Wakefield Museums and Castles

This stunning self-portrait was painted by Kenny when she was in her late thirties. Departing from her usual watercolours, it was painted in oils using thick textured brush strokes, slightly softer on the skin of the face.

The background is a plain light brown colour, the perfect neutral backdrop to draw all the attention to Kenny’s striking face.

She has a long oval face, clear pale skin with a subtle warmth. Her eyes are wide and shaped like almonds. They are a striking olive green, outlined with a hint of dark kohl. Framed by dark brown eyebrows, subtly arched as was the fashion at the time. A wisp of pale blue eyeshadow across each eyelid. She has a small, slightly upturned nose. The brush picks out the light reflecting down the bridge of her nose. Her mouth is closed, resting in a neutral position. Her lips painted a soft coral red.

Her strawberry blond hair is styled in loose waves, curling in front of her ears and around the side of her face into the nape of her long, straight neck. She is wearing olive green, only the top of the bias roll neckline visible in the painting.

Her gaze is soft, looking off into the near distance, over your shoulder almost. Avoiding direct eye contact but seemingly serene. A slight tension around her mouth betrays a hint of stoicism or determination, of Merrie City northern grit perhaps.

A long narrow street stretches out into the distance. The grey paving stones look slightly uneven. It is flanked by several buildings packed closely together. The buildings are tall, several stories, and dominate the skyline. Only allowing a glimpse of grey blue sky at the end of the street, from above the furthest rooftop.

The gentle wash of the watercolours suggesting the passage of time. Warm tones of yellow, brown and grey. There are signs of ageing on the buildings, wrinkles of wear and tear, patches of discoloration. Panels of glass in windows that appear to have been boarded over.

Unusual architectural details, picked out in pen and ink, gently point us to the industrial heritage of the area. The block and tackle, just visible in one of the upper windows. The ramshackle placement of doorways that seem weirdly out of place now, no longer fit for purpose in our modern world. There is a stillness now, where once there would have been a lively hustle and bustle.

But still, this watercolour painting with its muted, soft palette captures the humble beauty of these everyday surroundings.

Notably this painting was the first work by Kenny to be taken into the Wakefield Council permanent collection. Although Garden Street remains, flanked by Westgate and Smyth Street, the area is now mainly a car park.

Standing in the pale, sandy-coloured field looking out towards Walton, we can perhaps imagine Kenny pausing on an early morning stroll, to take in this magnificent view of the colliery just down the road from where she lived.

A cluster of buildings, in hues of red and brown suggesting brick. Perfect little rectangles beneath their sloping dark triangular roofs. Nestled in the soft rolling green hills that extended to the horizon beyond. A tall red brick chimney stack and shadowy headstocks proudly punctuate the pale blue sky.

The soft washes of colour and loose brushstrokes in this delicate watercolour painting evoke a sense of peace and calm, in stark contrast with the noise and dirt and smell of a working colliery. Perhaps Kenny captured this moment before the pit buzzer sounded and the site rumbled into life. The rhythmic clanging of machinery and the rumble of haulage vehicles punctuating the idyllic view.

Those familiar with this area might know that Walton Colliery permanently closed on the third December 1979, leading to the loss of hundreds of jobs locally. The site is now home to Walton Colliery Nature Park, a vibrant haven for wildlife. In the mid 1990s, the earth excavated to construct its lakes and ponds, was used to cover the colliery’s vast spoil heaps, the final remnants of its past, an industry now vanished.

A stunning panoramic view of Wakefield from the vantage point of Castle Hill. Looking north towards the city from the site of the historic Sandal Castle.

Rolling hills slope gently towards the city. The patchwork fields punctuated by a seam of softly coloured buildings in the near distance.

The colour palette is muted; pale yellows, light greens, lavenders and greys.

Further in the distance the buildings are almost ghostlike, lacking any real solidity. Their forms are merely suggested by Kenny’s soft ink lines and washes of colours.

On the horizon, the familiar architecture of some of the city’s best known landmarks are silhouetted against the skyline. From left to right, St John’s Church, County Hall, the Town Hall and Wakefield Cathedral.

Bathed by the golden glow of the evening sunlight, the city looks peaceful and still.

At first glance one might be mistaken into believing that they were gazing out across the Umbrian hills on a warm summer night. This painting has a beautiful ethereal and dreamlike quality. A real love letter to the city.

A magnificent old Georgian style house. A sprawling sandy yellow brick construction with large sloping inky blue slate roofs topped by tall yellow brick chimney stacks. There are huge bay windows on the ground floors. All of the windows in the house still have the original multi-paned sash style windows. The garden is slightly overgrown. Bold green foliage is growing high up many of the exterior walls.

The left hand side of the house is two storeys high. A green drainpipe runs vertically down the front of this section between the windows. A single story extension juts out at a right angle on the far left of the building providing an entrance to the property. A glimpse of a green doorway is just visible.

The right hand side of the house is taller, three storeys high. It has two doorways, the one on the left is a solid yellow colour, with a rectangular panel of glass above. Notably a number of the windows are bricked up. A vestige of a historical property tax that was based on the number of windows in a house. It was common at the time for property owners to brick up window spaces to avoid paying the tax.

Sadly Stafford House, which was owned at the time by the Grimshaw family, no longer exists. This work was painted not long before the building was demolished and replaced by Rishworth Street multi-storey car park. In 2023 the car park was permanently closed and the site was redeveloped for housing.

Peering around a corner down Thompson’s Yard reveals a narrow street. On the left hand side a row of tall double fronted buildings, three storeys high, line the street. The right hand side is completely obscured by a beige-grey brick wall. The sky is grey and overcast.

Large multi-paned sash windows under brickwork arches or decorative lintels dominate the buildings. Flecks of golden yellow and white light reflect off the small glass panes, contrasting with a deep shade of ultramarine blue in the shadows. One of the upper floor windows, in a building further down the yard, is bricked up.

The walls of the buildings are delicately washed with lilacs and greys, turning to soft peachy browns as they emerge out of the shadows. Details of the brickwork are picked out with dark scratchy ink lines.

The building nearest us has large arched service doors traditionally found in the wool warehouses. On the top floor there appears to be a wooden hoist that would have been used to move the woolsacks. The heavy panelled door on the ground floor, painted a pale turquoise green, sits high above the pavement level on a large stone lintel. A small arched opening below it to the right allowing a slither of light into the basement of the stuffy warehouse.

At the far end of the street a building stands out amongst the more sombre, utilitarian buildings. It has rectangular bay windows on both the ground and first floor, stacked on top of each other and painted bright white. It is the childhood home of Wakefield novelist George Gissing, at the back of his father's pharmacy.

Most of these buildings were sadly destroyed in a fire in 1979, but the Gissing home was subsequently restored and became The Gissing Centre, a small museum dedicated to the Victorian author.

Standing in Eastmoor Allotments looking out towards the city. The classic Wakefield vista is instantly recognisable in the far distance. The spires and towers of Wakefield Cathedral, the Town Hall and the County Hall are silhouetted, from left to right, hazy on the horizon.

In the near distance the city is tightly packed with rows of terraced houses, washed with warm earthy tones and covered by a blanket of dark grey roofs. Short vertical brush strokes picking out the many chimneys. Window frames merely suggested by the absence of colour.

The allotments themselves are captured in a moment of quiet stillness. No signs of life are evident amongst its rambling structures. The glass frames of the greenhouses reflect the vibrant blues and greens of the surrounding landscape. This will soon change when their owners arrive to tend to their plots. Opening up the little wooden sheds to pull out their tools. The dull thud of metal on soil. The delicate snipping of secateurs. The creaky metal wheelbarrow. The chitter chatter of neighbours catching up, swapping planting tips over a cuppa, steaming hot from the thermos. Birds tweeting, insects buzzing. It's the good life on the allotments!

A winter morning landscape, this is the view from Kenny’s window at home in Crofton looking out towards Wakefield.

The painting is dominated by a large open field covered in a thick blanket of fresh snow. Crisp, undisturbed snow. Delicate washes of light grey and white. The type that makes you want to pull on a pair of wellies and rush outside to make the first footsteps in it. The type that makes the world sound ever so slightly different, muffled and soft and still.

The buildings, little rectangles with triangle lids in muted tones of browns, oranges, and blues, appear slightly huddled together within the vastness of the snowy landscape. Dark lines pick out the boundaries of the enclosures.

The skyline is hazy, obscuring the detail in the distance. But two familiar landmarks of the time stand tall, silhouetted against the wash of pale greys and lavenders streaked with pale blues and yellows.

The spire of the Cathedral, central on the horizon. At a height of approximately 247 feet it is the tallest in the whole of Yorkshire.

And on the left are the Wakefield B power station cooling towers. These giant looming chimneys, the tallest of which stood at 350 feet above the ground, no longer dominate the city’s skyline. Wakefield B was decommissioned in 1991, and demolished at 9am on the first of December.

A big triangular flat iron shaped building, three storeys high. The point of the triangle situated on the corner of a street. The sandy coloured brick work of this central point of the building is elaborate. A bright red doorway is flanked by decorative pillars. There are two small steps leading up to the entrance. Although there is no mistaking this is a pub, a traditional signage board extends from the first floor to the right hand side.

Along the ground floor the facade is punctuated by additional decorative pillars at regular intervals. Large glass windows line the walls between them, some incorporating smaller decorative panels of coloured glass. Above the pillars, flatter pilasters extend up the exterior of the building, all the way to the parapet that conceals the roof. The brick work on the upper floors is a more traditional red colour. The windows are less grandiose, the simple sash variety.

The pub looks friendly and welcoming. It’s easy to imagine crossing over the road, or coming around the corner to the sound of drunken chatter, and a waft of beer and cigarettes, spilling out onto the pavement whenever that big red door swung open.

A particularly fine example of the striking architectural features found in the public houses of Wakefield. Perhaps that’s what caught Kenny’s attention considering her architectural background.

The Star closed in the 1990’s and although the building was left empty and neglected it does still exist. No longer a pub, the building was eventually sold for conversion to shops and offices and in its current incarnation lives on as a tanning and vape shop. There is a Wetherspoons just across the road though if you really need a pint!

The view from inside Sidebottom’s Yard, looking towards the back of a row of buildings that it was situated behind. There are multiple chimneys, slanted rooftops, and a hotchpotch of window styles. Drainpipes travel haphazardly across the building. There is a small archway on the right hand side, leading out onto Westgate. These buildings would have housed small family run shops, a typical feature of life in the city at that time.

The buildings are showing their age. There are signs of slight dilapidation. Their facades are cracked and chipped. There are weeds, lots of weeds. Uneven cobblestones line the yard. Rubbish bags are slumped outside a wooden back door. Seemingly oblivious to a metal bin a few feet away. Perhaps it is too full. That would explain the lid balancing on top at a slightly jaunty angle! Yet despite its slight state of dilapidation, the yard feels loved.

This finely detailed ink line drawing clearly demonstrates Kenny’s architectural background. The absence of colour allows for a strong focus on the form and structure of the buildings. But the intricate textures of brickwork, roof tiles, and window panes imbue a life into the building that takes it far beyond her architectural drawing training.

Although a large part of the former Sidebottom’s Yard is now a car park the archway in the drawing still exists. It can be found next to the natural food store on Westgate.