Morris men a must in gallery collection
YOU never know who will turn up at the Laughing Badger Gallery, but one thing is certain, the readers who do arrive, have always got an interesting story to tell, and invariably something to show me.
A perfect example of this would be Roger Needham, of Uppermill, who visited a few months ago and presented me with an oil painting of my band, The Curragh Sons.
It was an image of us playing at the Railway Hotel in Greenfield and I loved it, apart from the extra thick neck Roger had given me and two or three chins which I’m sure were not mine. Joking aside, the painting is very good and I asked Roger if he had anymore at home. “About two hundred,” he said.
One thing led to another, and now readers can see Roger’s paintings on public show for the first time at the Gallery, from 11.30am until 3pm on Saturday, June 20. The usual red wine and my award-winning scones will be freely available.
My next job is to whittle down the collection to 30 of my favourites; they currently include the Saddleworth Morris Men seen here, a painting with real verve, where the dancers appear to strut their stuff across the canvas, a quintessential English country scene.
Other certainties are the collection of Maltese vignettes, including the little old lady knitting in the shade, an unmistakable yellow bus and the bearded busker.
Whilst also in my top 30 will be the craftsmen and artist, vying for space with the old Cadillac, gently decaying in the Texan sun against a backdrop of the bluest blue possible, a delight.
Be great to see you at the Gallery, but please give me a shout at the usual email, so I don’t run out of scones.
Not wanting to spoil the mood, but following on from my report about the missing Hen Harriers in Bowland, further news just in from the RSPB has my blood boiling. Both the RSPB and Cumbria Police have launched an appeal for information about the unexplained disappearance of a nesting male hen harrier in the North Pennines.
The bird, which was nesting at the Geltsdale reserve, was last seen at the upland site on Saturday, May 23.
He set off hunting at around 7.15am and was last observed by nest protection staff at around 1pm. Without the male returning to provide her with food, the female was forced to abandon her clutch of five eggs, resulting in the failure of the nest.
Unfortunately, incubating the eggs from the nest was not an option. By the time RSPB staff