Painting of Bandley Hill Adventure Playground in Stevenage, by Donne Buck, about 1968

Small painting showing a long, boat-like wooden structure, made of different materials including coloured planks and car tyres. There is a central tower with a black flag flying from a flag pole, and a tall weather vane with a golden arrow atop. On the left side of the boat is a yellow sign painted with the word 'PROGRESS'. Children are climbing across the different parts of the structure. Green trees on either side of the painting flank a bright blue sky with a large white cloud.

The painting has a narrow off-white frame made of wood.

Given by Donne Buck

Donne Buck moved to Stevenage in the late 1960s to set up Adventure Playgrounds in the New Town. Bandley Hill was an adventure playground set up on a site unused by the development company. Building on his experience at Notting Hill Adventure Playground, Donne helped children to construct dens and structures using found and donated materials.

The structure shown in this painting was a project initiated by Donne to help pass time on the playground when he wasn't needed, and to give him a means of teaching children building skills. At the core of the structure was a large slatted wooden crate donated by a local building firm. Donne extended the crate to give it a ship-like profile, adding a second deck and a mast. Whilst gathering materials from a local building site he came across a broken 'Work in Progress' sign, which he used to name the structure: 'Progress.'

This painting is based on a photograph of Bandley Hill Adventure Playground, Stevenage taken by Donne Buck in 1968.

Donne Buck was a play worker and campaigner who started his career in the Adventure Playgrounds of London before 1960. By the end of the 1960s, he had moved to Stevenage to oversee play provision in the estates of the New Town. He made this painting of a ship-like structure in Bandley Hill Adventure Playground which Donne had built with the help of the children using found and donated materials. It was named 'Progress' after Donne attached a broken 'Work in Progress' builders' sign to the structure.

B.119-2014