Barry Docks Gallery

New Year’s Eve fifty-five years ago was cold, bright and breezy with intermittent showers. It was, I suppose, something of a pilgrimage that we were on. We had no idea how significant this place would eventually become for the heritage railway sector. I had been there previously in 1964 and 1965, so the scene of apparent abandonment was actually very familiar to me. If one felt inclined to clamber on to the roof of a rusting steam loco’, one might as well choose a King as there were two available to choose from. My only slight irritation in the longer term was that the Warship Class D600 Active was withdrawn from service on this very day and was destined to be scrapped at Barry some time afterwards, to remain as the only Warship I never saw.

Cashmore’s

On our way to Barry docks on 30^th December 1967, we called in at Cashmore’s of Newport. John Cashmore Ltd had been established in 1872 and was primarily a ship breakers yard. Their headquarters was at Great Bridge in the West Midlands and steam locomotives were disposed of at both sites during the 1960s. Notably, No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester had a narrow escape, having been sent to Cashmore’s by mistake, before belatedly being sent on to Woodhams at Barry and eventual rescue. It was a dull and damp afternoon by the time we reached the banks of the River Usk, though we were in time to record the last moments of some ex-BR engines before they were torched. It was 55 years ago today.

Kingfisher

We settled down for a pre-recorded BBC Autumnwatch programme that included an item on how the kingfisher’s aero-dynamic shape was used to improve the design of the Japanese high-speed Shikansen trains. Initially aimed at reducing sonic boom when leaving tunnels, tests also showed that the improved designs were also more efficient in their overall use of energy.

We are lucky enough to see kingfishers on the Trent with some regularity, but this summer at Chatsworth was the first time we had watched one fishing from a perch.

Before the Sunday Roast

Between our visits on Sunday 12^th November and Sunday 3^rd December 1967, the last remaining steam locomotives at Birkenhead Mollington Street depot disappeared – all 47 of them that had been present just three weeks before. It’s an understatement that we were somewhat disappointed with that state of affairs. The penny had dropped. Our beloved steamies were gone for ever. After Birkenhead sheds on a Sunday morning, I cycled home to the predictable - and in fact, never-changing - roast lamb dinner that my mum always described as “the joint”.

Fifty-five years later, plus one day, I travelled to a viewpoint opposite Toton depot, with the single-minded purpose of looking out for diesel locomotives – successors to the breeds that I had been so disappointed to see had taken over all those years ago. I then drove home for a veggie sausage sandwich. Some things change. Some things stay the same.

Original railway art sold at railwayana auctions in 2022

This account summarises the sale of original paintings of Britain’s railways at the main railwayana auctions up to the end of 2022. General auction houses and fine art sales selling railway paintings in the same period are not included. In 2022, the main railwayana auction houses have largely stuck to their online, Covid-restricted arrangements of the last two years, though some have recently started to return to live event formats at the same pre-pandemic venues as before. The quality of photos advertising paintings for sale in online catalogues is now much improved across the board.

 

1. The number of original railway paintings sold at railwayana auctions fell sharply in 2022, compared to the previous year: 2011 - 32, 2012 - 41, 2013 - 61, 2014 - 88, 2015 - 105, 2016 - 136, 2017 - 81, 2018 - 66, 2019 - 87, 2020 - 70, 2021 - 144, 2022 - 84.

 

2. Consequently, the number of railway artists represented also fell in 2022, when compared to 2021: 2011 - 25, 2012 - 20, 2013 - 27, 2014 - 34, 2015 - 42, 2016 - 48, 2017 - 31, 2018 - 25, 2019 - 25, 2020 - 33, 2021 - 59, 2022 - 35.

 

3. The number of railwayana auction events that sold railway paintings fell back to pre-pandemic levels in 2022: 2011 - 7, 2012 - 10, 2013 - 13, 2014 - 19, 2015 - 18, 2016 - 22, 2017 - 18, 2018 - 14, 2019 - 16, 2020 - 16, 2021 - 25, 2022 - 17. 

 

4. In 2022, eight paintings by three different artists reached or surpassed a £1,000 hammer price at railwayana auctions. The number of such paintings sold at these venues each year and the artists concerned were:

2011 - 3 paintings, by Heiron [2], Broom,

2012 - 3 paintings, by Bottomley, Hawkins, Broom,

2013 - 8 paintings, by Broom [2], Breckon [2], Heiron, Root, Price, Freeman,

2014 - 7 paintings, by Root [3], Elford, Breckon, Freeman, Hawkins,

2015 - 11 paintings, by Breckon [3], Hawkins [2], Root [2], Beech, Ellis, Elford, Price.

2016 - 13 paintings, by Breckon [4], Price [3], Hawkins [2], Freeman, Root, Broom, Greene                

2017 - 7 paintings, by Freeman [2], Price [2], Broom, Root, Breckon,

2018 - 9 paintings, by Hawkins [4], Breckon [2], Price [2], Root,

2019 - 9 paintings, by Breckon [4], Broom, Cuneo, P. O. Jones, Root,

2020 - 7 paintings, by Price [4], Freeman, P. O. Jones, Shelbourne,

2021 - 11 paintings, by Breckon [3], Price [3], Hawkins [2], Fearnley, Broom, Freeman,

2022 - 9 paintings by Breckon [5], Root [2], Price [2],

 

The work of a relatively small group of favoured contemporary railway artists continues to sell well above the rates achieved by others. Over the last twelve years, works by Don Breckon [25], Barry G. Price [18], Philip D. Hawkins [12], Malcolm Root [12], Gerald Broom [8] and Barry Freeman [7] have been most prominent in this category. It’s worth noticing how infrequently paintings by Terence Cuneo and David Shepherd - both former fellows of the Guild of Railway Artists - appear at railwayana auctions. Both artists are recognised nationally as having a wider remit than solely for their railway pictures. As their work could therefore appeal to a wider range of prospective buyers, sellers might logically prefer the fine art sales option, instead.

Baroda at Lime Street by John Harrison was sold at a railwayana auction in 2020.