Thames Valley poster – Walter Spradbery – 1946

Thames Valley poster – Walter Spradbery – 1946 – No Logos

This is a reproduction of a vintage Thames Valley railway poster. It was produced jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and Southern Railway (SR), although no logos appear on this version. The painting was realised by the artist Walter E Spradbery who was responsible for creating many posters for both Southern Railway and London Transport. Spradbery’s poster offers a beautiful view of one of the 180 eyots and aits (islands) on the River Thames. An online article entitled Eyots and Aits: Islands of the River Thames on the Thames Festival Trust website explains further: “There are around 180 islands altogether, some accessible by footbridge, some by road and others, like Pharaoh’s Island and Garrick’s Ait, only by boat. Thirty are inhabited by small settlements, single houses or houseboats, all highly sought-after locations today. Many are important nature reserves; others directly connected to major historical events or famous personalities. Oliver’s Eyot was a refuge for Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War, whilst Lot’s Ait was the unlikely setting for Humphrey Bogart’s 1951 film The African Queen, and the legendary Eel Pie Island played a key role in the development of British popular music.”

The small island in this vintage railway poster, complete with its vibrant weeping willow trees, offers visitors to the island a certain amount of privacy from the banks of the Thames. Spradbery’s painting suggests that rowing and punting out to the island was a popular pastime in the 1940’s.Original copies of Spradbery’s vintage Thames Valley poster are highly sought after and in excellent condition easily command a price tag of £5,500.

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as a fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.