Merseyside maritime artist Ted Walker is celebrating a double triumph, with his first book and the first exhibition of his work in Liverpool. Peter Elson reports
by Peter Elson, Liverpool Daily Post
WHEN maritime artist Ted Walker's great grandfather, Fergus Gowland, captained his sailing ship into Liverpool during the 1850s, he was met by his wife Isabella with their baby daughter, Annie, who travelled down from Hartlepool.
"It was so early in the age of railways that they must have practically travelled by Stephenson's Rocket," chuckles Ted.
According to family legend, when Capt Gowland was ready to go on leave, the family disembarked from the ship in Liverpool docks, and Customs & Excise checked all the crew members, but not Mrs Gowland.
This was just as well, as the good captain had all his contraband tobacco wrapped inside the swaddling cocooning baby Annie (later Ted's grandmother).
"My great grandfather thought it was a great joke to try and outwit the excise men and he was very pleased with his clever ruse, but it would've been a different story if he'd been caught," laughs Ted even more heartily.
A very Liverpool story indeed, encapsulating the courage, cunning and subversiveness that the worldwide reputation of this great northern seaport is based upon.
There are many other stories of this ilk filling Sea Liverpool, the Maritime Art of Edward D Walker, published by Ron Jones Associates.
After all, the wealth derived from the sea is practically the sole reason for Liverpool's existence. Yet many citizens complain that the city has turned its back on the sea, as the economy has moved elsewhere.
While one book will hardly stem this tide, it is a timely reminder of the immeasurable global influence of Liverpool's mercantile trade, by showing the rich variety of vessels that it was conveyed in.
"This is the first time I've had a book dedicated to my own work, although my paintings have appeared in many others, such as those of naval war historian and writer Philip Kaplan. Already we've sold one copy to someone in Florida," says Ted.
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