Budleigh Past and Present

  Continued from  https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2020/06/history-in-art-arms-and-men.html A purported portrait of Myles Standish, allegedly painted in 1625, first published in 1885.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myles_Standish From Plymouth to Gainsborough and from Southampton to Scrooby, towns all over England have been anticipating Mayflower 400, with plans to mark what has been seen as a historic moment four centuries ago when the Plymouth Pilgrims arrived in the New World and set up their Massachusetts colony.  After so much hard work to prepare pageants and exhibitions the disruption and postponement of events caused by Covid 19 is being  keenly felt. Myles Standish Way, Chorley Image credit: Chorley Council Most of the Pilgrims came from the East of England – none was from Devon. But Chorley in Lancashire was particularly proud of its link with the  Mayflower  through Captain Miles Standish, the Pilgrims’ military command

  Continued from    https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2020/06/painting-from-history-two-artists-at.html Budleigh resident Nick Speare as The Sailor in the 2018 ‘The Boyhood of Raleigh’ re-enactment by Fairlynch Museum volunteers. Photo credit: Rob Coombe    Still remembering that swelteringly hot day in May 2018 when we re-enacted ‘The Boyhood of Raleigh’ on Budleigh beach, I’m continuing to relate John Washington’s sketch to Millais’ masterpiece. Young Walter as portrayed in Millais’ The Boyhood of Raleigh As Millais and every artist knows, hand and arm gestures play a key role in their work, guiding the viewer to a certain conclusion. Young Walter’s gaze is internalised, fixed on the world of his imagination, thousands of miles distant from what we actually see in the painting. He seems to be looking through the sailor rather than at him. The Boyhood of Raleigh, on show for the third time a