Title - Lytham St Anne's.
Location - Lytham & St Anne's, Lancashire, England.
Artist - Samuel John Lamorna Birch R.W.S. (1869-1955).
Description - Wonderful rich colours with great intensity, the bright white gulls almost flying out of the poster. The 1805 windmill on the seafront at Lytham (restored in 1989) is the centrepiece, with a group of people in stylish dress admiring it. In the background is the old Lytham pier, which was demolished in 1960, and the seafront round to Fairhaven. As the activities including Golf in the wording below suggested, this was a more upmarket holiday destination than Blackpool, further up the coast. This is one of the LMS (London Midland & Scottish Railway) posters from their 'The Best Way' series from the mid 1920s.
Year Published - c1925
Size - Quad Royal (approx 50 x 40in or 127 x 101.5cm) plus linen border.
Other Details:
Original Vintage LMS British Railway Travel Poster
LMS “The Best Way” Series No 36
Printed by McCorquodale & Co Ltd
Condition Grade and Condition Report:
Grade: B+. We have had this poster conservation-backed on linen. For more details of the process please see the "Conservation" page of this website.
Repairs to small edges tears, small paper-loss replacements and watercolour pencil touch-ups around top left and bottom right corners. More detailed photos are available on request if required.
More About The Artist:
Samuel John Birch was born in 1869 in Egremont, Cheshire. He was a mainly self-taught artist, and moved near Penzance, adding the local name Lamorna to avoid confusion with the artist Lionel Birch. He was a member of the RWS and elected to the RA in 1934. He exhibited widely and his work is found in many collections. He produced the artwork for a number of posters in the inter-war period.