2010/4

In the Fylde,

Frank Patterson (Artist)

Pen and ink drawing by Frank Patterson (1871–1952). Depicts Ribchester and Penwortham Priory, both in the Lancashire region known as 'Fylde'.
This framed pen and ink drawing by Frank Patterson (1871–1952) is made up of two separate drawings that have been joined together for publication. The top drawing depicts Ribchester and Penwortham Priory, both in the Lancashire region known as 'Fylde'. Ribchester is a village of Roman origin that sits in a curve of the river Ribble, halfway between Preston and Clitheroe, and is in ideal weekend cycling country. The bottom drawing illustrates the Lincolnshire places of Flamborough, and Hubbard's Valley in Louth. For more than half a century from 1893, Patterson provided a constant flow of distinctive illustrations for the Cycling Magazine, and for the Cyclists' Touring Club Gazette from 1925. Through thousands of drawings, all in this finely observed style, Patterson captured the essence of the early twentieth century countryside and the joy of exploring it on two wheels in such a way that associating cycling with the rural landscape became fixed in the cultural memory.

1 drawing: paper; Framed

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – Description: Pen and ink drawing on paper, with heading 'In the Fylde'. Made up of two separate drawings that have been joined together for publication. Signed Frank Patterson, 1929. The drawings are captioned 'Ribchester on the Ribble,' Penwortham Priory,' 'Flamborough' and 'Hubbard's Valley, Louth.' Framed by MERL. // Associated information: Purchased as part of the Collecting 20thc Rural Cultures project. Frank Patterson (1871–1952) was a prolific artist for Cycling magazine and the Cycling Tourists Club Gazette. // References: 'Frank Patterson. A Biography' by Gerry Moore, 1985.', Collecting 20thc Rural Culture blog [Friday, 5 February 2010] – 'Frank Patterson, cycling artist, 1920s // Staying with the theme of cycling and the countryside, here is an original pen and ink drawing [In the Fylde] from 1929 by the most renowned of all cycling artists, Frank Patterson (1871–1952). For more than half a century from 1893, he provided a constant flow of distinctive illustrations for Cycling magazine. And from 1925 he was doing the same for the Cyclists' Touring Club Gazette. Ribchester, the subject here on the left, is a village of Roman origin that sits in a curve of the river Ribble. Roughly midway between Preston and Clitheroe, it is in ideal weekend cycling country. // Through thousands of drawings, all in this finely observed style, Patterson captured the essence of the early twentieth century countryside and the joy of exploring it on two wheels in such a way that associating cycling with the rural landscape became fixed in the cultural memory. // Patterson himself was a keen cyclist in his younger days until a knee injury forced him to give up at the age of 35. After completing his studies at Portsmouth Art School, he moved to London in search of work as a jobbing artist and for recreation took to cycling in rural parts south of the capital. // From 1898, Patterson lived and worked deep in the countryside at Pear Tree Farm near Billingshurst, West Sussex. Initially, it was rented at 9d a year and then in 1902 purchased for £5 (in 2008 it was on the market for £1.45 million). Here he lived a dual life, working his land and engaging in country pursuits in the morning whilst afternoons were spent in the study, fulfilling his contract of ten drawings a week for the magazine publishers Temple Press. // [The Fifteenth Century Dove-Cote at Wasperton, Warwick] A second Patterson drawing we have acquired for the project, this one dated 1924.'

1929 - 1929