1. Six Hills Secrets places Stevenage’s remarkable residents within the very landscapes that shaped them. What first inspired you to frame these stories through a dialogue between traditional architectural drawings and comic portraits?

I moved to Stevenage seven years ago. I visited the museum, explored many pubs, and heard remarkable stories about the New Town as well as the myths and legends of the town. With such a colourful history, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to celebrate the people and the places. I first did this through a branding project for Six Hills Brewery, which is the first craft brewery in Stevenage.

The drawings celebrate the people and places of Stevenage and ask how the town’s old folklore exists within the modernist vision of the New Town. The New Town had a radical focus on placing women, families and public health at the centre of town planning, which had never been done before. This produced some fascinating architecture, which I drew and photographed.

Alongside this, there are also wonderfully strange figures that existed before the New Town, such as the friendly giant Jack o’ Legs, the Six Hills Imp, and the Twin Foxes. The question I wanted to explore was how these myths continue to inhabit the modern vision of what a town should be, while carrying their folk stories.

2. Your professional background is in architecture. How has your training at the Royal College of Art and your work as an architectural illustrator influenced the way you compose these layered images of place and person?

Half of the drawings in the show are traditional pen and ink architectural illustrations, following the accepted visual language of architectural drawing. They explore different line weights and types, as well as techniques for hatching, showing shadows, and representing materiality.

These are contrasted with more whimsical, playful, and sometimes coloured caricatures of Stevenage’s myths and legends. The point is to highlight the contrast between life in the town before and after the New Town. This creates contrasts, similarities, and sometimes tensions, which hopefully viewers will find engaging and entertaining.

3. Many of the figures you depict from Lewis Hamilton to E.M. Forster are internationally recognised while others belong more firmly to local folklore. How did you approach balancing historical fact, myth and civic memory within the exhibition?

The unifying thread is always Stevenage. The exhibition celebrates the diversity of people who have lived here, the lives they led, and the passions they pursued. We have Elizabeth Poston, the former director of music at the BBC, E.M. Forster, and Lewis Hamilton. We also feature figures with darker or more unusual stories, such as Albert Pierrepoint, the last hangman of England. Then there are the myths, like Jack o’ Legs, and stories like the Twin Foxes, which were instrumental in the early use of fingerprint analysis by police.

Bringing together historical figures, local folklore, and civic memory allows the exhibition to explore the richness of Stevenage, celebrating both the famous and the unknown.

4. The Six Hills themselves occupy a central symbolic role. What do they represent to you geographically, historically, and imaginatively within the identity of Stevenage?

The Six Hills are one of the most mysterious parts of Stevenage, with no single story known to be true. This mystery suits the storytelling aspect of the show perfectly, as many different stories have emerged over time.

Originally, this project began as a branding initiative for Six Hills Brewery, which I led in 2021. The concept reimagines the folklore of Stevenage, centred on the Six Hills Imp and the clods of earth.

For those unfamiliar with the story, the Six Hills Imp was once in Whomerley Woods and became very frustrated with all the passers-by along the old Great North Road. In a fit of anger, he scooped up six clods of earth and threw them, missing everyone, which created the Six Hills. He then hurled a seventh clod, which struck the spire of Graveley Church, and it remains bent to this day.

Returning to the branding project, the story is retold through the lens of the brewery. The Six Hills have been excavated and their secrets uncovered. Local legend warned against disturbing them, yet the six are now back in town, and the imp will not rest until he finds them. Rumour has it that at the end of the day they all gather for a drink at the brewery.

The six myths and legends brought to life are the Christmas Truce footballer Frank Dimmock, the last hangman Albert Pierrepoint, the leading lady Ellen Terry, Cromwell’s spymaster general John Thurloe, the friendly giant Jack o’ Legs, and the black spectral dog Rosie.

5. In works such as Albert Pierrepoint at the Hotel Cromwell or John Thurloe in his role as spymaster you juxtapose ordinary contemporary settings with extraordinary past lives. What conversations between past and present are you hoping visitors will perceive?

The exhibition brings together old and new buildings, legends, and historical figures to show how lives from different times coexist in Stevenage. The New Town positioned women at the centre of its design, and we see parallels with Elizabeth Poston, Ellen Terry, and Jane Wenham.

Older legends, like the Hermit of Redcoats, echo similar stories of social isolation and difference. Jane Wenham, for example, was accused of witchcraft in 1712 for not conforming to societal norms. The Hermit of Redcoats shunned public life after a traumatic loss, and was remembered as a madman despite reports of his intelligence. The exhibition encourages visitors to reconsider these stories and to celebrate those who did not conform to the norm.

6. Your technique combines the precision of architectural drawing with a more expressive, narrative quality. Could you describe your creative process from site photography to the final illustrated composition?

I often start with black and white photography, especially for architectural studies, and then integrate pen and ink illustrations. My architectural training guides how I compose the view, whether as a one-point building portrait or a three-quarter perspective, which allows two facades to be visible and adds dynamism.

Adding whimsical, cartoon-like illustrations of people creates a contrast with the more formal architectural style. This juxtaposition brings together place and character, highlighting contrasts and connections and allowing historical and imaginative layers to coexist in the final artwork.

7. Stevenage is often associated with its status as Britain’s first New Town. How does the town’s post-war optimism and planned modernism inform the visual language of this series?

The architecture depicted in the drawings celebrates the buildings of Stevenage and highlights aspects of the modernist vision that shaped the town. The number six appears several times in the show, referring both to the Six Hills and to the six residential neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods were designed with shops, amenities, and community buildings all within walking distance, many of which still exist today. The drawings often include people who differ from that original vision. For example, there is a drawing of Valley Way, a typical example of flats with living spaces above mixed-use community spaces and shops. In the same drawing, the character of Mad Lucas is included, bringing together two different parts of Stevenage’s history.

8. Folklore plays a vivid role in the exhibition, particularly in stories such as the Six Hills Imp and Jack O’Legs. What is the value of myth in shaping a community’s sense of belonging?

Yes, the art style both draws from and contributes to the British folk art tradition. There are a couple of collaborative pieces in the show. One is a banner featuring the town’s motto, "The heart of a town lies in its people." This is a collaboration with a local resident, Jill Borcherds. It celebrates the ethos of the town and its approach to town planning, but it also honours ordinary local residents, many of whom have become unknown. I was told that this tagline came from a fifteen-year-old at Barclay School, Richard Ingle, and it has since become the town’s motto. The show celebrates not only famous figures like E.M. Forster and Lewis Hamilton, but also the locals and the lesser-known people in the town’s history.

The second collaborative piece is six ceramic flagons, created with Elly Wall, a local ceramicist and potter. These are imagined excavated drinking flagons representing six myths and legends of Stevenage, supposedly buried in the Six Hills. Through the concept of an illegal excavation, developed in the branding, they are now on display. They reference Stevenage’s historic role as a place with many public houses, coach houses, and taverns where merchants traveling to and from London would fill flagons with wine, beer, gin, or whatever they could find. The flagons represent Ellen Terry, Frank Dimmock, Albert Pierrepoint, John Thurlow, Jack o’ Legs, and Rosie, the spectral dog.

9. Several works hint at hidden details or visual clues embedded within the scenes. How important is discovery and close looking to the experience of your exhibition?

Yes, there are many different and overlapping stories within the artworks, and they will likely mean different things to different people, particularly the black and white pen and ink drawings of the New Town architecture. There is a lot of subtle meaning embedded in the architecture itself, but of course visitors, especially local residents, will bring their own memories of these places and of the people connected to them.

10. As someone who teaches freehand architectural drawing through Draw Like an Architect, how do you see drawing as a way of slowing down and re-seeing familiar places like Stevenage?

Drawing architecture is not only a way of producing drawings, but also a way of seeing. It makes you stop and take the time to observe the building you are drawing. Often, the final drawing is not the most important part; what matters is seeing your subject, the architecture, in a new light. With an architectural approach, an architect will often draw to analyse and investigate aspects of a building.

The New Town’s architecture can be drawn, and the way I approach it, partly through my architectural training, is to reinvestigate how it was designed, to understand the materials used, and to recognise that post-war architecture was often limited by what was readily available. The styles themselves, such as the Festival of Britain style and the modernist architectural style, lend themselves to a particular way of drawing. In many of the pen and ink drawings, I use black to represent the glazing and different tones of grey to show what lies beyond the glass. Much of this architecture included a lot of glass, particularly because of the aluminium Crittall windows used. By stopping to draw, you can appreciate both the inside and the outside of the building and notice details you might otherwise have missed.

11. Music, engineering, theatre, motorcycling, literature — the exhibition spans a remarkable range of disciplines. Did you find a unifying thread that connects these diverse figures?

The unifying thread between all the people in this show is, of course, Stevenage. I think it is a real celebration of the town’s diverse people, the lives they led, and the passions they pursued. For instance, we have the former Director of Music at the BBC, Elizabeth Poston, and E.M. Forster, the famous writer who touched many lives. But we also include some more notorious stories, such as that of Albert Pierrepoint, the last hangman of England. There are myths like Jack o’ Legs, and stories such as the Twin Foxes, a tale of two poachers who were caught, after which the police realized they could take fingerprints from both, and even twins’ fingerprints would be different. This incident marked the beginning of the use of fingerprint analysis by the police.

12. What surprised you most during your research into Stevenage’s past and its notable residents?

I think Stevenage has an unfair reputation outside the town for not being particularly glamorous or exciting. I was born in a new town and now live in another new town, Stevenage, which has a very rich history and has also attracted some of the greatest professionals of their time.

For example, Charles Dickens came to Stevenage. He was advised by Edward Bulwer-Lytton to visit James Lucas, known as Mad Lucas, the Hermit of Redcoats, who had boarded up his house after the traumatic death of his mother. Following Bulwer-Lytton’s advice, Dickens visited him and based the character Mr. Mopes in his short story Tom Tiddler’s Ground on the hermit.

There are also other stories of well-known and interesting people who have visited Stevenage. Perhaps the most famous and modern example is Lewis Hamilton, who was born in Shephall and is probably the most successful person to come out of Stevenage.

13. The exhibition’s title suggests secrecy. Are these “secrets” hidden histories, overlooked individuals, or something more personal about your own relationship to the town?

The show is called Six Hills Secrets, and the word "secrets" alludes to the mystery of the Six Hills themselves. There are many stories about what lies beneath the Six Hills, and this mystery inspired the branding of the Six Hills Brewery that I created in 2021, which has now led to this show.

The concept of the brand played with this mystery to tell the story of an illegal excavation that never actually happened, and also to explore six old myths and legends, which now reappear in the town, causing all sorts of mischief, before ending with people drinking at the brewery.

This idea of the town holding secrets also allows for a more folkloric approach to the show, one centred on storytelling. The drawings I have created, and the collaborative sculptures are meant to open up conversations with people who know much more than I do about these buildings and their histories. One of the aims of the show is to encourage those conversations and bring these memories to life through the artworks.

14. How do you hope local residents will respond to seeing their streets, schools, pubs and landmarks transformed through your distinctive illustrative lens?

I hope the viewers of the show and the people who come to see it will be able to relate to the people and the places in the exhibition. Even if you are not from Stevenage, the themes in the show should resonate with anyone. Since I moved to Stevenage seven years ago, I have been struck by its incredibly rich history, including its modernist New Town heritage, as well as the period before that, and by how these layers blend together in such an interesting way. I think that outside Stevenage, the town’s reputation is often not what it should be. In reality, there is no place on earth like Stevenage, with its mélange of folklore and its modernist utopian vision of the New Town. I hope people feel pride in this town. I am very proud that this show is here. It could not exist anywhere else. This is the perfect place for it.

15. Finally, what would you say to someone who thinks they already know Stevenage — why should they come and discover Six Hills Secrets?

You could never truly know everything about Stevenage. There are so many stories, so many hidden surprises, and so many interesting ways to retell those stories. The show not only tells the stories we all know, but also reimagines some of them. It places stories from different periods of Stevenage’s history next to one another, allowing various themes and juxtapositions to emerge, and offering visitors entertainment through these drawings and sculptures.