The aunts, the ‘red peer’ and the Basque refugees | Heritage

Daniel Vulliamy’s account of the life of Paco Robles (Other lives, 28 July) is a moving one, citing the work done by his aunts to care for the children brought to the UK from the devastation of the Spanish civil war.

Readers might be interested to know that Daniel Vulliamy’s aunts, Poppy and Chloe, can be seen in a mural at Buscot Park in Oxfordshire, where the extraordinary “red peer”, Lord Faringdon, having been told by Poppy that, as a socialist, he should not be living alone in such a big house, provided a lodge and other accommodation for 55 Basque boys.

The murals and others around the house were painted in the late 1930s by another red peer, John Hastings. Poppy and Chloe are on the left, flanking the artist himself, with Lord Faringdon at the head of the table. Behind him is the butler who was also the chair of the (small) local Labour party.
Judith Martin
Winchester