Last weekend we popped along to see the exhibition at Northwood House that had been put on by Cowes Heritage. It was excellent and well worth the trip. Here’s what George had to say. Ed
The latest Cowes Heritage exhibition, focusing on the history of Northwood House and the once-influential Ward family proved a resounding success.
By the time the exhibition closed on Sunday (14 Nov) well over a 1,000 people had visited the event staged over three weeks at, appropriately, at Northwood House.
“We are delighted with the amount of interest shown in the event,” said Cowes Heritage chairman John Groves. “I hoped that 1,000 people would attend, and in the end we had 1,300.
“So many commented on the depth we had gone to in highlighting not only the history of the house, which dates from the 1830s, but also the Ward family which during Victorian times was said to have owned four-fifths of Cowes and the large number of Island properties stretching westwards to Totland.”
Visitors for afar
One couple had travelled all the way from Japan to see the exhibition; for Paul and Michido Hidehiko Tanimura the trip was to obtain more information about the Rev Leon Ward, who went to Japan in 1930 as a missionary Roman Catholic priest and 75 years ago founded a church in Kariuzawa.
The Rev Ward, who died at sea in 1942 when he was being deported because of the war, was the younger brother of Captain Herbert Joseph Ward who in 1929, while a Cowes Urban District councillor, gave Northwood House and park to the town.
After being given a conducted tour of the exhibition and viewing the considerable information about the Ward family Mr Hidehiko Tanimura said, “I found it all very interesting, considerably adding to our knowledge of that remarkable member of the Ward family to whom we owe so much back in Japan.”
Met Ward family members
During their short Cowes visit they also met some present-day members of the Ward family. Altogether ten family members, representing three generations and all now living on the mainland, visited the exhibition at various times over the three weeks.
John Groves was sure the exhibition had served to raise awareness and appreciation of the house and park at a time when there was speculation about its future. He emphasised, though, that Cowes Heritage is a not for profit organisation entirely independent of both the Northwood House trust and the Friends of Northwood House.
Although the Northwood House exhibition has ended at Cowes, all the displays will soon be exhibited for public viewing at Weston House, Totland, which also has strong historical connections with the Ward family.
Cowes Heritage Exhibitions
Cowes Heritage has since its formation in 2003 staged a total of nine major exhibitions.
The theme of next year’s exhibition will be the history of shops and public houses in Cowes, and John Groves will warmly welcome the chance to photo-copy any suitable material offered by the public.
