Staines-upon-Thames

A soft, breezy summer day on the Thames at Staines. The willow is the thing — a great green curtain dragging into the water — with the boats and the old riverside house tucked quietly behind it.

An original watercolour of the willow-shaded Thames at Staines-upon-Thames, on 100% cellulose paper. The river runs through Surrey here near Runnymede and the lock at Bell Weir — an old market-town stretch of bankside houses, mooring rings, and big willows that have stood as long as the boats have been tying up under them. The great green curtain of the willow, the red roof half-hidden behind, a breeze on the water: the kind of summer afternoon the Thames does best.