Train Going over a Bridge at Night, 1935 By Eric Ravilious

A passenger train, blazing with light, crosses a bridge over a country lane, illuminating the dark village for a few moments as a magnificent plume of smoke billows from the funnel. Ravilious was a train traveller both by inclination and by necessity, and here he shows a train from the perspective of villagers whose streets are dark and whose homes are lit by candles. The artist painted this view in 1935 from the top of the “old hump-backed” river bridge over the River Colne, which marks the parish boundary between Castle and Sible Hedingham. At this time Ravilious was living in Bank House, Castle Hedingham with his wife Tirzah, and this painting is one of a series featuring scenes from his life in Essex.