Discovering Poole: an artists' haven 1850 - 1950

We had a lorra, lorra rain overnight and everything was very soggy this morning. The weather picked up as the day went on and afterlunch I walked 'my usual' circuit - down to park gates, through the park to Whitecliff, round Baiter to the quay and back home via the High Street. Today I made a stop at Poole Museum at the quay end of the High Street to view the exhibition "Discovering Poole: an artists' haven 1850 - 1950".

I had been intending to go since it opened but hadn't gotten around to it until now. The exhibition is in two rooms over two floors. It starts in the exhibition room on the second floor and continues in the room below (so you needn't go back to the main staircase you can pop down the stairs in the corner of the room). It includes pictures owned by the town and others which are on loan.

As a local I found it interesting to see how Poole looked not so long ago and to see how it has changed. Most notably the development along the coast and the decline of the working harbour. Some of the buildings that have now gone I can remember from my childhood days but there are still places that are instantly recognisable today.

The museum is housed in an 18th century harbour warehouse and the building itself features in a number of the pictures on display.

There is work by Steer, John Everett, Augustus John, Henry Lamb, Gibble, Leslie Ward, Arthur Bell and others. It's a nice touch that one of Henry Lamb's paintings is placed on a wall the other side of which is the view depicted! Another of his well know paintings "The Doler" is a reminder of the 1920's when many of Poole's townsfolk were unemployed and on the dole. May the current recession not turn out so badly for our town.

The exhibition is well worth an hour or so of your time. It's on until 28th February 2010. Visit the Council's website for opening hours etc.

By the time I came out of the museum it was a glorious sunny afternoon but it being after 4pm it was too late to visit Scaplens Court Garden across the road.

I don't know whether it was because I had been viewing pictures of a bygone age, or because it was a glorious summer's afternoon but I hankered after afternoon tea with scones and cream. It being Sunday the shops were closed but I did find some scones in our local Tesco Express. They didn't have clotted cream (but they do have goose fat?!) so had to make do with thick double cream. With Raspberry conserve and tea drunk from a china mug it hit the spot even so!