Now, it was our Joshua who first called the lamp post on the village green, the Narnia Lamp post and that is what it has always remained.
We have plenty of pictures of it taken over the years, from high summer, to autumn and a few in the depths of winter when everywhere was covered in a heavy snowfall.
And as everyone knows, in Narnia, before Aslan arrived, it was always winter and never Christmas, a fact that Lucy discovered when she went through the magic wardrobe and stood beside the lamp post in the snow.*
It is often the starting off point for the history walks and will be again on March 25th when we do our first Quirks History Walk.**
And so with that in mind Peter painted the lamp post as it looked one summer’s day back in 1980.
Back then the Horse and Jockey hadn’t acquired the title of the Inn on Green and it would be another twenty-eight years before Peter Dalton bought the pub from the brewery and began its transformation.
During those years our lamp post was a focal point for gatherings on the green from the summer fair to a production of Henry V. It was also here that by chance one Wednesday evening in 1986 I passed a string quartet, all dressed in formal attire playing a selection from Vivaldi.
There was no audience, but they played on just for the fun of it, and then, and now I thought it seemed so Chorlton.
And for those who want a bit more history I can tell you that the lamp post has moved around a bit.
At one point in the early 20th century it was closer to the lychgate but I guess was moved as traffic got busier.
Later still in 1933 there is a picture of a similar one outside the Horse & Jockey which is different from ours, but why spoil a story?
Painting; The Narnia Lamp post, © 2018 Peter Topping from a photograph by Andrew Simpson, 1980
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook: Paintings from Pictures https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures
*The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S Lewis, 1950
**Walking the Quirks of Chorlton cum-Hardy ....... the first saunter through our past, March 25th at 1 pm meet beside the Narnia Lamp post
 |
| 2018 from a picture, 1980 |
We have plenty of pictures of it taken over the years, from high summer, to autumn and a few in the depths of winter when everywhere was covered in a heavy snowfall.
 |
| 1980 |
It is often the starting off point for the history walks and will be again on March 25th when we do our first Quirks History Walk.**
And so with that in mind Peter painted the lamp post as it looked one summer’s day back in 1980.
Back then the Horse and Jockey hadn’t acquired the title of the Inn on Green and it would be another twenty-eight years before Peter Dalton bought the pub from the brewery and began its transformation.
During those years our lamp post was a focal point for gatherings on the green from the summer fair to a production of Henry V. It was also here that by chance one Wednesday evening in 1986 I passed a string quartet, all dressed in formal attire playing a selection from Vivaldi.
There was no audience, but they played on just for the fun of it, and then, and now I thought it seemed so Chorlton.
 |
| 1933 |
At one point in the early 20th century it was closer to the lychgate but I guess was moved as traffic got busier.
Later still in 1933 there is a picture of a similar one outside the Horse & Jockey which is different from ours, but why spoil a story?
Painting; The Narnia Lamp post, © 2018 Peter Topping from a photograph by Andrew Simpson, 1980
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook: Paintings from Pictures https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures
*The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S Lewis, 1950
**Walking the Quirks of Chorlton cum-Hardy ....... the first saunter through our past, March 25th at 1 pm meet beside the Narnia Lamp post
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