Wilfred Wood was born in Manchester in 1888,
but after serving in the First World War he settled in London and
trained as an artist. In 1937 he moved to Barnack near Peterborough
and continued to paint until his death in 1976. He was particularly
fond of painting views of Stamford.
In the 1930s Wilfred Wood was commissioned by
the Peterborough Museum Society to paint a series of views of
Peterborough as the city centre was starting to change with the
demolition of Narrow Bridge Street and the building of the Town
Hall. The Museum Society wanted to record much of old Peterborough
before it was demolished. Wood worked from life, as well as from
old photographs to paint many of his scenes.
Visitors saw twenty-five of Woods'
watercolours of Peterborough on display from the fine collection of
his work in the Museum's collections. There were also some
photographs of the same streets of Peterborough as they are today
to compare how the city has changed.
Many of Peterborough’s most popular cultural and sporting
facilities are part of Vivacity, an independent,
not-for-profit organisation with charitable status.
Find out more about
the trust on the Vivacity website.