Jim Telford, Self Taught Sign Writer and Artist

Although Jim died in 2018, he still has a real presence in Coquetdale. In 2020, I was delighted to speak with his daughter, Jane Scott, and his wife, Cath.

Cath, sadly, died in 2021. Jane told me 'She is in a far better place, and is reunited with 'My James' (she never called him 'Jim').

Jane and Cath were very generous with their time and stories. I learned such a lot about this wonderful man, born and bred in Thropton, a time-served painter and decorator. Jim was also part of the Rothbury Highland Pipe Band, and the Upper Coquetdale Film Group.

The following article was first published in the Northumberland Gazette in February 2020.

James (Jim) Landers Telford 30.5.1934-11.1.2018

Self-taught sign-writer and artist.

As you enter Coquetdale, the creative work of Jim Telford can be seen all around you. There is an eye-catching sign In Rogerson's Shoe Arcade, Rothbury. We see portrayed a shepherd, wearing hob-nailed boots; his dog, and the Simonside Hills as a backdrop. The words read 'Thomas Rogerson, Rothbury. The Original Home of Simonside Footwear'.

I've enjoyed looking at this sign many times, but recently noticed the distinctive signature, JL Telford, with the J and L interlinked. I asked the shop assistant about it, and she kindly let me view the private quarters upstairs in the shop. There I found several paintings which Jim had done for Ian Rogerson (Thomas' son).

Ian told me he had asked Jim to paint them to enhance the upstairs showroom, where 'ladies' were served in the 1960s. Paintings of Thrum Mill, Cragside House, and pretty views of Rothbury and Coquetdale.

I decided to do some research on Jim and ended up speaking with several people about the man and his work. He was so very well respected and admired. The word everyone used to describe him was 'perfectionist'. It seems he was also a great raconteur and a very humorous person too. For example, while he was painting the shop sign for J. R. Soulsby's toy shop, he decided to paint R. Soul and then left to go home to Thropton for his dinner, before completing the name that afternoon!

Jim's widow Cath, and his daughter Jane, tell me that he was constantly painting; in his spare time he would always have a brush in his hand.

Jane shows me into the conservatory where he liked to sit to work, after he had suffered a major stroke. The room is light and airy and Jim feels very present. His cap, paints, his canvases, Xmas cards he was working on, are all around.

He was told, when recovering in hospital, that he would not be able to lift a paint brush again. However, the consultant obviously did not know the strength and determination of the man he was dealing with. Jim was painting the very next day!

Jim worked throughout Northumberland and beyond. His work was of such a high standard that he was commissioned by the BBC to help make the town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, into the 'Middlemarch' of George Eliot's novel, set in 1830s, for their popular series filmed in 1994.

This was not the first time Jim had worked on film sets, his work was also in the award-winning children's series: White Peake Farm, set near Rothbury.

Visitors to Alnwick's Barter Books will also note his perfectly executed words on Peter Dodd's famous writers' mural.

Ian Rogerson told me: 'He was a true friend, one of kind. He didn't paint for money, but to be happy'. His paintings continue to make us happy; I have been fortunate to see them on the walls in a number of his friends' homes. Jim's excellent sign-writing is still a joy to see around Northumberland and Scottish Borders; on business premises, bus companies, on boats and shops.

I wish I could have met the kind, funny, talented man, that was Jim Telford.

The Coquet Lass and the First School Sign

Jim worked in a garage at the back of The Croft in Thropton and his daughter, Jane Scott, said he was such a perfectionist. If templates were not up to his high standard, he would rework them until they were perfect. All Jim's work was hand done by painting on wood. Some of the signs were in 3-D style of font and quite complex.

In 1993 he was “discovered” by a set dresser who was looking for a sign writer for a BBC drama series of 'Middlemarch” to be filmed in Stamford, Lincolnshire. Jim was hired for two weeks to re-paint all the shop signs in the town in 19th Century style. The series was very successful, and Jane has a collection of newspaper cuttings about Jim's work, as well as a letter of congratulation from the then MP for the area, Alan Beith.

Jane said her father retired at the right time just as plastics and stickers came in.

Sadly, Jim had a stroke in 2003 which kept him hospitalised for three months, but with help and encouragement from his family he began sketching and painting again. He almost always copied his paintings from postcards or pictures, and Jane has numerous examples of his colourful and charming work. Many of them feature his home villages of Thropton and Rothbury, as well as the bridges over the Coquet River and farming scenes. They are a lasting record made by a very gifted and creative artist of the Valley.