Anke: Royal Tunbridge Wells

Did Banksy Meet Disgusted?

Is graffiti ever worth preserving? This was the question asked by the BBC today in Bristol, the home of Banksy. The same question could be asked here in Tunbridge Wells.

Of course there is a line in what is graffiti vandalism and street art, and the former should be removed immediately as it's nothing but a ugly nuisance, but I do think there is a place for art in a town centre and I wish we had more of it. I'm not talking about cheaply-painted murals or garish tags but there must be a place for some kind of fine art. How about a landscape complete with gold frame painted onto the side of a large blank wall? Think I'm wrong? You must like the landscape painted in the train station?

Take the example in my photograph for instance, this has been here for years and is quite a nice piece of work and according to the gentlemen who work in Oddbins, is reportedly the work of Banksy himself. They even go as far to say that it's a self-portrait. Which did make me chuckle. I prefer to think that Banksy ran into Mr Disgusted and was so disgusted that he painted him onto his favourite shop.

According to their legend, Banksy stayed in Brighton and often visited the TW Forum and thus painted a few reminders of his travels. Apparently there was another mural in the Great Hall car park and also on the Forum itself but both have since been painted over.

Did Banksy really paint this portrait of Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells? Would you like to see more art installations in town?

Bee Disgusted?

It's quite amazing what twists and turns you can take when wandering down the avenues of history. There was I reading about what could've been the very first photograph of Tunbridge Wells, which was taken by the Reverend John Cumming in 1851, when I discovered that he was quite the writer and beekeeper.

The Reverend John Cumming spent hard-earned time away from his London parishoners at Kentish Cottage on the Common where he relaxed by keeping bees for honey. The Reverend's beekeeping made him quite well known in apicultural circles – under the pseudonym "A Bee-Master" he wrote some wonderful letters to The Times newspaper about the subject. In fact the letters produced such a flood of responses and interest that he was prompted by a publisher to write a book to share his knowledge on the types of hives on the market, bee welfare and his remedy for stings. Following publication the Reverend showed his appreciation to The Times for promoting his hobby by sending them a jar of Tunbridge Wells honey.

He cleverly transferred his religious beliefs into his beekeeping by treating the hives like miniature churches and by opposing the then common method of killling the bees for their honey, choosing instead to care for the bees as they cared for him by providing him with honey. He'd leave the bees enough honey for their requirements over the winter and take only what was surplus. This honey, he said, could even be sold to pay for the rent on your home. I wonder if that would work today in the current climate?

Can we say that the Reverend was the original Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells? After all, his letters predate the 1950's story of Disgusted by almost 100 years, he did hide behind an alias and he did have a bee in his bonnet (pun intended). Make your own mind up by reading some of the Reverend's letters below in their original 1864 format:

Click here to download the document (2.7MB)

Anyway, I guess you are wondering what the first photograph was? It was a calotype negative of The Pantiles, and here it is.

I'd love to know what you think, why not leave me a comment below.