Alan Firth – Wedgwood Wall Plates Exhibition

An Exhibition of Wedgwood Wall Plates – The Waterways in Winter Moonlight by the late Alan Firth can be viewed at the Cotswold Canals Trust Visitor Centre at Wallbridge Lock from Sunday 14th April.

Alan Firth 1933 – 2012

Alan Firth was an original member of the Guild of Waterway Artists
The Guild was founded during the 1980's by a group of artists who were also keen and knowledgeable waterway enthusiasts.
Notable among them were Garth Allan, Brian Collings, Alan Firth and Harley Crossley. Their aim was to truthfully depict all aspects of Canals and Waterways in their art and to promote excellence in Waterway art.

Work boats in Wigan

Alan Firth was born in Blackpool in 1933 and fell in love with canals as a young boy hitching lifts on working boats in Wigan. He moved to Coventry in 1960.
Alan taught at Tile Hill Wood School Coventry until 1983 and was regarded as one of Britain’s best known waterway artists.

In an interview in 1981 he said “When I came to Coventry I explored the local canals and met the late Joe & Rose Skinner on their boat Friendship at Sutton Stop.

"One of my great pleasures was spending evenings drawing on their boat and talking about their life on the cut.”
Alan painted in gouache, a thick water based paint and specialised in misty atmospheric scenes.

Even today his work continues to be reproduced on calendars, plates, postcards and greeting cards.

All eight plates in the Winter Moonlight series can be seen at The Visitor Centre at Wallbridge.

A wide range of greetings cards featuring Alan Firth's atmospheric paintings are also available.

Alan Firth died in North Yorkshire in February 2012.

The full collection of eight Wedgwood plates with individual certificates of authenticity are available for purchase