Tag Archives: Audlem

Audlem, Listed buildings, Williams of Audlem

Warm Glow in Audlem

December 8, 2021 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

There’s always been a warm glow from this much loved shop on Shropshire Street in Audlem, a village which can trace its ancestry back to the Domesday book when it was known as Aldelime. It’s located next to the Shropshire Union Canal where you can find a run of 15 locks designed by Thomas Telford to lift the canal by 28m from the Cheshire Plain to the Shropshire Plain.

Williams of Audlem was established 159 years ago – a record to be proud of! Whilst I was living in nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme, I drew most of the street frontages of this fascinating place and recorded them on my website Drawing the Street.

Williams of Audlem stock some of my signed limited edition giclee prints and there are currently two unframed prints of ‘The Square’ in stock, featuring the family run pub and restaurant ‘The Lord Combomere’.

*The Lord Combomere, The Square, Audlem*

*1 and 2 The Square, Audlem, formerly ‘The Crown’*

You can see the rest of this drawing here.

Head north west from The Square and you reach Cheshire Street where you’ll see this lovely red brick Georgian town house set against the backdrop of the 13thC church of St James, listed grade one.

*Boots the Chemist, Cheshire Street, Audlem*

There is one framed giclee print available in Williams as I write (8th Dec 2021). Here’s a close up of the some of the buildings that make up this side of the street.

A few more cropped images from the street drawing below:

You can see this side of the street in full on my website here.

I’d like to close with a wee thank you to Judy Evans of Williams of Audlem who has been a loyal supporter of my work for many years and to pay a tribute to her beloved Dad Derek, seen here putting out the morning papers for the good readers of Audlem.

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie 🙂

Burslem conservation, Uncategorized

Post Me a Letter

September 27, 2021 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

I’ve been making my way through a long list of unfinished jobs – gradually bringing things I’ve started to completion. A theme in my drawings caught my attention as I noticed several post offices and letter boxes feature in the streetscapes. I like to include some of the street furniture – bus stops, telephone boxes etc to bring some context.

My most recent street drawings of Acomb, York are now up on my website. I started a set of four drawings back in February 2020 and it has taken 18 months to get them scanned. I return to my former workplace to do this – it gives me the chance to see my old workmates at HHA in Stafford (see later on in this post) . I will write more about the Acomb drawings in another post but wanted to take a moment to look at post offices on my streetscapes.

Lets scroll back through my work …. here we are in Lanark, 2019 on West Port. The Post Office is now on Bannantyne Street but this letter box remains outside the location of the old PO on West Port.

Mucky Paws now settled in Lanark’s former Post Office

*Post Box on the corner of Greenside Lane and Hope Street, Lanark*

There’s a rare Victorian (VR) letter box built into the wall outside Christ Church on Hope St, Lanark, well maintained in painted pillar box red.

Post Box – VR Victoria Regina – outside Christ Church, Lanark.

Moving down to Eccleshall in Staffordshire, I picked up the Post Office on Stafford Street, where there is a substantial ‘ER’ post box outside.

*Post Office, Stafford Street, Eccleshall*

You can see the rest of this street here on my street archive blog.

Next up is a sketch I made of the letter box on the platform at Stoke-on-Trent station.

*Post Box on the platform at Stoke-on-Trent station*

This is a bit of a personal favourite as it has a connections to old friends in Staffordshire. This one is a ‘GR’ – George Rex.

Stepping back on the Drawing the Street time line, we reach Audlem, Cheshire. Back in 2014 there was a Post Office here on Stafford Street.

*Post Office (long since gone) Stafford Street, Audlem, Cheshire*

Last of all, is Market Place in Burslem. This too was drawn in 2014.

A regular double sized ‘ER’ post box sits outside the PO Burslem. Here, I included one of my work colleagues, with a bag inscribed ‘HHA’ (Horsley Huber Architects), which marked that the office had been involved in some repair work on this building back then.

I love these little details. They bring the drawings alive!

Thanks as always for reading,

Ronnie

Audlem, Audlem History, Williams of Audlem

Derek at the Door

January 9, 2019 ronniecruwys 4 Comments

Remembering a Gentleman

Audlem is quite the beauty spot with its canals, painted narrow boats and mix of historic buildings. We took all our visiting relations there when we lived in Alsager and later on from Whitmore; it was a great destination any time of year. We had all grown to love this place so it was an easy choice to draw the main high street – some five years ago now.

*Derek loading the newspapers for the day*

I include figures in my drawings as they are the life of the street. I take photos of the buildings and whoever is passing by at the time gets drawn in. Sometimes I find out about them later – like I discovered that the gentleman here at the door of Williams is Derek Mckelvey, so much part of the history of Audlem and a delight to meet and chat to when I called in to the shop.

I was very sorry to learn he passed away early in the New Year. My condolences to all the family and the community as they say their goodbyes.

*Sunny day in August 2013 – a passing moment when Derek was at the door.*

Audlem, Pen and ink drawing, Sketching, Williams of Audlem

Audlem Aglow

December 5, 2014 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

October was a bit premature to share what was on my drawing board at the time – snowy scenes of some of Audlem’s delightful shops.

Now that we are into Advent and the temperature has fallen, it feels much more timely to share the images which are now on sale as Christmas cards at Williams of Audlem.

Newsagent Audlem — Derek at the Doorway of Williams of Audlem

Pop in to Williams and say hello to Derek!

Audlem Cycle Sport pen and ink drawing — Audlem Cycle Sport and Dry Cleaners

Old Priest House, Audlem, pen and ink drawing — The Old Priest House Cafe, Audlem

Pen and ink Old Post Office Audlem — The Old Post Office, Audlem

Following on fromm my last blog post, here’s the finished tea towel – a great Christmas gift and easy to post! On sale at Williams of Audlem, Cheshire.

Tea Towel of Audlem from pen and ink drawing — Audlem Tea Towel on display at Williams of Audlem

Thanks for reading!

Audlem, Pen and ink drawing, Sketching, Williams of Audlem

Dry up the Blues!

November 29, 2014 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

Narrow Boar in Audlem — Narrow Boat, Audlem

I have been having some fun with blue and red ink lately. Judy of Williams of Audlem has been doing a fine job of retailing the limited edition prints of the Audlem street scene so when asked about a tea towel design, I took it as an opportunity to play!

pen and ink drawing Audlem — Audlem Butter Market

I like tea towels to have fresh cheery colours, so picked up my inks and sketched some of the local landmarks and features. Audlem has a strong identity linked to the Shropshire Union Canal flowing alongside the village and there is plenty of subject material – enough perhaps for a second tea towel next year!

Here are the images which appear on the tea towel, now on sale through Williams of Audlem. They make a practical gift as well as being easy to post overseas.

More Audlem drawings in my next post – Christmas cards!

pen and ink wash williams of audlem — Derek (Judy’s Dad) in the doorway – Williams of Audlem

painted jugs pen and ink — Painted flower jugs seen on narrow boats

pen and ink drawing Oxtail and Trotter — Oxtail and Trotter

Pen and ink drawing of the window — Window from St James Church, Audlem

memorial audlem cheshire — Audlem Memorial

Shroppie fly pub — The Shroppie Fly, Audlem

Architectural Drawing, Audlem, Pen and ink drawing

Audlem Street Drawing Limited Edition Prints

Image June 3, 2014 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

Audlem drawing at the printers — Simon at Smith York Printers in Ironbridge and me, Ronnie, with the Audlem street drawing

Whenever I finish a drawing, I scan it as soon as possible as the original often represents over a hundred hours work. Given the size of the drawings (the Audlem drawing is 2 metres long), the scanned file sizes are huge as I scan with a high resolution for the best quality prints and so that enlargements on to canvas can be made for festival banners.

The street drawings are non-standard sizes so there are not many printing firms that can handle this combination. That said, Smith York in Ironbridge is a place where Simon not only can scan, but he also makes adjustments to the scanned image in order to reproduce the best quality giclee prints on heavy watercolour paper.

Andy and Jane at the Old Priest House, Audlem — Jane and Andy with the large size framed print of the Audlem street scene – soon to go up on the wall of the cafe.

The first few limited edition prints are now ready and for sale. I took the first framed large colour print along to Jane and Andy who have been running the Old Priest House in Audlem for almost twenty years. As Jane herself has been included on the drawing, it’s a great keepsake for friends and family of the part they have played in Audlem life. Thanks to you both for providing us with a top destination for many a sturdy breakfast!

When I set out to draw a street, I make thumbnail sketches and take photos. Inevitably, I photograph a few passers-by and I like to draw them too as they are an important part of the streetscape. It crossed my mind that people may wonder if they have been included on a drawing so here are a few photographed faces and the corresponding sketches.

Set within the lovely group of buildings known as ‘The Square’, there is a shop which has been in the same family since 1862 – it’s Williams of Audlem. I particularly like the sign-writing on the awnings and doorway – and the attractive flower baskets and flags all add up to it looking very elegant indeed.

Audlem is a cycling hub! Cyclists are hard to catch on the move but I managed to snatch a few taking off. The slow start can only be the result of a big breakfast…

phone man Audlem — Walk and talk – Audlem

Williams of Audlem and the Old Priest House are stocking limited edition (100 total) prints. If you would like to buy an unframed colour print, prices are as follows: small (800mm long) £95, medium (1200mm) £135 and large (1500mm) £175.

The prices reflect the quality of the print, the work involved in the drawing and include a commission to the trader. So, if you buy a print, you also support your local high street! There are also a selection of postcards from the drawing avaiable for sale. Please dont hesitate to contact me if you would like to reserve a print.

Stafford Street Audlem — Summer people in Stafford Street

summer people in Audlem — Mum and youngsters Audlem Summer 2013

Thanks for reading!

drawing out the best in our streets