Himley Hall has a fantastic amount of art on display at any one time in there exhibition halls. Be we take a closer look at the work of Lez Bramwell and the exhibition paying tribute to him.
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00:00An exhibition of the work by Les Bramwell here at Imly Hall. Les was a professional
00:08painter of traditional oils and watercolour, active in the 70s and the 80s. Many of his
00:13paintings depict West Corner where he was based for several years. In the 80s Les focused
00:19on smaller watercolour paintings rather than easels, as he was restricted due to his old
00:25army injuries that were worsening. He was also a very successful art tutor and a lecturer
00:30and also wrote stories, plays, poems and songs. He retired and returned to his home in the
00:36Midlands in 1998, joining his son Stephen. He began writing a musical play about Vincent
00:42and different artists and after 17 years it was then completed by his son Stephen who
00:49produced an original studio cast album. Les also returned to performing on stage as an
00:54actor and singer in various plays and shows. He formed his four-piece group of singers
01:03called Justice which entertained various venues for charities. In the early 50s Les was a
01:08professional as part of a top-billed magic and variety show touring Empire Theatres and
01:14others in England, Wales and Scotland, but that was disrupted often by army recalls of
01:19two weeks at a time. Marrying in 1955 he went on to other types of work, painting just
01:26in his spare time until he was able to become a professional by moving to Cornwall in the
01:3070s. Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2010, artwork and performing arts were increasingly
01:37difficult except for a few small sketches and it ceased around 2015 when he also became
01:43housebound unless he was taken out with a wheelchair. Les was born in 1930 and passed
01:49away in 2022 but leaves a legacy of colourful work behind him.
01:54Hello Michael, you've been admiring the artwork?
01:59I have indeed, yes.
02:00Are you a regular visitor to Himley Hall then?
02:03I come fairly often, yes.
02:06And it's really, it's an art gallery now isn't it? There's so much artwork on display here.
02:10It's an excellent display, huge variety of work and all local people as far as I know.
02:17What do you think of Mr Bramwell's work that we're just featuring at the minute in the
02:21paper that we can see here? It's lovely isn't it? It's quite a distinctive kind of tonal
02:28palette he's got, kind of that grey-green, you know what I mean?
02:32Lovely.
02:33Yeah.
02:34So what do you normally do, you have a walk and then stop off for a cup of tea, admire
02:37the art?
02:38Yes, I do.
02:39Yeah, it's all good isn't it, it's all good.
02:41Absolutely.
02:42And where do you live sir, are you local?
02:43I live in Kingsbring.
02:44Yeah, yeah.
02:45Born and bred in Dudley though.
02:46Yeah, in the heart of the black country.
02:48But I live in, yes, Poshpot now.
02:51Oh yeah, you've emigrated, you've upgraded.
02:54Absolutely.
02:55Well we'll let you continue enjoying the artwork here, thank you sir.
02:58Okay, you're welcome.