A stunning view of Lancaster from Miss Whalley’s Field, a designated local war memorial by local artist and musician James Mackie, is to be auctioned in aid of a team of dedicated volunteers seeking to conserve it, and its wildlife.
The space, home to a variety of wildlife including butterflies, moths and other invertebrates and a diversity of wild flowers, is named after Miss Frances Geraldine Whalley who died in 1939, leaving money in her will to buy a field in Lancaster where children could play, in memory of her brother, Julian, who was killed in World War One. (You can find out more about the history of the memorial here).
Money raised from the auction of James’ painting will support the work of Friends of Miss Whalley’s Field, which recently sprang into action to remove rubbish and other detritus left by unauthorised vehicle access and damage caused by traveller vehicles, caravans and machinery in May. Lancaster City Council has since moved swiftly and decisively to install boulders along the Derwent Road boundary of the field to prevent further incursions.
James Mackie, a former member of the the Two-Tone band The Selecter, and built a reputation composing and creating music for theatre, dance, radio, tv and film spanning two decades, and still plays with the riff heavy punk and funk group Convulsions. Now a dedicated artist, he first saw the view of Lancaster from Miss Whalley’s Field in the 1970s when visiting a friend who lived in the Derwent Road flats.
“The view across the town to the bay just blew me away,” James told the Lancaster Guardian at a private viewing of the art in his Dalton Square studio last week.
Decades later, James has spent two years creating an oil painting, “Lancaster From Miss Whalley’s Field”, a large accurate portrait of the city which he loves, which has been his home since 1969.
James said he was attempting as best as he could to get the details right, “not just the shape and position of each building but also the right number of chimney pots, the right window panes etc.
“I wanted people to be initially struck, as I have been throughout my life, by one of those incredible skies that Morecambe Bay regularly offers us and then I wanted people to be drawn further and further into the painting to see the architecture as it is in 2026.
“I may not have got everything exactly right, but it’s my best effort.”
The painting, entitled Lancaster From Miss Whalley’s Field, was unveiled at an event at James’s studio in Dalton Square.
James only recently became aware of the The Friends of Miss Whalley’s Field and offered to donate a limited edition print of the painting, which be auctioned in aid of their work to protect, maintain and improve the field which is a designated war memorial.
The Friends plan to display the painting at The Gregson before it is auctioned.
“This is a case of the stars aligning,” said Paul Wiggins, chair of the Friends, who have looked after Miss Whalley’s Field in partnership with Lancaster City Council since 2015.
“The members were very excited to help organise and attend the unveiling and to know that the view we care about so much has been immortalised in this way. We thank James for this opportunity and his donation of the limited edition print.”
In addition to the print which has been donated to the Friends, there are further limited editions of this new artwork in two sizes, available direct from James: all enquiries via mackiesdesign@hotmail.co.uk (James studio is not open to the public)