A Damp Castle Crag

 An early start was called for so that I could deliver a couple of the completed Wainwright in Colour Fells this morning. Fortunately the deliveries were over in the Borrowdale area so I was able to incorporate a walk with the plan. The weather forecast was pretty poor so I opted for a simple low level route to Castle Crag. At about 8am the low cloud looked as if it would spoil my chances of even obtaining the one reference that I was after today. This was a reference which I should of ticked off on my previous visit to Castle Crag a while ago but due to the fact the subject was from a completely different fell I missed the connection.
 So today I would hopefully get the shot and also give Bailey the chance to tick off another Wainwright.

On Castle Crag.

As can be seen from the picture, the low cloud had been matched with rain by the time we reached the summit. On clear days there are fine views from here of both Borrowdale and to the north but today we were shrouded in mist. never mind, there is always another day and besides, I did get my reference!

Recording the changes

  One of the most often asked questions to me regarding the Wainwrights in Colour project is "Have you seen many changes since AW's day?" The usual answwer to this is "tree growth" in many of the views where AW indicated small trees in the foreground these have now usually grown up to such a height that they can obscure the view in part or in full. On other ocassions there is evidence that the rock scenery has changed with portions of crags having broken away to change the profile of the rocks face. The most dramatic of this so far has been on Gavel Pike, Seat Sandal.
  However, in a painting that I have completed today there is evidence where man's intervention has "re-shaped" the rocks. It is on the summit of Gowbarrow Fell. In the early '50's the summit sported a small pile of stones as the summit cairn, nowadays these rocks have been gathered together and formed into a Trig Point. In the past I hadn't taken much notice of these columns and for some reason assumed that they were constructed around the first few decades of the 20th Century. Obviously not, and with a bit of research it appears that they continued to appear right up until 1962.

Gowbarrow Fell.

What makes Gowbarrow fell unique in all of the 214 fells is the fact that this is the only fell where since AW's visit the cairn has been replaced by a Trig Point. it also gets sketched twice, once for here in the Gowbarrow Fell chapter and once again in the Little Mell Fell chapter.

Sunday evening on Sheffield Pike

As the forecast for the start of the coming week doesn't look too promising I took the dogs once again over to the eastern fells for a walk. Like all of my routes at this time nothing is hap-hazard but planned to obtain as many of the remaining references as possible in the quickest amount of time. Todays route was no different and if things went according to plan I would get the remaining references for three fells.

 The full details of this route are now online with the photos at http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/ but basically it was a start at Glencoyne, up the valley to Nick Head, drop down to the old Sticks Reservoir, back up to Sheffield Pike, across to Glenridding Dodd (just so Bailey could tick off another fell!) and then back to the car in Glencoyne past the quiet cottages at Seldom Seen.
 All in all it was a good walk out, unfortunately the evening sun failed to appear and I did fail to get one reference but it was well worth the trip over.

Damp on Dollywaggon

  Just to prove that I do actually own a full set of waterproofs (and to test that they still work) I headed over to Dunmail Raise again to try and confirm the location of the elusive cascades in Raise Beck. There cant be many ocassions where poor weather has helped in my reference finding but after the recent rains I reckoned that the water flow down Raise Beck would be an advantage in locating the watefall that I looked for a few days ago. Conditions were excellent if you love waterfalls but pretty dire for walking.

Raise Beck in Full Flow

From the top of Raise Beck, and after locating the required photo, we headed up to Dollywaggon Pike and along to Helvellyn via Nethermost Pike. Low cloud and rain were the conditions of the day and the dogs really did enjoy themselves despite the looks in the photos! Unusual to be all alone on the summit of Helvellyn in September but considering the condition, not surprising. The full set of photos are now online: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/

On Location gets a re-vamp

  When looking at the gallery website over the past few months I had decided that it needed a bit of a "tweaking", I reckon that there are in the region of 750 pages now on the site, mostly related to the Wainwrights in Colour project or my days out on the fells. It was rather complicated to find on the site the days on the fells if they were completed over six months ago.
 As the website features day out on all of the 214 Lakeland Fells I considered that this resource needed re-organising. So, over the past few weeks I have been linking and re-shaping these pages as well as Teesdale pages so that they should be easier to find to the website viewer. What has resulted is a "new look" On Location page. The work is now almost complete and just needs a few final adjustments. I would be interested to hear any comments from visitors to the website.

Whin Rigg Complete

  There is something special about completing this fell. Not only has it one of the three "double page spreads" and all the seven Pictorial Guides but it also has the sketch of the "April Fool" Fish sign. (See the Whin Rigg page of the Wainwrights in Colour for the full story)

Wastwater Screes

 I recall that it was after a good walk over Whin Rigg and Illgill Head with a return via the notorious Wastwater Screes path that we returned to the car just as the last light of the sun was striking the face of the Screes. It was a glow which I will remember for ages as the sun was only on the scree as low cloud was shading the fell tops. I stood until the glow had gone, almost mesmerised by the sight. A great end to a great day. The small image above hardly does the scene justice.

Teesdale's Limestone country

  Teesdale is noted geologically for the Whin Sill shelf which helps to form such features such as High Force. However, there is a large amount of Limestone here which as in the Yorkshire Dales forms some other interesting features. So today I walked out to find and photograph such locations. Once again, the car wasn't needed some of the best Limestone locations are within a short distance of the house. Nearly all of these places I have visited before albeit in different seasons.

Trough Head Gorge.

The water levels were quite low in certain places making for interesting comparison shots. So on the website I have made a page from this walk but also added in some of the comparison shots from other days. The page is now available to view on the website http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/ visit the On Location link and click on the Teesdale section.

Purple Moor

 I thought the heather was looking pretty good a week ago but a short walk up to Ravock shows just how good the scene is now.

Heather on Ravock.

Its the shorter heather which seems to bloom best. This is partially due to the management of the moor where the older "tired" heather is burnt off at the back end of the year allowing the fresh young shoots to re-generate. Below are a couple of photographs from a days heather burning. Its a controlled method but non the less a dramatic scene.

The moor alight.

Feel the heat.

(Its the foreshortening of the scene by the camera which gives this shot such drama, the flames are quite a distance behind the Keeper)

Moor management not only benefits the game population but also the numbers of breeding wading birds are increased as a side effect.

Self Portrait?

 In all the Pictorial Guides of the Lakeland Fells, Wainwright did a sketch of himself in at least one of the scenes. As part of the Wainwrights in Colour project I decided to emulate his idea so instead of putting him in the scene I will add myself to the spot where he was standing/ sitting.
 In the Central Fells (Book Three) AW places himself on the edge of the cliff of Raven Crag overlooking Thirlmere. I personally think he just added himself at a later date and didnt have a photo of himself actually standing there. Possibly there was no one to take the photo for him "on location" and also his camera didnt have a self timer. Fortunately I usually carry a tripod and my camera has such a facility.

Thirlmere from Raven Crag

Ok so its not a brilliant self portrait but surely you recognise that stance and of course the lack of head hair? The trees on the left have now gone and the once on the right have seen better days. Non the less, this is a fine place to stand and admire the view.

Heather and summer showers

  Taking time out from the studio today I had a wander up to the moor. Fortunately the house sits in close proximity to some fine heather moorland so its just a case of putting on the boots, grabbing the camera (as always) and trying to encourage the dogs to come for a walk!
 The weather was a bit mixed today to say the least with sunshine and heavy showers but I was hoping to keep to the sunshine bit. Out on the moor the heather is in full bloom and with the fresh sunshine the colours of the moor were splendid.

The mixture of colours of the moor.

The dogs have a great time, plenty of warm wet scent amongst the heather, mostly of the resident Red Grouse.

Zeta in the heather.

After a nice wander we could see the storm clouds heading our way so we headed home at a brisk pace, unfortunately the weather beat us. On the lane back to the house torrential rain fell and we took shelter under a Hawthorn tree but it was a waste of time, we got drenched!

Its had to photograph such a downpour to express just how heavy it was but this is the scene mid shower. And below the same scene minutes later as the storm had passed.

Before the next shower came in we headed home to get dried off. Amazing how the weather can change so quickly.



Another change of plans

  The intentions were good, a day to tick off some references near to Helvellyn and also a good long walk out. Sadly, as happens the weather didnt play ball with low cloud litterally putting a dampener on things. As I left the Car Park at Swirls I was hopeful that the cloud cover would have lifted off Brown Cove Crags by the time I reached them. On route I had to visit the watefall in Helvellyn Gill (an awkward descent and re-ascent on steep, wet grassy slopes) and once that had been done we approached the crags as the rain came in. Huddling behind a rock for shelter I formed Plan B as I supped a hot drink. Plan B was put into action as I cant afford the time to wander across mist covered fells just for the sake of it.
 So a return to the car was called for from where I travelled to the Heaton Cooper Gallery in grasmere to pick up some art materials. By the time this was done there was a hint of clearing weather so we returned up to the summit of Dunmail Raise. From there we were able to take the second half of my original plan and ascend besides Raise Beck to then continue up to Seat Sandal.

Seat Sandal above Grasmere.

I have learnt over the past few years to be adaptable and today it payed off. Not every target was achieved but at least I had something to show for a poor start to the day. More photos and details of the day can de found on the website via the On Location Page http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/

Grouse on the Moor

   Teesdale is renowned for its landscape with its extensive Grouse Moors. The upland landscape is the home of the indigenous Red Grouse who lives and breeds in this harsh environment. Habitat management for this bird also benefits the visiting and breeding wading birds. Now in early August there are a good number of grouse families seen amongst the heather. Their remarkable camouflage makes them difficult to spot.

Young grouse 7th August 2010

  My painitngs of Grouse seem to be quite popular so given the opportunity amongst my other work I try to include sketches of grouse into the gallery as often as possible. Below is a small sketch completed this week.

"Heading West"

A covey of grouse cross the moor in high summer. Based on an actual location, Ravock Castle near Bowes.The cairn is actually on the Pennine Way.

Standing on the edge.

  Of all the sketches for the Wainwrights in Colour project there are one or two which stand out for some special reason. So it was for this painting from the Whin Rigg chapter, page 8.

The viewpoints.

 It was 13th April 2008 when I was on the Illgill Head, Whin Rigg ridge obtaining the references required for work on thses two fells. There was hardly anyone else about, I seem to recall it was maybe a Tuesday. Unusually enough AW even marked on a map the exact location for these viewpoints so all I had to do was find the exact spot where he stood for his reference photograph. Not quite straightforward as AW's shoreline of Wastwater is incorrectly drawn, possibly due to a poor contrasting reference photograph.)but once found all I had to do was to take the shot. In his drawing he includes a figure on the top and a couple of the lower viewpoint (possibly added in later to give a sense of drama as the y are slightly our of scale.) Just as I was lining up the camera a couple (who I later found out were German tourists) came and stoood in exactly the right place in the scene. How spooky is that?

Black Force...again.

  It was on the 21st May when we did this route first as part of the Wainwright Society's "Best of the Rest" challenge. On that occasion we were unable to complete the required route due to the restrictions in the area due to breeding birds.
 So it was that once again we headed over towards the Howgill Fells do re-trace our steps into Carlingill. Unfortunately we were not so lucky with the weather this time as it was rather overcast with a threat of rain. However, we were able to follow AW's route which takes in a steep ridge adjacent to the deep gorge of Black Force. The Howgill fells are normally associated with fairly easy walking on grass covered fells so this edge has a bit more excitement.

Black Force and Carlingill.

 Once out of the gorge it was a really pleasant path that lead us up and over Linghaw before descending back to the car at Carlingill Bridge. More photos are online: wwwtheteesdalegallery.co.uk

A Lunedale wander

   There is some excellent walking to be done here on our doorstep in Teesdale so today we headed over to Middleton in Teesdale to do this route into Lunedale. A walk that mostly passes through pleasant meadows aso has the bonus of following the shoreline of Grassholme reservoir for some of its length before picking up a section of the Pennine Way.

Kirkcarrion in the sun.

Many of the meadow and verges had a wonderful variety of wild flowers and the patchs of bright sun made this a delightful outing. More photographs online: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/

Raven Crag

  It seems such a long time since I have been out on the hills, so today I was able to combine a bit of business with pleasure. After first meeting up with some clients and delivering to them their purchased Wainwrights in Colour fells I had then planned to complete a short route up at the head of Great Langdale. Things were not in my favour, as I drove up to the head of the valley I could see that low cloud covered the top of Bowfell, one of the references that I needed to see. So I opted for plan "B", that was to head homewards and maybe to do a short walk elsewhere.
 Fortunately there were some breaks in the cloud and some late afternoon sun made an appearance. I grabbed the opportunity to walk up to the top of Raven Crag, a small fell near the dam of Thirlmere. The good weather held and our small effort was rewarded with some fine views.

The Dodds and Thirlmere.

I dont usually "do" panoramas but I thought that this one was worth the effort. (Click on the image to view in full)

Fishy Tales

  Obtaining the references for the Wainwrights in Colour project is usually fairly straight forward. Once I have done the research the task normally consists of visiting the location and photographing the scene from where AW stood. However, there is one referencem in all of the pictorial Guides that I knew would be difficult or amybe impossible to obtain, that being a wooden "fish" signpost that he drew on page 6 of the Whin Rigg chapter. The fact that it was made of wood and of a small size meant that it had probably disappeared long ago.
What should I do? Look for it anyway and if not found just leave it out of the project?
The words thjat AW wrote about the signpost "-artist unknown,..congratulations on a bright and original idea" these gave me an idea.
So it was that on the 31st March (an important date for my plan) I set off to complete a route that would end up with me heading down from Whin rigg past the place where the signpost had been located. A few days prior to this I had fashioned from wood a replica of the Fish sign, spending some time weathering it and even adding some moss to give it an aged look. Taking it with me I was able to photograph it on site. I did of course spend a considerable time looking for the original sign but with no luck. consequently on return from my trip I was able to upload onto my website my photos from the day including the "finding" of this fish sign. The photographs were of course uploaded and posted on the morning of 1st April, hence my reason for doing the walk on the 31st March. As far as I know, no one cottened on to this April Fool prank until the exhibition in october when my replica fish was put on display.
The end result from this? I was able to complete a sketch of the Whin Rigg sign, OK it may not be the original but I would like to think that AW would find it amusing!

Bailey's training- six months on.

 Hard to believe that it's been six months since Bailey came home with us from the Dog's Trust. Patience and understanding has meant that we now have him under a bit of control but there is still some more work to do.

Crinkle Crags Complete

  The work on Crinkle Crags, one of the Classic and popular Wainwright fells is now complete. Comprising of eleven seperate sketches this fell has been a challenge and a joy to do. Every drawing reminds me of great days out on the fells where I can recall the adventures of the walking whilst being in the studio.

Crinkle Crags from Pike o' Blisco.

All of the sketches for Crinkle crags can now be found on the website.

A Snipe sneaks in

  Nearly all my time is currently taken up with the Wainwright project and consequently there is very little fresh work in the gallery from my normal protfolio. It is great to have such a full order book but frustrating that visitors to the gallery dont see much fresh work.
I took a short time out today to produce a quick watercolour sketch of a Snipe, produced on a spare piece of paper and no doubt it will slip into a frame that I already have.

Evening Snipe.

More information on this sketch will apprear on the website shortly, meantime, back to the Wainwrights.

Doing the rounds

A day away from the easel yesterday, delivering completed works to customers around the Yorks/ lancs area. I pefer to deliver the works by hand as it seems a bit more personal than sending them in the post (and its safer!) Its a shame but these works hardly ever to get to be put on public display in the gallery but at least on the website all the work can be seen.

Red Deer - The Nab.

After returning home its always a joy to recieve email messages like this.

 "We are amazed and full of admiration for Andy's vision for this project, and the extreme fortitude needed to make it happen. We have bought "The Nab", personally delivered by Andy yesterday (14/07/2010) and are delighted with it. When it is possible to register for a copy of the limited edition book, we would like to be considered. A "must do" for us in the coming months, will be to make a trip to the gallery. Best wishes, E. & G, W.."

It makes all those long days our on the hill well worth while.

Pages from my sketchbook

  Over the past few years the "normal" subjects for my artwork have had to take a back seat whilst I complete my current Wainwright project. So much so that some people think that painting Wainwright scenes is all that I do. To put this right I will shortly be carrying out a bit of re-designing my website which not only will be more informative but also make it a bit easier to navigate.
 One of the new features which is going to be included is "pages from my sketchbook" which should hopefully give visitors an insight into the background work to many of my paintings whether landscape or wildlife.

Eggleston Abbey, Teesdale.

Brown Hares-study

I will post an update when the work on the website has been carried out.

Greetings!

  After a bit of re-furbishment of the gallery counter I was able to get on display the full range of greeting cards. Gone are the old framing corners as I now no longer have time to undertake framing for customers, and in are some nice new racks filled with my cards. A bigger range is planned for the near future but the response to the current range has been really good.

The new look card display.

There is a link to this range of greeting cards from the front page of the website: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/

Great Asby Scar

 It was only by studying the map of the Eden valley did I spot this area of rocky landscape just to the south of Appleby. A bit of research online threw up some more information so I headed off to take a look. Not the best of evening light for a visit but just good to see the potential for a return visit.

Limetone Pavements of Great Asby Scar.

There is a large expanse of Limestone pavement here which make interesting patterns on the landscape, definetely a place for a return visit. There are a few more photos now online: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/ and click onto the "On Location" page.

Working my way along Crinkle Crags.

 Another of the Wainwright in Colour fells, this time Crinkle Crags. AW drew this ridge from quite a few different angles but then he did rate this as one of the best ridge walks in Lakeland. there have been a couple of challenges to doing these sketches, firstly, the landscape is very rocky and the idea is to put over this effect in painting without drawing every single rock. Secondly, the ridge basically runs east/west which means that from mid-morning to early afternoon the sketches are either directly into the sun making harsh lighting or directly facing the sun making a flat light effect on the crags etc.

The fifth crinkle seen from the main crinkle.

The bad step.

By visiting the website: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/ you can follow the continuing progress of the rest of the Crinkle Crags sketchs and the project in general.

A wild Friday night out.

  Maybe it's something to do with my age but to me now a preferred "wild night out" is standing on top of a windy fell watching the sun go down! So that what I got up to last night after heading over to Kirby Stephen I took the simple there and back route up to Nine Standards Rigg. Leaving the car at 8pm I hoped that my visit to these fine cairns would be timed just right for the sunset which on my last visit on 21st April didnt come to much. Even tonight didnt look too promising as I crossed the moor. However, luck was on my side and after a short wait on the summit I was rewarded with the collection of cairns being lit by the late sun.

Nine Standards.

This is just one of the earlier shots as the sun went down. Photos are now online: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/ and visit the "On Location" page.

All that glitters isn't gold.

  A visit from Emma gray today meant that we are now re-plenished with some of her fabulous silver jewellery. Fortunately as she is a fellow Teesdale artist she doesn't have far to travel to deliver her wares. Emma works in solid silver enhanced with precious and semi-precious stones. She also works with natural pearls.

Some of Emmas new work.

I am just in the process of photgraphing the pieces so that I can update the website which will be updated in the next day or two.

A bit of re-organising

The continuing turn-around of the Wainwrights in Colour work means that the two upstairs showrooms are now constantly changing. As soon as I complete a fell and put it on display I contact the customer and nearly always they are straight into the gallery to collect. The disadvantage to this is that the finished fells are not on public display for too long. Now I have re-organised the rooms so that the few unsold works are on display in one room and the incomplete and sold work is filling another of the rooms.

                          

The room with unsold work.

The other room with sold work has a few completed fells awaiting collection.

What you cant see from the photographs is that many of these frames show the pencil drawings just waiting to be filled in with colour. With the accompanying notes on display customers really get to see this project "in progress".

Bailey seems to have settled in.

  It's not quite 6 months since we brought Bailey home from the Dogs Trust. Where has the time gone? He is a much admired dog, some even say handsome but that only mades him big-headed! lol. He is responding well to training especially once he cottoned on as to who was really the boss. He has ticked off quite a few Wainwrights on some big days on the hills but as yet we have still failed to tire him out. Compared to when we first got him he has put some weight on but I don't think we are ever going to have a fat dog here.

 Most importantly and the question we get asked most often is "how does he get on with Zeta?" The photo below speaks for itself.

Yes, that is Bailey lying directly across Zeta's neck as she is sleeping! He often takes the liberty of lying or sitting on her, most of the time she just puts up with it but every now and then she tells him enough is enough. Nothing agressive, just ensuring that the "pecking order" remains intact.

Summer colours

  I have just spent a bit of time giving the front of the gallery a touch-up on the paintwork. Thankfully not much needed doing but it was a good time to attend to the job as I was just about to put up the hanging baskets for the summer. These sort of tasks at the gallery dont directly bring in customers but with such a prominent location within the town of barnard Castle it would be a shame not to make the most of our position. Many visitors take photos of the Market Cross and if they think that including The Teesdale Gallery in the composition makes for a better picture then I'm happy with that!

Feeling Sheepish!

Another new artist for the gallery. This time a collection of work from Midlands based artist, Garry Jones. We met Garry recently at a trade show and just loved his work, it really brings a smile to your face. His ceramic animals are all hand-made and his sense of humour really comes through in his work.

"Ewe and Me"

It will take me a couple of days to get the new stock photographed and put on the website but it will be well worth taking a look at sometime.

Hot off the easel.

  After a busy period of sketching and painting recently I was a bit under presssure to complete a couple of fells for the Wainwrights in Colour project. One of my customers happened to be having a short stay up in The Lakes and as he lives down in the south of the country I thought it would be a good opportunity to finish his purchased fells and deliver them whilst he was up here. I was hoping that the painting would go according to plan (one sketch recently took me 3 attempts to get it right.) Luckily the paintings worked out and I was able to complete the fells, frame them up and deliver them over to the customer all on the same day.

Buckbarrow.

Swarthbeck Gill, Arthur's Pike.

There was an added bonus to doing this delivery though, an enjoyable evening was had with our friends at The Britannia Inn, Elterwater. Altogether a great trip.

Overnight on Haystacks

I took the opportunity yesterday to have a "wildcamp" over on the Lakeland Fells. There are plenty of places to go but I opted for a location which would not only enable me to capture some more references but also provide some great views at the end of the day. At this time of the year the sun sets almost along the length of the Buttermere valley so I headed for an ascent of Fleetwith Pike. The weather was perfect and a I was fortunate to watch beautiful sunset as I walked round to my camping site on Haystacks.

Sunset on Fleetwith Pike.

The next day was meant to one of a long walk over Great Gable but unforunately low cloud hung over the tops of the western fells so I had to make alternative plans for the day. It was still a great day to be out on the hills. The photos are now online: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/

Gallery on TV

 Today was the day for the airing of the programme "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" in which the gallery (and me of course) appeared on TV.

Last Autumn when the film crew were in town it took several hours of filming in the gallery to get what ended up as just a couple minutes or required footage. Zeta even gets her moment of fame but took it all in her stride by sleeping in her basket!

 Later in the programme we make an aopperance in the Bowes Museum as part of the "crowd scene" at the auction. All good fun and nothing like a free plug on TV!

Andy and David Harper seal the deal!

Sketching at full speed

Work continues at pace for the Wainwrights in Colour project. With the recent good weather it has been tempting to head over to the hills to get more walking done but the rucksack sits quietly in the corner. My priority at this time is to complete more of the fells in painitngs before I hatch some plan to get up onto the fells to obtain some of the missing references that I need.

                                             

Arthur's Pike.

Ullswater from the Howtown Path.

Cats in numbers

Another delivery of new stock today, this time all the way from Cornwall. The quirky pottery animals from the studio of Jane Adams have always been popular here at The Teesdale Gallery and it was great to open the bowes to see what was inside.

Pottery cats.

As well as the cats, Jane also sent a selection of sheep, cows and hares. I will hope to get all the new stock on the website shortly but there is no doubt they will make you smile.

Short visit to Swaledale

Every now and then I get chance to head "over the valley" out of Teesdale and into Swaledale. Today the excuse was that I had a bit of business to conduct over there so I used my visit to take the dogs on a couple of short walks in the area.

Upper Swaledale.

It was also a good time to take a look at some of the wonderful wildflower meadows near Muker. These fields are mamaged so that they support the large variety of plants which bring colour to these meadows. I was just a bit early to see them at their best but it was still worth a look. Photos are now online at: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/

Wainwright's First Big Day.

Following on from the previous days celebrations to mark the 80th  anniversary of AW's trip to Orrest Head, I considered that it would be interesting to follow up that day by re-tracing his steps for what would have been his first ever venture up on to the high lakeland fells. After resting the night in Windermere, AW and his cousin set off on the morning of 8th June 1930 to walk from Windermere to Pooley Bridge. So it was that 80 years on I would follow his route.

Thornthwaite Crag, this was to be AW's very first lakeland fell summit. The route for the day basically followed the High Street ridge, his day was in better weather, for me it rained most of the time.

Many miles later we ended up here at the Crown Inn, Pooley Bridge where in 1930 AW and his cousin spent the night before continuing their walking tour of the fells. For me it was an interesting day to follow in the footsteps of the man whose later work has been so important to me recently. The full album of photographs for the day are online at: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/

80th Anniversary Celebrations

7th June was the day in 1930 that Alfred Wainwright and his cousin Eric Beardsall rode the bus from their home town, Blackburn in Lancashire to Windermere in the Lake District. The walking holiday that followed would change AW's life forever. To mark this special occasion The Wainwright Society organised a full day of events to re-trace AW's trip to the fells. After an initial meet-up at Windermere we were transported by modern coach to Blackburn from where we set out in classic coaches to re-enact the journey.

Dressed in period costume we ventured forth changing buses at Preston and stopping for tea at the Midland Hotel, Morcambe before alighting at Windermere. Just as AW did we then took the short walk up to Orrest Head.

Just as in 1930 the sun shone and the distant fells were on full show. A few short speeches and a photo call and then down to Windermere for tea. A fine way to celebrate this day. To see the full album of photos visit the website: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/ and go to the "On Location page" where the webpage can be found for this event.