Collections Online

Falcon Hildred was born in Grimsby in 1935. At that time Grimsby was reputed to have one of the largest steam fishing fleets in the world. Affected by his early experiences he has been fascinated by the shapes, sounds and smells of working towns throughout his life. The cranes, mills, terrace houses, factory sirens, lines of washing, and the dialects - all gave a liveliness, integrity and individuality that is now largely gone. A wartime move to Coventry extended his interest, and it was here at the age of thirteen that he began his art training. After completing this at the Royal College of Art in London, he worked as an interior designer and then took up a research post at Newcastle-on-Tyne Polytechnic. In I976 this led to his Worktown exhibition which toured Britain being shown at many museums and art galleries including lronbridge Museum, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Welsh Industrial Maritime Museum. He lives and works in an old mill overlooking the slate quarrying town of Blaenau Ffestiniog from where he continues to travel throughout Britain in search of subjects to add to his Worktown exhibition. Although an industrial designer by profession he feels he is now more of an industrial archaeologist with a better knowledge of trains and corner shops, than of trends and computers. He has works in the collections of the National Library of Wales, CADW Welsh Historic Monuments, the Telford Collection at lronbridge, the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Trust. (Source Roger Cucksey, Keeper of Art, Newport Museum & Art Gallery, 1990).