Latest news with #BaronessTwycross
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Painting of train window view is voted best UK railway art
A piece of art depicting the Wiltshire countryside through a train window has been voted as the public's favourite UK railway-themed Landscape was painted by Eric Ravilious in the 1940s, showing the Westbury White Horse through a third-class train carriage. His wife Tirzah Garwood made the collage section of the piece, using sections of different watercolours her husband had painted while travelling on artwork beat 19 others, including the works of JMW Turner and David Shepherd, in a global Railway 200 poll held to mark two centuries of the modern railway. The winner was announced earlier, on the anniversary of the birth of the railway pioneer George Stephenson. Mr Ravilious' granddaughter Ella Ravilious said she was "thrilled" her grandfather's work had won."He was quite a picky artist," she said. "He would tear up lots of his watercolours that he wasn't happy with."She said it's "fitting" the piece is now marking 200 years of the railway because it is a composite picture of elements from several different railway lines."I'm thrilled that interest in Eric's work has sustained and that he is becoming even more popular," Ms Ravilious added. Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross said the artwork was a worthy victor."This evocative watercolour invites us all to experience a railway journey through an artist's eye, capturing a uniquely British perspective that resonates today. "Art offers us a powerful way to engage with our past and this selection of artworks tell the unique story of Britain's relationship with railways over 200 years."The 20 most popular paintings are available to view on the Art UK website until the end of the year."I encourage everyone to explore these magnificent works and find inspiration from our shared cultural heritage," Baroness Twycross added.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
I asked the Queen to help save horse racing
Long after the Queen's departure, gratitude for her support was mixed with real anger at the predicament facing racing and the tens of thousands of jobs that rely on it. And the similarities with the bleak future of farmers are very obvious to the Hexham stalwarts. Both industries are viewed with the same cultural disdain by this government. The unpredictability of what they are going to be beaten with next has become Trump-like. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) was understandably not on a war footing to push back against the Government's consultations to raise betting tax on horse racing. Only last week it was in a rush to appoint a PR company to help get its message across, which some would say is six months too late. But the BHA can be forgiven for assuming that Baroness Twycross, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) minister, would understand the difference between casino games on smartphones and betting on racing. The former is highly addictive and mindless, the latter has been around for hundreds of years and provides a lot of jobs and a fair chunk of change to the Treasury. If Baroness Twycross really does not get that, she should talk to Dan Carden, the Labour MP who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Racing and Bloodstock. He recognises that racing gives this country 'a unique diplomatic edge'. A point that we also made to the Queen last week. She was too polite to reply that she was well aware of that! He is also on record as saying that 'ministers need to listen to racing' because 'recent government interventions have hindered, not helped'. Of course the monarchy can never be seen to be meddling in politics, although there was a suspicion that our late Queen Elizabeth II might have 'had a word' with the odd prime minister from time to time to advance racing's cause. One can only hope that Queen Camilla might be able to remind Sir Keir Starmer of the importance of horse racing to rural employment and the soft power of UK plc, should the PM cop an invitation to a barbecue at Balmoral this summer.
