I was on a walk round the village - yes I did Steward Strolls before they became a feature of our day. In Great Melton Road I stopped for a quick chat with Peter Hoult who is well known in the village - think bike, mower and machinery repairs. No need at that time for social distancing!
Pete had been to a museum somewhere (I forget exactly where) and had come across art work by Russell Reeve. He found out that the artist was born in Hethersett. So just who was Russell Reeve?
Russell Reeve was born in Hethersett in 1895 and attended the Norwich School of Art in 1908, later training to become an architect in the Norwich City Engineers’ Department from 1908-1914.
During the First World War, he was a lieutenant with the Royal Engineers in France. He then attended the Slade School of Art from 1919 to 1922 and became an authority in figure drawing.
He made his home in London but regularly drew the animals, landscapes and people of Suffolk where much of his family lived. Later the Mediterranean became one of his biggest influences.
Today his works have been acquired by many top museums and galleries including the Royal Academy, the Tate Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Imperial War Museum. The reproduction above depicts the Felixstowe to Ipswich Coach and is courtesy of the Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service: Ipswich Borough Council Collection.