Early Life

In 1901 Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe was born in the village of Langley, which nestles in east Cheshire hill country, just a mile or so from Macclesfield. Before moving to Langley his parents, William and Margaret were tenants of the Eagle and Child public house, near Gradbach in the Dane valley. Life was not easy in this remote, but picturesque corner of Cheshire, so they moved to Langley. This is where William set up in his former trade as a shoemaker. William's fine shoes and clogs were in great demand by local people. He worked long and tedious hours crouched over his shoe last to make a living. His wooden workshop stood by the River Bollin, to the rear of their small terraced cottage. The employees at the village's Whiston silk works bought most of his shoes. The family increased to four children. Unfortunately the infant Charles developed pneumonia. His gradual recovery, along with William's health problems, prompted a better way of life for the family. In 1904 nearby Sutton Lane Ends Farm became available as a tenancy, and as both William and Margaret were of hill-country farming stock, they decided to take on the challenge. This is where Charles first displayed his lifelong interest in art.

Lane Ends Farm was an idyllic setting for Charles to grow up in. The ancient farmhouse is beautifully constructed from Teg's Nose, buff and pink sandstone. The farm and surrounding grand landscape inspired the young artist to draw. There were endless subjects: the pigs in the sty, hens scratching in the midden, and cows lazily chewing their cud in the buttercup and ladies smock speckled meadow. The River Bollin flows through the meadow on its way from the fringes of the Peak District, to meander the Cheshire Plain. It was in this little stream - a tributary of the Mersey - that Tunnicliffe fished for red-breasted sticklebacks and minnows. While they were jam-jar captives he would attempt to draw their every detail. His artistic skills were improving all the time. He would draw on every scrap of paper he could find, including the blank pages of Psalters at St James' church, where he was a choirboy. Tunnicliffe records in 'My Country Book' (Studio 1942), that he also embellished his father's newly erected cart-shed with chalk drawings of animals. The freshly creosoted shed panels made a wonderful art gallery, but his father was not at all impressed. His sister Dorothy recollected that, 'Charles beat a hasty retreat to the large sycamore tree behind the farmhouse, until father's ominous warnings had ceased echoing around the village'.

In his youth Charles had to work hard on the twenty-acre family farm. There were many chores for him to carry out. This often involved rising early on cold frosty mornings to milk the cows; these were then fed along with the pigs and hens. The smell of sizzling bacon wafting across the farmyard would then beckon him to the house for breakfast. In summer time he would rise early, often at four o'clock, to cut hay in the misty riverside meadow. The backbreaking job of haymaking brought the assistance of relatives and neighbours to the farm. Their labours were usually rewarded with a traditional farm lunch. Charles' mother was a fine cook and baked delicious crusty bread served with local Cheshire cheese. They were then given a 'cool sup of fresh farm milk.' On completion of the harvest his father William would celebrate by opening a cask of beer to quench the harvesters' parched throats. Autumn's vivid golden hues and hoarfrosts summoned the local pork butcher for the annual pig killing at the farm. Charles sketched many of these unforgettable rural scenes, and used them at a later stage in his etchings of the countryside.

The young artist was greatly encouraged by Buckley Moffat, his headmaster at Sutton village school. Moffat recognised the young artist's talent and decided to enter one of his farm scene paintings in an agricultural art competition at Chester. Disappointingly the painting was rejected as it was thought to be the work of a much older child. Additional efforts by Moffat and Charles' mother took the fourteen-year-old lad to Macclesfield School of Art in 1916. Thomas Cartwright was the Principal at the art school in Park Green. Cartwright was an accomplished artist and local character. He had previously studied in London at the Royal College of Art, and was an ideal tutor for Tunnicliffe. He soon realised that the Charles' future lay beyond Macclesfield's famous silk industry. Tunnicliffe diligently set about acquiring the vast range of skills necessary to become a proficient artist. On Fridays he would attend life classes at the Manchester School of Art. After school, he still had his farm tasks to complete, and often laboured until late in the evening. There were occasional moments of solitude when he would saddle his horse, and ride to Lee Hills to watch the sun setting behind the distant Welsh mountains. At weekends fellow students enthusiastically met up for sketching forays into the countryside. 'Tommy' Cartwright, who was often attired in boater and bow tie, would lead these excursions. Tunnicliffe's dedication at art school was rewarded with a scholarship, tenable at the Royal College of Art (RCA), London.

London and the Royal College of Art

When Charles first arrived, 'London was shimmering under a haze of fine weather that had outstayed its welcome.' The grass in the parks crumbled under his feet, and with the pungent smell of petrol and tar he longed for the fresh pastures of home. He states that 'the awful nostalgia almost broke my heart in the first term.' To make matters worse he lived in a tiny bed-sit in Earls Court. His mother attempted to relieve his heartache by sending parcels of home made cakes and farm produce. At hay making time she would also include a bouquet of freshly mown hay. Eventually some solace was found by visiting Regent's Park Zoo and the Natural History Museum Kensington. Sketchbooks were soon filled with all sorts of birds, both live and stuffed specimens. Mandarin ducks, the sophisticated cousins of Cheshire's wildfowl, were to be found and sketched in St James' Park. Even the pigeons of Trafalgar Square proved to be lively and interesting subjects. Of course, there were the works of Cezanne, Picasso, Gauguin and Matisse to be studied and discussed with fellow students. But Tunnicliffe took greater delight in the work of other masters - Piero della Francesca, Pieter Breughel, Albrecht Durer and, later on, John Constable, Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman. As Charles wryly commented, 'We all had our gods.' At last life in London began to improve for Charles.

In time, and quite naturally, Tunnicliffe's fellow students and tutors became supportive friends. He shared rooms with Eric Ravilious, the talented Eastbourne artist who died so prematurely in Iceland during the war. Tunnicliffe was befriended by the 'Leeds group', which included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Raymond Coxon. One of Charles' first public exhibitions was at the Redfern Gallery with RCA contemporaries Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Vivian Pitchforth, Percy Horton and Edward Burra. The RCA Principal, William Rothenstein, would invite students to Sunday evening gatherings at his home in Airlie Gardens. Tunnicliffe was often invited, as were literary celebrities such as Arnold Bennett and Ralph Hodgson. Rothenstein wanted to 'broaden students' education', so after painting the portraits of notables such as T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), and G.K. Chesterton, he would persuade them to give informal talks to students in the Queensgate common room.

Tunnicliffe first met fellow student Winifred Wonnacott in this college common room. She came from Hollywood, near Belfast, Northern Ireland and had won a Dunville Distillers Company scholarship to the RCA. She wanted to become a successful art teacher and specialized in ceramics. She was bright, with a gift for mathematics that almost took her into banking. Winifred's gentle nature, good looks and soft Irish lilt quite bewitched Charles. A colleague at the RCA romantically claimed that 'they fell in love at first sight, as piano music played in the background.' They developed a mutual interest in art in its many forms. They also loved to absorb themselves in the beauties of nature. Both succeeded in gaining their teaching diplomas. Charles was offered a further year's scholarship in the new Etching and Engraving School. To help out financially he took on a part-time teaching post at Woolwich Polytechnic.

This is the period when Charles would employ his Cheshire landscapes studies to make etchings. Amongst his finest etchings are 'The Cheshire Plain,' and 'Kemp Croft Farm' which is in Sutton village. These plates were often etched, to gain the correct 'acid bite', on Saturday mornings at the RCA engraving school. On these occasions Charles and fellow students honed their skills as etchers, and also initiated contacts with the art world. Charles was introduced to Malcolm Salaman who acted as a broker for student's etchings. The etchings were then sold at auction, and later on, to dealers for considerable profit. Little of this money accrued to Salaman or Tunnicliffe; however, Charles did manage to save enough money to buy his widowed mother a house in Rainow Road, Macclesfield. His father had died in 1925, and sadly his mother and sister Dorothy left Lane Ends Farm shortly afterwards. As Charles' time in London came to an end, he looked towards a new future back in his native Cheshire.

Macclesfield and Tarka the Otter

Charles returned to 'Silk Town' (Macclesfield) in 1928 and married his fiancé Winifred at Whalley Range Methodist Church. Her father's work had by now brought the Wonnacott family to live in Manchester. The newlywed Tunnicliffe's moved to a new house in Nicholson Avenue, Hurdsfield. Their honeymoon was spent travelling to the West Country to see Winifred's long- lost relatives. They travelled on Charles' Norton motorbike. The journey took in many landmarks, including Ludlow Castle, Hereford Cathedral, and Tintern Abbey, with a diversion to Gloucester Cathedral, as the Severn Ferry crossing was closed. Charles enthusiastically sketched many of these grand locations. They visited the Roman Baths at Bath and then travelled on westwards to Devon and Cornwall. They eventually arrived to stay for some time with Winifred's relatives at Launceston. They spent a very happy time together sketching and gathering blackberries. Their return home was through North Devon where their motorbike crashed on Bideford's medieval Long Bridge - which spans the River Torridge. There was little more than injured pride, but this particular incident and location were to be recalled a few years later in association with Henry Williamson's book, Tarka the Otter.

Back in Macclesfield Charles settled down to carry on with his etchings and commercial work for ICI and firms such as Bibby's and Boots. The Great Slump in 1929 brought disaster to the sale of etchings. While travelling as a peripatetic teacher Winifred read Henry Williamson's 1928 edition of Tarka the Otter. The book was not illustrated but had won him the much-valued Hawthornden prize for literature. Winifred encouraged Charles to submit some trial Otter aquatints to the book's publishers Putnam's. They relished the idea of an illustrated edition of Tarka, but preferred Charles to make some wood engravings instead. Charles had done little with this medium but soon made a start with one of Winifreds wood blocks. Further supplies of wood blocks from T.N. Lawrence in London resulted in some beautiful illustrations. These were immediately acceptable to Putnam's and Williamson. The book was published in 1932 and was a great success for both the author and artist. Initially the two men got on well together; so Tunnicliffe decided to illustrate several more of the 'great man's' books, including The Lone Swallows (Putnam's 1933), The Old Stag (Putnam's 1933) and The Peregrine Saga (Putnam's 1934). As more and more of Williamson's troubles and extra-marital affairs impinged on their friendship, Tunnicliffe made the decision to finish with the writer. Tunnicliffe went on to illustrate well over a hundred and twenty other books, including Mary Priestley's 'A Book of Birds' (Gollancz 1937) and many of Alison Uttley's country books such as, 'The Country Child' (Faber and Faber 1942). He also illustrated Negley Farson's popular fishing book 'Going Fishing' (Country Life 1942). Tunnicliffe's short autobiography 'My Country Book' (Studio 1942) was a culmination of his experiences in Cheshire, London, North Devon, Iona in Scotland and Pembrokeshire in Wales. The artist constantly sought new places for inspiration.

Anglesey and Bird Painting

During the Second World War Charles' friend and ornithologist John Clegg persuaded him to take on the vacant post of art master at Manchester Grammar School (MGC). At this time Charles also became an air raid warden in Macclesfield. Additionally he carried out nightly fire-watch duties at the school with fellow art master and friend, Ernest Hollowell. A land mine dropped in a German bombing raid took the life of a colleague on duty at the school. It also took its physical toll on Tunnicliffe. On the suggestion of Hollowell and zoologist friend Reg Wagstaffe, Charles and Winifred set off for a well-earned break in Anglesey. They stayed at Nant Bychan Farm a stone's throw from the picturesque fishing village of Moelfre. Tunnicliffe wasted no time in exploring the locality and began sketching the abundant bird life. Out to sea there were flocks of migrating birds - gannets, shearwaters, petrels and terns in abundance. Tunnicliffe would spend hours peering through his binoculars at the distant aerial spectacle and then carefully made sketches

One day Charles was engrossed in sketching an oystercatcher when the Welsh naturalist T.G. 'Wack' Walker approached him. Wack was headmaster at Henblas School and stayed regularly in his chalet at Nant Bychan. He became fascinated with 'Charles' tremendous ability to draw quickly and accurately'. Wack claimed that he gave up landscape painting himself after seeing Charles' work. The two teachers became firm friends through their common interest in art and nature. Throughout the war years Tunnicliffe would make regular visits to Anglesey to record its birds, flora and magnificent coastal landscapes. Tunnicliffe's return to Cheshire prompted correspondence with Walker about birds they had sighted at Malltraeth and other island locations. The attraction of Anglesey had now clearly taken a hold on Tunnicliffe. On later trips to the island he stayed with Mr and Mrs Bob Jones at the Joiners Arms, Malltraeth. On one of these stays Charles and Winifred noticed a bungalow called Shorelands. It was close to the Cefni estuary, which in season thronged with a myriad of waders and other esturine birds. To the south they could view the magnificent panorama of Snowdonia. They both fell in love with the property and prompted their landlord Bob Jones to let them know if it ever came on the market. Some weeks later Bob wrote to inform them that Shorelands was for sale. The Tunnicliffes bought the house without hesitation.

Anglesey and Shorelands Summer Diary

They arrived in Anglesey on March 27 1947, and with a little help from the local coalman's lorry and the encouragement of new neighbours, they managed to safely manoeuvre their belongings into Shorelands. Tunnicliffe was now at the peak of his career. There was so much to do. He set about consolidating his knowledge of Anglesey's many bird haunts. At this time Short-eared owls quartered Newborough Warren, and White-fronted geese wintered on the marsh. There were also rarities like Montague's harriers nesting in the Newborough forestry plantation. Tunnicliffe and his friend, Wack were often thrilled to catch sight of the harriers flying across the cob to hunt the marsh near Bont Farm. Wack would often struggled to catch a fleeting glimpse of the birds with his cumbersome German binoculars. Another friend, Ted Breeze Jones, the photographer and doyen of Welsh naturalists would join in the fun. On occasions Ted would pick up Wil Evans from Rhostrehwfa and a 'great gathering' would take place at Shorelands. Ted would slip away quietly from the conversation and banter about birds, to carry out his task of photographing Tunnicliffe's paintings. Usually there were six beautiful watercolour paintings, all destined for the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition. Ted would marvel at the great impact the paintings had. He would sit studying the paintings, enjoying every moment. His thoughts led him to ponder how an artist, like Tunnicliffe, could portray a bird so much better than a photographer. All too soon Wack would spoil the magical occasion and call out, 'Come on Ted, haven't you finished yet?'

In 1952 Tunnicliffe's book Shorelands Summer Diary was published by Collins. This classic publication heralded Tunnicliffe's arrival as a great artist and a great writer. The book is a splendid combination of vignetted scraper boards and colour plates. There are wonderful depictions of Anglesey's bird life. Tunnicliffe also scrutinises many the island's human inhabitants. He was a great observer, as all artists should be. In the book Tunnicliffe describes a Shire Stallion parade in Llangefni, 'Proudly he trotted down the centre of the enclosure, neck arched, ''feathers'' streaming, ribbons waving to his movements. At the ropes the groom turned him and trotted back again, and at the far end they came to a halt by the ropes.' The book's colour plates are careful observations of Anglesey's summer time bird species. They include Peregrine Falcons, which were particular favourites of Tunnicliffe's. It was T.G. Walker who first introduced him to these rare raptors nesting on the precipitous South Stack cliffs. Tunnicliffe had a remarkable skill for scraperboard illustration, his detail and tonal range were a publisher's delight. In 'Summer Diary' he illustrates 'Llandwyn Island from the Dunes', his delineation of wind scalloped fluting in the sand, and arched plumes of Marram grass is superb. The sequel to Shorelands Summer Diary was Shorelands Winter Diary, which Tunnicliffe never managed to publish. The artist Robert Gillmor, who, at a later date, discovered the book's manuscript, collaborated with David Burnett of Robinsons, to publish this lovely collector's book in 1992. Tunnicliffe's manuscript was originally without illustrations. Extensive research at Oriel Ynys Mon revealed the precise sketchbook drawings from the gallery's Tunnicliffe Collection. These were then used to illustrate the publication.

Drawing and Painting Methods

Tunnicliffe had always attempted to represent birds as accurately as possible. He was intruduced to the zoologist Reg Wagstaffe by his ornithologist friend John Clegg. Wagstaffe, who worked at Stockport Museum, suggested that Tunnicliffe studied and recorded bird specimens in a scientific manner. This was the beginning of Tunnicliffe's unfinished symphony of measured-drawings. Tunnicliffe never countenanced the killing of birds, as his conservation work for the RSPB will clearly testify. But as specimens - sometimes road kills - became available, he meticulously made measured-drawing studies of them. Oriel Ynys Mon's collection extends to some 260 of his studies - all are a delight to behold. Each 'feather map', as Tunnicliffe preferred to call them, has details of where the bird was obtained, its donor, sex, plumage condition and careful measurements of the specimen. Some of the sheets depict the birds from different angles and positions. Tunnicliffe did this so that he could accurately create different views of the birds in his final watercolour paintings. The drawings are a remarkable record of the artist's efforts to depict birds in a precise and scientific manner. This ability to combine artistic and scientific techniques gives the collection a unique status. Oriel Ynys Mon's collection of measured-drawings represents a complete section of the artist's work, carried out over a long period, with great sensitivity and determination. He referred to his studies as his 'stock in trade', and considered them essential reference tools for his commissioned and exhibition work. Ironically Tunnicliffe did not think of them as art, and never intended them for public view - such was his modesty.

Tunnicliffe combined all the information from the measured-drawings and sketchbooks and memory to produce his finished watercolour paintings. His field observations were carefully and often rapidly drawn in sketchbooks - with his pencil rarely leaving the page. Speed was essential and even the very briefest of sketched points (sometimes referred to as 'jizz') held enough information for Tunnicliffe to later redraw the bird in detail in another sketchbook. Redrawing usually took place in the studio and allowed him to concentrate on colour and plumage details. The whole process of making a finished painting is what he termed 'refinement'. This process would start with the making sketches of the subject, in the field and in the studio. He then developing his sketches ,with additional information from his measured drawings, into a preliminary design sketch. If this stage was acceptable to a customer or to himself for an exhibition work, he would scale up the preliminary sketch to a full size drawing, referred to as a 'cartoon'. The 'cartoon', often with bold hints of colour, would then be traced onto the watercolour paper for the final painting process. Tunnicliffe felt that at each stage of a painting's development a degree of 'life and spontaneity' was lost. This why he considered his sketches to be true art. This is probably why the sketchbook publications, 'A Sketchbook of Birds' (Gollancz 1979) and 'Sketches of Birdlife' (Gollancz 1981) were so popular with his public. The Bittern studies in the latter book were made at Minsmere, Suffolk. The photographer Eric Hoskings allowed Tunnicliffe to use one of his hides at this RSPB reserve. One can almost detect Tunnicliffe's excitement at being allowed to sketch one of Britain's rarer birds at close quarters. The seven rapid pencil sketches show the Bittern in various poses. The redrawn and painted study is shown on the opposite page in its 'refinement' state, and with neat annotated details.

1974 Royal Academy Exhibition

As Tunnicliffe reached his late sixties he continued to take on commissions and illustrate for authors far and wide, including the many publications of his biographer Ian Niall. He also managed to send his six works for the annual Royal Academy Exhibition. The pressures of old age were slowly catching up with him. His wife Winifred had suffered ill health for a long time, and sadly died in 1969. Shorelands became a desolate place without her. Even supportive friends like Sean and Tilda Hagerty could not fully console him. For a long time he was unable to concentrate on the demands of his work, and gradually became thwarted by melancholy. In 1972 Sir Kyffin Williams, RA, Charles' friend, attempted to persuade the Royal Academy's Council to put on an exhibition of the measured-drawings and sketchbooks. There was some resistance at first, as the bird portraiture genre has never really been given many accolades by the art-world. To make matters worse Tunnicliffe had often uttered, in an intentionally robust Cheshire burr, that he, 'Preferred the birds of Anglesey to those of Piccadily'. It was difficult for Sir Kyffin Williams to explain the importance and magnitude of this modest artsts' work. This position was quickly reversed when the President, Sir Thomas Monnington,RA, was shown several beautiful examples of the sketchbooks and measured-drawings. The exhibition was held in the summer of 1974, and was a tremendous success with the public and bird enthusiasts from all over the world. Tunnicliffe was now established as the leading exponent in bird portraiture.

Final Years and Collection Acquisition by Anglesey

05/10/01