The name ‘A.R.Woods’ has hit the headlines in recent months, following the start of a project to restore and protect a former military installation in Orkney, Scotland.

Rural English Scene - Pic Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership

A mysterious World War II mural at the Ness Gun Battery in Orkney is signed by A R Woods, however little is known about the person behind the painting.  This has led to a worldwide search for the artist.

AR Woods in London

One theory has emerged, following a large amount of research, that points towards a man born about 1876 in Gravesend, Kent, England.

It is thought that Albert John Rycraft Woods worked as the piermaster at Tower Pier on the River Thames. He retired in 1947 and died in 1950.

Pool of London painting - AR Woods

The discovery of picture by AR Woods, of the Pool of London, possibly points to AR Woods the piermaster, being an artist.

This painting was recently sold by a Birmingham auction house.

A military connection – I Guarded the Waterfront

Finding the elusive Orkney link is a puzzle for researchers, who have even turned to an autobiography by A.P. Woods called ‘I Guarded the Waterfront’.

It is thought that AP Woods and AR Woods are the same person.

Published 1942 by Stanley Paul in London and Melbourne, the 192 page book has a subtitle of  ’Memoirs of a London pier master’ .

On page 93, there is a tantalising military connection concerning the authors role in WWI:

‘It was at this time that I joined the Volunteers. I became a member of the Deptford Battalion, 16th Company, County of London, and before long was made a platoon sergeant. I then went to Albany Street Barracks and there, with the 2nd Life Guards, I underwent a course of training in machine-gunning. I passed out as an instructor.’

One link is made as a result of reading the autobiography. Buried within the cover is a photograph exactly like the image depicted in the Pool of London painting.

The autobiography has one other piece of information that may be of use:

 He talks of mounting guns (French .75) on the top span of Tower Bridge and firing 140 rounds  to help deter a Zeppelin attack

This could prove that AR Woods was indeed the piermaster of Tower Pier, that he was an artist and that he had military training. However, the Orkney link is still missing, as it is not mentioned in the book.

(L) Orkney mural (M) Tower Bridge (R) Port of London signatures - Click image for a larger view

In trying to explain why Orkney is not mentioned in the autobiography could be as simple as the mural painter and the London painter are two different people.

Other theories could be that AR Woods was prevented from writing about Orkney due to the Official Secrets Act or maybe, he felt his time in Scotland was not worthy of his autobiography.

AR Woods in Orkney

The missing part is still, who painted the very large mural in the Ness gun battery mess hall?

Commentators have reported that the scenes appear to be in the style of an idyllic village in Kent. So could they have been painted by someone longing for home.

If you then add to the mix that a number of auxiliary vessels such as barges, tugs, floating cranes etc. were used in support of the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow, and some were brought from the Thames.

Could all this point towards AR Woods the pier master?

AR Woods in Canada

Tower Bridge by AR Woods

As with all good detective stories this one has a twist, to cause some new questions to be asked.

Recently discovered in an auction in Ontario, Canada is a painting of Tower Bridge.

It is signed A.R Woods and appears, to the uneducated eye, to be in a similar painting style to the Orkney mural and the pool of London image.

The signatures on the Pool of London and the Tower bridge paintings certainly seem to match.

How did this painting come to be in Canada and is it by the same A.R.Woods as the Orkney mural and the Pool of London painting?

Who was A. R. Woods ?

Can you add to the history of AR Woods? Maybe you have the Orkney link or can confirm any of the story?

Please let us know via the comments area below or via the contact us page.

The Greenwood cemetery is situated in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The Greenwood cemetery website, was created by history and social studies education students at the University of Northern Iowa and contains a great deal of useful information.

A handy plot referenced plan of the cemetery is complete with the ability to search by category;

Heros & Aviators – John Livingston, Aden Livingston & Phillip Lund of Cedar Falls.
War Memorial - Erected to not only salute the veterans of the Civil War, but also those of all of the wars that the United States has fought, including the War of 1812, Spanish-American, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
Businessmen – Cornelius Neil McHugh, Jens Nielsen, John Raab, Willaim Raab, Hugh Smith, George Wyth.
Epitaphs - Nielsen and Messerly family.
Veterans – Of the Civil War, World War II and Vietnam.
Mausoleum – The Mausoleum is a block type building done in a simple Egyptian Revival style.
Metal Monuments – A selection of 19th Century monuments made from metal.
Pioneers – John M. Overman, Dempsey Overman, Andrew Mullarky, George Philpot, Sheldon Fox.
Significant Women – Theresa Sartori, Johanna Raab, Ruth Suckow Nuhn, Jessie Parrott Loomis.

More information – Visit the Greenwood Cemetery website.

Situated to the North of Carlisle City centre is Rickerby Park, purchased shortly after World War I as a memorial to the fallen.

Rickerby Park, which runs alongside the River Eden, once formed part of the 18th Century Rickerby Estate which was broken up and sold off in 1914.

In 1920 The Citizens League purchased the area for £11,500 and in a joint scheme with the Corporation (City Council), Rickerby Park was dedicated as a memorial to the fallen of the Great War of 1914-1918.

Rickerby Park Cenotaph

A memorial suspension bridge from St Aidans Road was erected along with the cenotaph and on the 25th May 1922, Rickerby Park was formally opened and handed over to the City of Carlisle for the benefit of the public.

The Citizens League was founded in the first week of the Great War (1914-1918) by the Acting Mayor, Sir Benjamin Scott, with many ex-servicemen amongst its membership.

The Citizen’s League dedicated its time to helping other ex-servicemen, and founded the Lonsdale Battalion which looked after soldiers and sailors passing through Carlisle during the war years.

The war memorial cenotaph is situated in the centre of the park and was originally dedicated to the fallen of World War I.

An imposing but simple structure, the memorial bears the following WWI inscription which reads:

“To the immortal memory of the men and women of Cumberland and Westmorland who gave their lives during the Great War and in honour of the glorious services of Border Regiment, Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry, Cumberland Brigade Royal Field Artillery and The Westmorland Detachment R.A.M.C”.

The memorial has been later served by the addition of a plaque “commemorating those who gave their lives in World War II (1939-1945) and subsequent conflicts”.

As Rickerby Park is situated on the outskirts of the city, a more recent memorial was erected in Carlisle City centre, dedicated by the Duke of Gloucester in 1990. This offered a much shorter walk from the remembrance services at the Cathedral and allowed many more people to attend.

More Information
Cenotaph location – Geograph.org.uk.

History of Rickerby Park – Carlisle City Council.

Border Regiment and King’s Own Border Regiment Museum

Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry Museum.

Royal Field Artillery

The Royal Army Medical Corps of WWI

The Hadrian’s Wall National Trail runs through Rickerby Park

Nineteen year old Private Lewis Leiser of The Royal Pioneer Corps is buried at Arthuret church, Cumbria.

Pte. Lewis Leiser 22nd Sept 1954

The Royal Pioneer Corps was raised on 17 October 1939 as the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps.
Pioneers were generally recruited from Africa, Mauritius and India but not well known, is that many thousands of Germans and Austrians also joined the corps to assist the allied war efforts to liberate their home countries.

Jewish and political opponents of the Nazi Regime fled to Britain whilst they were able and became known as “The King’s Most Loyal Enemy Aliens”. Their mastery of the German language made them especially effective.

They constructed roads, bridges, prefabricated track on beaches and airfields as well as handling stores and stretcher bearing.

Involved in the assaults in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and North East Europe. The Royal Pioneer corps were involved in the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy.

As Lewis died on 22nd of September 1954, he would have been too young to be involved in World War II, so we have no knowledge of how this young man came to be resting in the quiet village churchyard of Arthuret.