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| Tiptree |
Wilkin & Sons Ltd - of 'Tiptree' jam fame - are situated on the main road of the village of Tiptree adjacent to Factory corner. Her Majesty The Queen recently passed through the hallowed gates topped with her royal warrant in 2010 to mark Wilkin & Sons' 125 anniversary. I have had the good pleasure of presenting an illustration to, and meeting, Peter Wilkin - the great grandson of the founder and a complete English gentleman if you ever met one.
From my house some half a mile away (as the wind blows) the scent of sweet Jam from the tall chimneys is carried on any North Easterly breezes and is a pleasant aroma that always surprises when returning home or setting out for the day. The factory hooter can also be heard marking the important times during the jam making day.
For me there is something of the Roald Dahl's fictional Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory about these main gates and I can't recall seeing any workers enter or leave by these gates. The wonderfully ornamental ironwork twists and turns and its manufacture is a skill from a bygone age, as are their famous jams and preserves.
This drawing is set as the low Autumnal sunshine beams through the ironwork gates, much as the glint of gold always beams from of a box of opened treasure at the movies.
Wilkin & Sons Ltd, Factory Hill, Tiptree, Essex
Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on Bockingford 190gsm watercolour paper £14.99Original 12' x 9" pen and marker sketch on 140lb water colour paper £125
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012
