Jim, thanks for the information on Perkin's Field, it's a shame we haven't got the light and atmosphere of Southern France, else we may have kept Vincent for longer.I did a 'Van Gogh' search on the W4 forum and yes there are some very interesting snippets about Van Gogh's stay here.I also found on the web this detail on where he stayed in Twckenham and the three churches in Twickenham, Richmond and Petersham where he preached."June 1876 - December 1876. (I) Isleworth, 183 Twickenham Road for a short period he worked with Master William Stokes in Linkfield House. Then he found paid employment at 160 Twickenham Road (Holme Court) with Reverend Thomas Slade-Jones, who ran a boarding school and also served as a minister. Vincent assisted him and often visited small churches. (II) Turnham Green, Chiswick High Street; an alley between nrs. 345 and 347 lead to a church building at the back. In this Congregationalist Church Vincent became a co-worker. This building was since demolished. (III) Petersham, Petersham Road, an alley between nrs. 287 en 289; this Wesleyan Chapel was also demolished. (IV) Richmond, at the corner of Kew Road and Evelyn Road was a Methodist Chapel, which was demolished and replaced by another one."(Detail from the Bacon Atlas, 1886, Guildhall Library, London. Taken from the book "Pilgrimage through life, Travelling in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh", written by Kees Kaldenbach & Michel Didier, Amsterdam 1990".)The article also included this map of the time, note the Isleworth House, which later in 1892 Nazareth House was established. I also noted the 'Brentford Union Workhouse' on the site where West Middlesex Hospital is now. More on this in the next reply.: I have been going through his letters, on the website in my previous posting, by clicking next, and in the few letters he wrote whilst he was in Twickenham I was intrigued by the references he made to Twickenham, Richmond, Petersham and Acton Green. It just seems so special to be coming from his pen in 1876. Here are the snippets:"From the train the view of London was beautiful, squatting in its gloom, with Saint Paul's and the other churches in the distance. I went by train to Richmond, and by foot to Isleworth, along the Thames. A fine walk. To the left, there are parks with their poplars, their oaks and gigantic elms; to the right, the river which reflects their images. The evening is fine, somewhat solemn. I got back home at quarter past ten...Last night, I went on foot to Richmond; I thought of you all the time, it was a beautiful grey evening. You know that every Monday I go to the Methodist church at Richmond; yesterday I spoke a few words on the subject “Nothing pleases me except Jesus, and everything pleases me in God.”..Last Wednesday we took a long walk to a village an hour's distance from here. The road led through meadows and fields, along hedges of hawthorn, full of blackberries and clematis, and here and there a large elm tree. It was so beautiful when the sun set behind the grey clouds, and the shadows were long. By chance we met the school of Mr. Stokes, where there are still several of the boys I knew. The clouds retained their red hue long after the sun had set and the dusk had settled over the fields, and we saw in the distance the lamps lit in the village...Then I came to that dark park about which I have written you already and from there I saw in the distance the lights of Isleworth and the church with the ivy, and the churchyard with the weeping willows beside the Thames...Yesterday I was in Mr. Jones's church ( A little wooden church at Turnham green), to help with the preparations for tonight. A clergyman from Leicester will then lecture on the Reformation and illustrate it by magic lantern with slides of that period. I have already seen some of the pictures, they are in the style of Holbein - you know that many painters and graphic artists here work in that style. There was a very beautiful picture of Luther's marriage.Last Monday there was a “tea meeting” in that church; it was the anniversary of its opening. More than two hundred and fifty people were at tea, and afterward Mr. Jones and a few other clergymen spoke until late in the evening.It has been very beautiful here lately, especially the streets in the evening when it is more or less hazy and the lamps are lit, and also in the park which I wrote you about. A few days ago I saw the sun setting there behind the elm trees with their bronze-coloured leaves. Over the grass was that haze which Anna wrote about, and the brook which the swans swim in runs through the park. The acacia trees in the playground have almost lost their leaves; I see them through the window in front of my desk - sometimes they stand out dark against the sky, sometimes I see the sun rise red in the mist behind them. It will soon be winter now; I am so glad Christmas comes in winter - that's why I like winter best of all the seasons.How delightful it will be to sail down the Thames and across the sea, and see those friendly Dutch dunes and the church spire that is visible from so very far away...It was a clear autumn day and a beautiful walk from here to Richmond along the Thames, in which the great chestnut trees with their load of yellow leaves and the clear blue sky were mirrored. Through the tops of the trees one could see that part of Richmond which lies on the hill: the houses with their red roofs, uncurtained windows and green gardens; and the gray spire high above them; and below, the long grey bridge with the tall poplars on either side, over which the people passed like little black figures.Yesterday evening I was again at Richmond, and walked through a large grassy field surrounded by trees and houses, over which the church spire rises. The dew was lying on the grass and the twilight was falling: on one side the sky was still aglow from the setting sun, on the other, the moon was rising. Under the trees an old lady with beautiful grey hair was walking, dressed in black. In the middle of the grass plot the boys had lit a bonfire which one could see flickering from afar. I thought of the lines: “Once at the evening of my life, tired from care and strife, I'll bring Thee praise more loud and fair, for each day given to me here.”..Last Sunday I was at Turnham Green early to teach at Sunday school - it was a real English rainy day. In the morning Mr. Jones preached about the woman of Samaria and then there was Sunday school again. I have to teach it on weekdays too; there are children enough, but the difficulty is to get them together regularly. Mr. Jones and his boys and I went in the afternoon to take tea with the sexton, a shoemaker who lives in one of the suburbs. The view from the windows there reminded me of Holland; a grass field almost turned into a swamp by the pouring rain, around it rows of little red houses with their gardens and the glow of the lighted lamps. In the evening Mr. Jones preached a very beautiful sermon about Naarman the Syrian, and then came the walk home.Last Thursday Mr. Jones made me take his turn, and my text was: “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and together such as I am, except these bonds.”Next Sunday evening I have to go to a Methodist church in Petersham. Petersham is a village on the Thames, twenty minutes beyond Richmond. I do not know what text I shall take, The Prodigal Son or Psalm 42:1. In the morning and afternoon there is Sunday school at Turnham Green.And so the weeks go by and we are approaching winter and a merry Christmas. This week I had to go with one of the boys to Acton Green for Mr. Jones - that grass plot which I saw from the sexton's window. It was very muddy there, but it was lovely when darkness fell and the fog began to rise and one saw the light of a little church in the middle of the plain. To our left were the railway tracks on a rather high embankment; a train passed by and the red glow of the engine and the rows of lights in the carriages were a beautiful sight in the twilight. To our right a few horses were grazing in a meadow surrounded by a hedge of hawthorn and dotted with blackberry bushes...Last Sunday evening I went to a village on the Thames called Petersham. In the morning I had been at the Sunday school in Turnham Green, and after sunset I went from there to Richmond and then to Petersham. Soon it became dark, and I did not know the right way. It was a terribly muddy road, on top of a sort of dike, the slope of which was covered with gnarled elm trees and bushes. At last I saw a light in a little house somewhere below the dike, and climbed and waded through the mud to reach it; there they showed me the right way. But, boy, there was a beautiful little wooden church with a kindly light at the end of that dark road. I read Acts 5:14 - 16 and Acts 12:5 - 17, Peter in prison; and then I told the story of John and Theogenes once more. A harmonium in the church was played by a young lady from the boarding school, the pupils of which were all there.In the morning it was so beautiful on the road to Turnham Green - the chestnut trees and the clear blue sky and the morning sun mirrored in the water of the Thames; the grass was sparkling green and one heard the sound of church bells all around."
Duncan Walker ● 6467d