Meals on Wheels

House of Puzzles of Invergordon is among my favourite jigsaw companies because of the variety of shapes included in their puzzle pieces. Today's jigsaw, 27th January 2021, is a 500-piece example titled Meals on Wheels.

Meals on Wheels duplicates the artwork of Michael Herring. The puzzle (c2003) depicts a small farm in winter, with the main focus being a bright blue tractor, sporting vivid red wheels and radiator grill, at the head of a stationary hay cart. A farmer stood at the rear of the cart, is distributing hay to several sheep. The hay has been raked off the cart by a youthful farmhand. In the background is the obligatory steam train, a BR tank engine, (‘Jinty’ 0-6-0) pulling a small rake of crimson coaches along an embankment, passing a signal box. The young farmhand watches the train with interest, from his raised position on the cart; a Border Collie is by his side. A carpet of snow adds to the overall aesthetics of Michael’s painting. Parts of the jigsaw are included below to illustrate some of the differently shaped pieces.

A Busy Day at Dulverton

Our first post of 2021, 12th January, takes us to Dulverton Station, nearing closure in the time of 'Beeching's Axe'.

The picture features a 1000-piece jigsaw from JHG Jigsaws of Ashmore, Dorset, titled Busy Day at Dulverton. The era associated with Peter Webster's artwork is probably around, or just prior to, the publication of the 1963 Beeching Report titled 'The Reshaping of British Railways'. The latter led to the closure of many unprofitable lines in the UK. Dulverton Station was actually situated 2 miles further south of Dulverton, at Brushford village; it was closed in 1966. In Peter's painting the main locomotive heading a light passenger train is an ex GWR 'Mogul' (2-6-0) type, No.6372, designed by George Jackson Churchwood. She was built in 1921 at Swindon Works and withdrawn in 1963. A year later she was scrapped and in the painting appears to be in a worse-for-wear, unloved condition. The short freight train exiting the station on the left is headed by a pannier tank 0-6-0 locomotive, but no id' is possible. Two station staff are present with a few passengers. In the yard outside are a single decked bus and a car, both of the time period depicted. In typical Webster style, an eyecatching, rural landscape is included as the backdrop.