A few months ago, I met up with a couple enjoying a quiet drink outside Merckx Bar on the High Street in Eccleshall. I had just dropped off some prints of Eccleshall High Street into Gallery at 12 and was taking a few photos for the second drawing of the High Street, so I could add some real people to the benches outside Mercks.
From this enjoyable but momentary meeting, I was asked if I might draw the Old Vicarage. I hadn’t seen this building before, but possibly because it was hidden away behind a very tall hedge, with only a glimpse through the gate.
The hedge has since been thinned out so that this handsome, Staffordshire red brick building with rusticated brick quoins, is a little more visible from Church Street. It was built in the Queen Anne style and is listed grade 2.
It’s good to look at buildings from a different angle. It has made a pleasant change to draw the Old Vicarage as a one-off perspective, and I’m pleased to have recorded another of Eccleshall’s listed buildings.
The drawing of 1-35 High Street is also finished, here’s part of it. Limited edition signed giclee prints are on sale at Gallery at 12, the Arcade, High Street, Eccleshall.
Thanks for reading. Ronnie
Drawing the Street 
Such a lovely story and the drawings are beautiful. When I saw the name of the bar I thought – definitely Belgian and the bar must be named after the cyclist Eddie Merckx. I didn’t see any mention of him on the website except for a photo in the top corner of the site. My name is Belgian and has the same structure with the confusing ‘ckx’ at the end.
Hi Carol,
Lovely to hear from you. How wonderful that you noticed the name – I never knew any of this. I must tell my husband – he’s a cycling fan. Funny about the spelling – for a while during Sketch Book Skool days, I thought you were Carol Lee Beck, but with a kiss!! The name Cruwys has long distant Flemish/Belgian roots, with another few letters that can cause confusion! Enjoy your day and lovely to hear from you Carol.
Ronnie
There was also a racing driver Jackie Ickx – going back a while – giving away my age !
Your drawings are stunning and really bring out the character of these old buildings.
Hello Peter,
Thank you very much! Lovely to hear from you especially as its only a few weeks since my return from a short study trip to Thessaloniki. You have just reminded me about your images of the angels of Chora – I have been working on my triptych for the icon diploma course, with two Chora-type standing angels on the side panels, but didn’t use your images in the end as our teacher had some close-up photos of each angel taken some years ago which were a bit clearer to work from. The Byzantine churches in Thessaloniki were amazing – the wall paintings and mosaics so beautiful!
Thanks again for your comment,
Ronnie