Rhubarb

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7 St Edward’s r hubarb
in Grahame’s fiction. Ratty is crossing in the
boat and nearly gets hit by a St Edward’s
four, to the horror of Mole. We used to
row down along Port Meadow and at times
there were so many boats that we did have
collisions. Badger is harassed by some small
animals, maybe stoats.
The young Kenneth Grahame (1868-
1875) is leaning against a fence in the middle
whilst a cricket match is being played by the
‘Wagtails’, the only recognized team I ever
played for, and quite the worst cricketers in
the world. We used to play on the bottom
field to the left by the water gardens and
the old swing bridge over the canal. It was
usually waterlogged, and the only cricketing
manoeuvre we ever perfected was the
overhead wide. So, the cricket ball flying
high in the painting is an overhead wide,
conveniently painted over a mark on the
wall where the fire alarm had previously
been. There are also one or two aeroplanes
flying around in honour of the OSE flying
aces of WW2.
What was the initial reaction to
the painting?
Everyone seemed to like it, notably the head
of the Kenneth Grahame Society, but you
never know if people are sometimes just
being polite. The most memorable reaction
was a piece of classic schoolboy voodoo –
I went down one morning and found a cold
roast potato sitting on my palette ... We
loved doing the painting and were greatly
honoured to get the job. We wanted it to
fit into the School’s splendid literary and
academic history, and also to appeal to the
new pupil profile (including younger persons
and girls). Hence the couple playing music
on the wall.
What do you think current students
might think about the painting today?
Most will probably think it’s a typical
example of how not to paint. I remember
that the Art School at Teddies has advanced
a lot since my day! The best impressions of
my life at St Edward’s are contained in my
book The Phytanthrope.
Further details about Tom and his wife
Ana can be found by visiting their websites:
and
f e a t u r e s