We are looking towards the west. This is a view of the Croydon skyline taken from a point midway on the western side of the Bridle Path that runs north from the Croham Hurst [out of sight to the left of this view] towards the Coombe Wood gardens and tearooms, where it terminates as the Conduit lane at the transverse junction of Coombe Road.
On the far side of Coombe Road, the Oaks Road continues onwards, spreading out in various northward directions through Lloyd Park, Oaks Farm, Addington Hills, and the Shirley Park Golf Course.
The featured image shown here was made on A3 size Bockingford water colour paper in 1982 [my busiest period for producing artwork] and was painted predominantly in a variable duochromatic combination of mustard yellow and blue-grey.
It was taken some way downslope from Ballard’s high-point view and thus a little closer to the skyline of Croydon.
To the left of the tree in the foreground, the spire of St Peter’s Church can be seen popping up above the treetops halfway to the horizon, with the Brighton to London Road running parallel to the horizon just a few hundred yards further back. On the far side of the tree and a little distance out towards the right and running northwards, the towers and rectangular forms of Croydon’s office blocks and Department Stores can be seen, looming out of the mist near the horizon like great behemoths frozen in some timeless cryogenic sleep.
And almost at the far right, nestling between the distant tree-line, the Water Tower stands atop its hillside mound like a sentinel of traditional style, to remind us that Croydon is not just another modern English Manhattan, but was also a prominent town centre in bygone days dating back to Robin Hood’s time.
Dave Draper July 2014
Updated August 2014
See also Croydon Skyline, a panoramic view of Croydon as seen from the high-point of Ballard’s Plantation someway upslope from the Bridle Path towards the east. It was painted in acrylic watercolours and is also located in the landscape section of this website.
Dave Draper September 2014