Norman Thelwell (3 May 1923 – 7 February 2004) was an English

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

ist well known for his humorous illustrations of

ponies A pony is a type of small horse ('' Equus ferus caballus''). Depending on the context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. Compared ...

and

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

Life and career

Born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, Thelwell spent

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

, having signed up at the age of 18 in 1941, and was art editor of an army magazine in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, India. His first published cartoon, in the ''

London Opinion ''London Opinion and Today'', often known as ''London Opinion'', was a British magazine published from 1903 until 1954, when it was merged with Pearson's ''Men Only''. It ran weekly from 26 December 1903 to 27 June 1931, and was then published mon ...

'', was an Indian subject. In 1944, he took evening classes in art at Nottingham Art School. A fellow art student, Rhona, became his wife in 1949. They had one son and one daughter. After Nottingham, he took a degree at

Liverpool College of Art Liverpool College of Art is located at 68 Hope Street, in Liverpool, England. It is a Grade II listed building. The original building, facing Mount Street, was designed by Thomas Cook and completed in 1883. The extension along Hope Street, des ...

, then in 1950, he took up a post teaching design and illustration at Wolverhampton College of Art, but gave this up to work

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

in 1956. He became a contributor to the satirical magazine ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'', who first published his work in 1952, beginning a 25-year relationship that resulted in more than 1,500 cartoons, of which 60 were used as front covers. He also worked as political cartoonist for the ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...

'' from 1956 until the paper closed in 1960. His first collection of cartoons, ''Angels on Horseback'', was published in 1957. Known to many only as ''Thelwell'', he found his true comic niche with

Pony Club Pony Club is an international youth organization devoted to educating youth about horses and riding. Pony Club organizations exist in over thirty countries worldwide. Origins Pony Club began in Great Britain in 1929 when the Institute of the ...

girls and their comic ponies, a subject for which he became best-known, and which led to a cartoon strip about such a pair, ''Penelope and Kipper''. He also illustrated ''Chicko'' in the British boys'

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

''. For the last quarter of a century of his life he lived in the

Test Valley Test Valley is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England, named after the valley of the River Test. Its council is based in Andover. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by a merger of the boroughs of Andover and Romsey, a ...

at Timsbury, near

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the t ...

, gradually restoring a farm house and landscaping the grounds which gave rise in 1978 to his first factual book, ''A Plank Bridge by a Pool'',"Norman Thelwell" (obituary)
''The Daily Telegraph'', 9 February 2004. which detailed the first two lakes he dug there. A third lake was later featured on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's ''

South Today ''BBC South Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the south of England, covering Hampshire, Isle of Wight, West Sussex, much of Dorset and parts of Berkshire, Surrey and Wiltshire. Since 2000, an opt-out of the main program ...

'' programme. Written much earlier, but published three years later, ''A Millstone Round My Neck'' described his experiences in re-building a Cornish water mill (Addicroft Mill at Liskeard, which he called Penruin), that was sold before the book was published. He always loved old buildings, and in his autobiography, ''Wrestling with a Pencil'', wrote about his joy in the beauty of old cottages. In the 70s, Thelwell also illustrated the front covers of the first six

James Herriot James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author. Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to Engl ...

books in the series.

Exhibitions

An exhibition of Thelwell's drawings and cartoons was scheduled to be held at the

Nature in Art Nature in Art is a museum and art gallery at Wallsworth Hall, Twigworth, Gloucester, England, dedicated exclusively to art inspired by nature in all forms, styles and media. The museum has twice been specially commended in the National Heritage ...

gallery in Gloucester, England, from 30 July to 1 September 2019.

Published books

* ''Angels on Horseback'' (1957) * ''Thelwell Country'' (1959) * ''A Place of Your Own – A Guide for House-Hunters'' (1960) * ''Thelwell in Orbit'' (1961) * ''A Leg at Each Corner'' (1962) * ''Top Dog'' (1964) ogs* ''Thelwell's Riding Academy'' (1965) * ''Drawing Ponies'' (1966) * ''Up the Garden Path'' (1967) ardening* ''Thelwell's Compleat Tangler'' (1967) ishing* ''Thelwell's Book of Leisure'' (1968) * ''This Desirable Plot'' (1970) eal Estate* ''The Effluent Society'' (1971) aste and Ecology * ''Penelope'' (1972) * ''Three Sheets in the Wind'' (1973)

ailing Ailing may refer to: * ailing in health, see ail (health) * Ailing (Chinese name) (♀; given name; aka ''Ai-ling''), several Chinese female given names * Charles Ailing Gifford (♂; 1860–1937) U.S. architect * Ailing Dojčin (♂) culture h ...

* ''Belt Up'' (1974) otoring* ''Thelwell Goes West'' (1975) * ''Brat Race'' (1977) * ''Riding Frieze'' (1977) * ''A Plank Bridge by a Pool'' (1978) * ''Thelwell's Gymkhana'' (1979) * ''Horse Sense'' (1980) – previously published as ''Riding Frieze'' (1977) * ''A Millstone Round My Neck'' (1981) * ''Pony Calvalcade'' (1981) (3 in 1: Angels on Horseback, A Leg at Each Corner, Riding Academy) * ''Some Damn Fool's Signed the Rubens Again'' (1982) wning a stately home* ''Sporting Prints'' (1982) * ''How to Draw Ponies'' (1982) – based on ''Drawing Ponies'' (1966) * ''Magnificat'' (1983)

ats ATS or Ats may refer to: Businesses * ATS Wheels, or ''Auto Technisches Spezialzubehör'', a German wheel manufacturer and sponsor of a Formula One racing team * ATS Automation Tooling Systems, an Ontario, Canada-based factory automation company ...

* ''Wrestling with a Pencil: The Life of a Freelance Artist'' (1986) * ''Play It As It Lies'' (1987) olfing* ''Pony Panorama'' (1988) (3 in 1: Gymkhana, Goes West, Penelope) * ''Penelope Rides Again'' (1989) * ''The Cat's Pyjamas'' (1992)

Other published works/or works involved with

* ''The Penguin Thelwell'' (1963) * ''The Delinquent Equine'' RS Summerhayes and Thelwell (Moss Bros) (undated) * ''Thelwell'' (1989) ale catalog* ''Ploughmans Punch'' (1995) * ''The Definitive Thelwell'' (2009) ale catalog* ''Thelwell Country: 70 years of Norman Thelwell'' (2003–4) xhibition catalog Southampton City Art Gallery

Forewords written by/contains some illustrations

* ''Punch Afloat'' (1974) – contains two sections written by Thelwell, pp. 36 and 80. as well as additional illustrations. * ''Travelling with a Sketchbook'' by Ray Evans, foreword by Norman Thelwell (1980)

References

External links

Thelwell website
9 February 2004.
Searchable Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thelwell, Norman 1923 births 2004 deaths English cartoonists People from Birkenhead Punch (magazine) cartoonists Alumni of Liverpool College of Art East Yorkshire Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of World War II British people in colonial India Military personnel from Birkenhead Military personnel from Cheshire