‘Drawn from the River Weaver’ Exhibition opens at Cheshire’s award-winning Lion Salt Works Museum

A posthumous exhibition by talented artist, Pauline Leaver from Wistaston near Nantwich, is opening at the Lion Salt Works Museum on 18 May until 5 July.

Inspired by the River Weaver, the photography exhibition was organised as a tribute to her by her long-term friends and fellow artists, Celia Rowlands and Pamela Field with whom they had been collaborating on an on-going project ‘Drawn from the River Weaver’. All the photographs at the exhibition will be available for purchase with the proceeds being generously donated to the Museum by Pauline Leaver’s estate. Normal admission charges apply* and due to social distancing requirements, booking in advance is required. For more information, call the Museum on 01606 275066 or visit www.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk 

Pauline Leaver was a successful former surgeon, in retirement taking an Art Foundation course at Northwich College of Art before gaining a Fine Art Degree at Camberwell in London. She used many different forms of artistic expression but while working on the Weaver project she settled on photography, enhancing the images digitally to capture the atmosphere of a place. This exhibition features the photos she took of the River Weaver where she was inspired by the patterns and 

reflections in the flow of the water, in particular around locks, weirs, sluices and bridges, many of which she reworked on the computer to produce striking and evocative images. 

Fellow artist, Pamela Field, from Great Barrow, said: “For about 25 years, Pauline, Celia and I have collaborated on projects. We went out on location together, discussed and supported each other creatively, before developing our individual responses back in the studio. Every so often we would travel further a-field and spend a few days on a ‘working holiday’ It is a great sadness that the River Weaver Project was not completed. 

Celia Rowands from Frodsham, said: “I met Pauline while on the Foundation course at Northwich 1989-1990 and later shared a studio in Middlewich for a while. Pauline was very good company and immensely talented and imaginative. She was meticulous in her approach to everything she did as is apparent in the work in this exhibition. She would do extensive research into the history of locations we visited - it was another layer in her understanding of the objects she photographed and was a key part of her artistic inspiration, together with her love of nature.”  

In her lifetime, Pauline Leaver’s work was widely shown with that of Celia and Pamela, including at the Pankhurst Centre in Manchester, Theatr Clwd in Mold,  

The Lion Salt Works Museum tells the story of salt through interactive displays, including a sound and light show, automaton and ‘subsiding house’. It has won ten prestigious awards since re-opening after a four-year £10m restoration in June 2015. 

For further information, contact:  Fiona Young at Marketing Cheshire on 01244 851867 or at f.young@marketingcheshire.co.uk 

Pauline was born in Lancashire and brought up on a dairy farm near Burnley later settling in Wistaston near Nantwich. 

Planning a Visit 

To ensure the safety of staff and visitors, the Lion Salt Works Museums has introduced revised opening times and pre-booking. To guarantee admission, places must be booked in advance. To pre-book a visit, contact the Museum on 01606 275066. Opening times and booking procedures may change at short notice, please check the website (www.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk) before planning a visit. 

Pictured - L - R Celia Rowlands and Pamela Field with one of Pauline Leaver’s pictures.