Just noticed

This picture has been on our wall all the time we have lived in this house and it probably hung on the wall in our previous house. I think I remember it being in my parents' house, but I am not sure. I don't really know where it came from, I just know that I was given it, probably by my mother when she moved, or I picked it up from her house when she died. 

I have never really taken that much notice of it, although it is on the landing and I walk past it a dozen times a day. Then today . . . I noticed that it was signed, whether it was the light or what I don't know, but I have never noticed this before. 

So I researched - W. J  Boyes 1903 is William Joseph Boyes, watercolour painter who lived in Bradford all his life 1847 - 1935. He taught in several schools and colleges in the area. He painted mostly landscapes, in a pastoral style popular in the late 19th and early 20th century. Apparently most of his paintings are in private houses, but they do occasionally sell at auction. There are a few available at the moment and they seem to sell, although not for millions sadly! 

I now have to try to figure out how this picture came to be in the family. I don't think my parents or grandparents were in the habit of buying pictures, but if this was a local scene, possibly somewhere like Bolton Abbey, then they might have decided to buy it. Perhaps they knew the artist as he seemed to live locally. My grandparents especially knew a lot of local people. I think I will do a bit of detective work. 

I took the picture off the wall to get it somewhere without reflections - bad idea as the back is covered in dust . . .