Fenton | Drawing the Street

The other day I received an email via my archive blog ‘Drawing the Detail’ from a lady who mentioned that her grandparents, the Rowbothams, lived in one of these Fenton houses. I love to hear of personal connections with the buildings and streets that I draw. It brings them to life. This is a name that I can add along with the Hammersley family – more about that on the blog link above.

*Two brick built terraces in Fenton, Stoke on Trent*

I’m often asked why I choose to draw a particular street – this one threw a hook out as I was driving past when we were living in Staffordshire. I had to pull over to take a second look as I couldn’t get over how beautifully thought out it was with all the brick detailing and decorative terracotta tiles.

It also reminded me of the building where I used to work at Horsley Huber Architects – 134 Newport Road Stafford. Here’s the old work family! The photo info states that it was taken 19 years ago, 1 Jan 2003 – it must have been a mild day. There I am in the lilac top front left – still with brown hair!

*Staff at Horsley Huber Architects, sometime around 2003* *I think*

We’re all a good bit older now and we’ve since had to say goodbye to a dear friend Ken (back, 4th from right) RIP.

Returning to my drawing – these buildings are on Victoria Road and Hitchman Street, in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent.

You can imagine that it was a real pleasure to draw a street like this – it’s an uncommon find. If you want to discover more about Stoke’s creative tiles, have a look at Ceramic City Stories.

I use a mapping nib in a Brause dip pen. This gives me a flexible line.

Last of all, here’s the final limited edition print with both streets set together within a double mount. Barewall Gallery in Burslem have a framed print in stock which you can buy online here.

As always, thanks for reading,

Ronnie 🙂

Fenton is one of the six towns of the Potteries, Stoke-on Trent. It’s the one that wasn’t included in the writing by Arnold Bennett. Many of you will know that Stoke is currently in the run up towards the bid for the City of Culture 2021 so I thought I could play a small part and share some of the architecture of the Sixth Town that may fall under the radar.

pencil sketch of architecture in fenton Stoke on trent — *Sketching out brick and tiled gables on Victoria Road, Fenton*

Driving along Victoria Road, Fenton last year, a row of dark red brick houses caught my eye and I pulled over to take a better look. It turns out that there’s quite a surprising tale of connections for me behind the history of these buildings but more on that next time.

So, fresh from the drawing board, some work in progress pictures of Victoria Road in the Hitchman Street Conservation area, Fenton.

This is a row of terraced houses built on a philanthropic model for pottery workers towards the end of the 19th century. There is a comprehensive write up about the history of the conservation area here.

Look closely at the gables and there are some wonderful terracotta tile patterns.

The thought that has gone into the design of the fronts is consistent, balanced and although intricate, it all adds up to a really attractive terrace.

pen and ink drawing of Fenton Stoke on Trent — *Ink on paper underway on 36 and 38 Victoria Road.*

Back to the drawing now and more about this next time.

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie

drawing out the best in our streets

Drawing the Street

Tag Archives: Fenton

Fenton and Families

And the Sixth town is Fenton

drawing out the best in our streets