News Archive
Scarborough Map On Show For First Time In 30 Years
08th Jan 2009
AN eye-catching map of Scarborough commissioned by Tom Laughton – the hotelier brother of Hollywood actor Charles Laughton – has gone on show for the first time in more than 30 years.
The illustration once hung at the old children’s entrance to Scarborough Library but for decades lay forgotten among stacks of boxes in a storeroom.
Now the map and a number of watercolours by the same artist – Edward Bawden – are among the highlights of an exhibition at Scarborough Art Gallery celebrating both the old and the new.
Tom Laughton once owned two of Scarborough’s best hotels, the Pavilion Hotel and the Royal Hotel. He commissioned all the original designs for the Pavilion from Bawden, followed by the map of the resort and its two bays in l931.
This map was displayed in the Pavilion Hotel Scarborough until 1961 when Laughton presented it to Scarborough Library. Initially it was displayed in the entrance to the children’s section and many young customers have fond memories of its detail and intricacy.
But when this separate entrance fell into disuse, the map became a hidden treasure nestling on a wall among stacks of boxes. It was reframed in 2003 by the Friends of Scarborough Library to commemorate the centenary of Bawden’s birth but still did not make it into public view.
Scarborough Museums Trust’s learning manager, Ian Read, said: “It is a beautiful and detailed piece of work, known as ‘the children’s map of Scarborough’, and I am hoping that all the young people who visit with parents or schools will be fascinated.”
The curtain goes up on March 7 on the exhibition, called East Coasting, featuring the designs and watercolours of Bawden and Eric Ravilious, as well as Mark Hearld, a contemporary artist deeply influenced by the two painters’ work.
The map will be gently removed from its discreet wall in the library and will travel the 250 yards to the gallery where it will form one of the centrepieces of the exhibition.
Museums trust chief executive Shirley Collier said: “Ensuring the public can view fascinating work like the Bawden map is part of our reason to exist.
“What a story and pedigree – unique designer and watercolourist, the UK’s first seaside resort, 30s style and chic, Tom Laughton’s love of art and even a remote touch of Hollywood.”
