A surprise at the Paul Sandby exhibition are three large pictures of Luton Park showing ancient trees, cows and deer.

This parkland is today known as Luton Hoo and Sandby’s snapshots were painted about 1765 when the house was the home of former prime minister Lord Bute.

The exhibition is at the Royal Academy where the latest RA magazine features a Sandby Luton painting.

The show has come to London from Nottingham where it was assembled last year to mark the bicentenary of Paul Sandby’s death. He is best known for precise paintings of Windsor and London’s Bayswater Road which have been lent by the Queen.

The Queen and Prince Philip of course spent their honeymoon at delightful Luton Park which is now the Luton Hoo hotel.

Paul Sandby is at the Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly; open daily from Saturday 13 March until Sunday 13 June; admission £9 (conc £8).

See page 31-32.