Norman Stansfield Cornish (1919-2014)
"Street Scene with Tanky Engine"
Signed, oil on board, 62.5cm by 90cm

Provenance: Purchased from the artist's family

Norman Cornish lived on Bishop's Close Street, Spennymoor for most of his childhood. During his youth the housing conditions on the street were primitive; there were no bathrooms, gardens or inside lavatories. The houses were illuminated by gaslight and a penny gas-meter. Epidemics of diphtheria, smallpox and scarlet fever were rife amongst the children. Cornish stated "It was a really old fashioned street. People tended to help one another. They had all known adversity."

The street was surrounded by the old ironworks, the gas works and the railway line - a harsh industrial landscape. But as Norman later recounted, "to live next to a large slagheap mightn't sound very pleasant, but to our inventive young minds it became an adventure playground".

After marrying Sarah in 1946, and living first in rented rooms, the pair moved to their own house on nearby Catherine Street in which Norman's grandmother had once lived. In 1953 they returned to Bishop's Close Street, to a Colliery house that was better equipped and more suited to family life after the arrival of their children, Ann and John. Here Norman recorded everyday life both inside and outside the house, such as "Street Scene with Tanky Engine".

The family remained in Bishop's Close Street until 1967 when they moved to Whitworth Terrace, requiring more space for the growing family and Norman's painting.

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See illustration