Thank you for your engagements with our posts and especially to those who have supported our events during the year.
We hope you will enjoy these wintry paintings and Christmas poems by the late Peter Clayton.
"Snow" by Peter Clayton
Peter was born in Solihull in 1935, the eldest son of William and Minnie Clayton. The couple went on to have three more children: Marian (b.1936 d.1966); David (b.1937) and Reginald (b.1941). The sons of William’s first marriage also lived with them: Frederick (b.1921) and Cyril (b.1923).
William Clayton was a farm worker who worked on several Warwickshire farms, until the family settled at a cottage on Shultern Lane. At this time, William was working at Tocil House Farm.
Peter Clayton joined his father as a farm worker until he enlisted in the army at 18 years of age. In his 30s, he resumed agricultural work before becoming a security guard. It was around this time that Peter began writing poetry and painting, both of which he was passionate about. He was also prolific: he wrote over 1300 poems, some of which won prizes in amateur competitions and were printed in anthologies. Many of Peter’s poems are poignant, covering a range of themes: from love and loss, growing old, fear and loneliness to the harsh realities of the cityscape as he perceived it, with dirty, littered streets and a prevailing bleakness. However, Peter’s abiding interest was the natural world; the animals, insects, flowers and trees he saw around him as a child and working on the land in this part of Warwickshire were a rich source of inspiration to him.
Peter died on 13 August 2020, aged 85 years. He has a memorial in Canley Cemetery.
CHRISTMAS ROBIN
The robin sat on the holly tree
Making it look like the start of Christmas to me
Its red breast shone against the dark leaves of the holly
Its song gently rippling around the tree
It seemed to be saying come to me
But I knew this could not be
For the robin can only sing and not talk to me
It seemed to sing all through Christmas Day
And then flew away leaving my holly bush empty of sound
As the snow drifted gently to the ground
And as the robin came flying back
The snowman winked at me
As the robin settled in the holly tree
And the winter took hold of the snowman
And turned him into a piece of ice
(Published by United Press Ltd in the anthology A Poem For Christmas, 2010).
"Winter" by Peter Clayton
CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTS
Christmas tree lights shone from afar
They seemed to glow as if caught in a jar
Twinkling lights sway back and forth
And mistletoe hangs in pride of place
Bringing a smile to any hardened face
And then in the snow stood the fairies of Christmas
All waving their wands at the Christmas tree lights
And adding a little bit more sparkle to the tree
And as the animals of the wood gather round
To watch the fairies send their presents
To hang on the tree
And then in the night
The moon began to glow
And picked out a badger that had turned to go
And as if with one voice all the animals
Wished him a Merry Christmas
And God speed - and he disappeared
Into the darkness of the night
And as if by magic the Fairy Queen
Waved her wand over the animals of the wood
Who left the scene one by one
And in the end all that could be seen
Was the flickering of the lights on the Christmas tree
As they seemed to glow as if they were caught in a jar
Only to be seen and admired from afar
(Published in the anthology Something to Say, 2011).