Jackson-Pownalls, at the boarding school where we went.  A holiday in a borrowed caravan was the solution for us to “get away” somewhere when we couldn’t really afford to go anywhere.  It didn’t matter that we were only a half hours drive from our house in Bournemouth, this was an adventure and a real change of scenery. 
As we explored our surroundings my mother thought this was a view worth painting while her children thought it a great place to play. We all came back the next day, my mother equipped with her easel and painting gear, and us with our wellies. The actual painting was completed over the course of two days.  Besides being a reminder of an idyllic summer holiday, I think it’s an excellent composition and a real representation of a riparian view of the English countryside.  It was always displayed prominently in our house and when my father wanted to buy the painting a few years later, my mother wouldn’t part with it but instead painted him a copy.  My brother inherited the copy from my father and I inherited the original.

The Copy