Stanley Spencer Gallery and Cookham

I have wanted to visit the Stanley Spencer Gallery at Cookham, near Maidenhead (Berks) for years, ever since I discovered his art in an exhibition in London. I cannot remember what that exhibition was - it wasn't just his work on show, but his art (mainly war art) blew me away.

So this was a pilgrimage for me yesterday - to visit Cookham where Stanley Spencer grew up and lived most of his life. Getting to Cookham by public transport didn't look too bad. It was just the infrequent trains from Paddington (one an hour) with a change at Maidenhead that made it essential to plan ahead! Circumstances seemed out to get me from the start. The tube train had door problems at one stop and it took ages to sort and I was worrying that I wouldn't get the train I was after and would have to wait another hour. However, I arrived at Paddington, though somewhat like a headless chicken, I couldn't at first sport the ticket office! Normally I book tickets online but I was after my full quota of concessions (Oyster 60+ card and Senior Citizens Railcard - you can only get the latter online). With the combined concessions the total price of my return ticket came to £4.45. I was amazed.

Sitting in the train I began to relax. That is until we were stopped by a red signal and were stuck there for ages. I was concerned now for my connecting train. I was right. When I arrived at Maidenhead the next train wasn't for 40-45 minutes. Cookham is only a few miles up the line! I went down to ticket barrier and asked how far away the Thames was from the station as I intended to walk there along the Thames Path. He said about half an hour. I explained what had happened and he said 'hang on a minute,' waved me through the barrier and out into the station car park. You'll never guess - they'd laid on a replacement taxi service! Four of us bundled in the taxi for all stations to Marlow, while another 15 or so waited for more taxis. The driver dropped me nearer to the gallery which was nice but on route we were nearly hit by flying metal as a lorry came under the bridge from the other direction. It was overloaded and this piece of metal hit the bridge and the pole came hurtling down onto the road. The driver had to break. He sounded his horn but the lorry kept on going. As I was in the front of the taxi I got full view of everything. I thought well at least that's the three things now. Everything comes in threes.

Anyway, on to the gallery. I walked towards the village, a mix of old pubs and restaurants - noted the tea shop for later - and arrived at the gallery, a former Methodist Chapel attended by Stanley Spencer, his mother and his siblings. the gallery was smaller than I imagined but the art work was wonderful, Such attention to detail. This was a whole new side of his work I had never seen before. Exquisite Magnolias, Cornflowers, Rock Roses, Lilies as well as paintings of his ex wife and second wife and the inevitable resurrection scenes. He painted many of these and what I loved about them was their setting. Like his other biblical scenes he set them mainly in Cookham, bringing Jesus to the heart of ordinary life. Covering almost the length of one gallery wall is Spencer's unfinished Jesus Preaching at Cookham Regatta with Jesus sitting in a basket chair. I could clearly see the drafting of the unpainted parts - the grid lines and the outlines of the people. Amazing. On show the gallery had letters and an almanac Spencer illustrated in pen and ink. In fact I loved his pen and ink drawings. Other items included his brushes, palette and glasses.

Before I left the gallery I bought a walking guide of Cookham. In it are three walks which take you to places Spencer painted as well as pointing out the house he lived in etc. So, before I set off to the tea shop I did one of the walks. This one was the village walk taking in the house, war memorial (the name of one of his brother's is there), part of the Thames and Holy Trinity Church where his Last Supper hangs. I was unable to find the memorial stone in the churchyard. The guide just said look for it but I must have missed it.

I then headed for the tea shop, a wonderful light airy mix of modern with that quirky English feel about it - lovely cups and saucers etc. I opted for a teacake and a pot of tea. Afterwards I set out for the second walk (Odney Common Walk) which took in a working lock. I then decided to attempt the other walk, known as the Winter Walk which runs through Marsh Meadow and Cockmarsh. This one joins the Thames Path again and I almost made it to Bourne End which is the next stop on the Thames Path walk. But I was conscious of the time and a train I didn't want to miss!

Cookham station has no staff (at the time I was there). Both the ticket office and the toilets were shut. Luckily I had a ticket and knew the train from Maidenhead had an onboard toilet should I need it. Cookham is single track line which may be why there is only one train an hour in both directions. When I got to Maidenhead there was chaos as someone had been hit by a train in the Southall area and delays were expected. The train was packed, though I managed to get a seat. At other stops the train became so packed that a number of people were unable to board. There was in fact no delay coming into London and the rest of my journey home was, thankfully, uneventful.

It was a wonderful day. The sun shone almost non stop and I loved Cookham, though I should imagine that living there might prove a bit isolating with only one convenience store near the station and a poor rail service, but the scenery makes up for it. I have started making tentative notes for Thames Path walks and have my heart set on an overnight stay at The Crown!