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Tiny COOKHAM , on the other side of the Thames just three miles southeast of Marlow - and not to be confused with neighbouring Cookham Dean and Cookham Rise - is noteworthy as the former home of Stanley Spencer (1891-1959), one of Britain's greatest - and most eccentric - artists. The Bible fired Spencer's imagination and many of his paintings depict biblical tales transposed into his Cookham surroundings - remarkable, visionary works in which the village is turned into a sort of earthly paradise. Spencer made his artistic name in the 1920s, firstly as an official war artist and then for his Resurrection: Cookham , which attracted rave reviews when it was exhibited in London in 1927. No one minded much that his brand of Christianity was extremely unorthodox - he called his religious system the "Church of Me" - but in the 1930s his reputation temporarily dipped and he took endless critical flak when his work took an erotic turn. Much of Spencer's most acclaimed work is displayed at the Tate Britain, in London, but there's a fine sample here at the Stanley Spencer Gallery (Easter-Oct daily 10.30am-5.30pm; Nov-Easter Sat & Sun 11am-5pm; GBP1), which occupies the old Wesleyan Chapel on the High Street. Three prime exhibits are Listening from Punts, Conversation between Punts and the wonderful (but unfinished) Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta . The permanent collection is enhanced by regular exhibitions of Spencer paintings and the gallery also contains incidental Spencer letters, documents and memorabilia, including the pram in which he used to wheel his artist's clobber around the village. There's an hourly train service from Marlow to Cookham and from the station it's a pleasant ten-minute walk east across the common to the Spencer Gallery. Cookham's Bell & Dragon pub , with ancient beams and ample leather chairs, pulls a good pint and serves decent home-made food.
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