Looking out on Winter/Spring.

 The idea of heading over to the Lakes for the day crossed my mind when I heard that snow was forecast in Cumbria. Overnight it had caused chaos up in Dumfries and Galloway. Its not that I need to have a walk on the fells for the sake of it but rather that there is just one reference for the project that would like to tick off. It is a view of a fell which Wainwright drew in full winter conditions and I would like to capture it in the same season if at all possible.
 With the wonders of modern technology is was able to get an one the spot weather report from Sean McMahon who is located in Cumbria. (if you are a fan of the Lake District, fellwalking etc his website is well worth a look Striding Edge.) Following his report I decided to give a day out a miss- too much low cloud I thought to make my day a success.
 So was a day given over to sketches in the studio. As I did so I looked out across the moor to seem the mixture of weather today, sun, rain and light snow showers all passed by. I work on about 6 to 8 sketches at one time, whilst washes of watercolour are drying on one sketch I move on to another. Hardly "mass production" but a good method to make the best of my time.
Here's another couple of small sketches (out of the six) that I completed today.

High Street from Blea Water.

I managed to get this reference for this shot on my second visit here. Luckily I timed it just right as moments later the low cloud engulfed the summit.

Broad Crag, Scafell Pike.

This little sketch measures only about 9cm x 7cm so I was able to complete it in between other work. All in all it was a successful day, the trip to the lakes will happen soon enough.

On the Easel

The forecasted snow never turned up, instead it was a day of pretty constant rain making for a day in the studio. Work progressed on the Wainwrights in Colour sketches. It is tempting to work on some of the more interesting scenes from differing fells but with a bit of discipline I just work my way through the paintings. Its quite a challenge but no the less still very enjoyable as every little drawing reminds me of a great day out on the fells.

Long Stile from High Street.

A reference obtained just a couple of weeks ago with a good snow cover on the upper reaches of the ridge.

Ill Bell summit cairn.

Just one of the cairns that stand on this Far Easten Fell. I still have a couple of references to obtain to complete this set of sketches. The route is planned, I just need a good day weatherwise.

In addition to this Blog, The Teesdale Gallery can now be found on Facebook, just search for the name The Teesdale Gallery.

Another Deepdale

 I stayed more local to home today again for a walk, this time venturing along the wooded Deepdale, (sadly not the Deepdale that leads up to Fairfield). Its actually a nice round of a walk which begins and ends in the town of Barnard Castle itself and is about 7 miles in length. Spring really is here now, for a time at least as there is forecast for about 20cm of snow on the high Pennine hills on Tuesday and that may include us so watch this space!

Daffodils at Barnard Castle.

The rest of the photos will be on the gallery website shortly.

Hit the Lights!

Fortunately this evening the weather held as we gathered on Scar Top, a green space in the town to witness the turning on of the new floodlights which will illuminate the walls of Barnard Castle itself. The old lights were well past their best and now, thanks in part to Barnard Castle Vision, they have been replaced by new LED, environmently friendly light boxes. The scene was nicely set as we waited in anticipation and then out of the huge castle door came a historic figure from the past whos duty it was to turn on the lights.

It was none other than Bernard Baliol who in the early 10th Century was responsible for the construction of this fine fortress. (Bernard himself wasn't available so he was represented by local actor Ian Kilburn!)

At the given hour, the switch was thrown and there for all to see was the castle, brilliantly lit with a range of subtle colours, a fine sight.

So now visitors and residents alike will be able to enjoy this fine focal point of the town with its new coat of many colours as they pass by the castle in is position high above the River Tees.

Painters progress

The Wainwright's in Colour project continues to progress. It seems that if I'm not in the studio painting then I'm either out on the fells or planning my next trip. Every day out on the Lake District Fells has to enable me to tick off as many references as possible and thanks to the recent winter conditions I have been frustrated in obtaining some important photographs. Time is not wasted though as I continue to produce sketches from the references already "in the bag". I would have hoped to work down the list of fells in sequence but this just hasn't been possible.

Work in progress.

Fortunately the snow on the fells is disappearing quickly now so the next few weeks should see me spending some long days out on the fells, weather permitting.

Place Fell from Birks

A Bridge Too Far?

Here in Barnard Castle, Teesdale we are lucky enough to be surrounded by beautiful landscape, sliced through by the River Tees which flows from The High Pennines right down to the North Sea. We have sites of historical importance such as the castle itself and the impressive Bowes Museum.

Bowes Museum.

But, like most small market towns at this time we need to keep "on the ball" as far as new initatives are concerned so that we can attract visitors who, along with the resident population will enable local businesses to thrive and provide a unique and individual experience.

So what's this about a Bridge then?

In the past, Barnard Castle was served by a railway line, now sadly gone. the railway had of course to pass through not only the pleasant landscape but over some of the deep gorges formed by the rivers. Impressive viaducts were constructed to support the lines. Obviously with the railway gone the viaducts have mostly been converted to footpaths or disappeared altogether. Just outside the town of Barnard Castle sits the remnants of one of these old viaducts. Several years ago the idea was muted to look at the possibilities of using the viaduct buttress's to support a "Rope Footbridge" (not actually rope of course but steel wire). The span of this construction high over the river would have been one of if not the widest such bridge in the world.

The Viaduct buttress and the span across the Tees.

The bridge would span this gap giving a thrilling (but safe) walk high above the river with fantastic views down to the left of Barnard Castle itself. if you want to see what one of these bridges looks like then click here to see the Capilano Bridge in Vancover (remember, the bridge across the Tees will be bigger!)

Obviously there are issues to be ironed out on this sort of a project such as funding, safety, conservation of the local environment etc. Maybe the whole idea is impractical, maybe the local residents feeling will not support the project, lets see what happens. Is this an opportunity to put "Barny" well and truly "On the Map"?

There is a poll in the local paper at the minute to get the public's reaction (totally for interests sake only) so it will be interesting to see the results. Anyone can vote so why not tick a box? Visit The Teesdale Mercury website where you will find the voting form but it is for only the next week.

Head to the hills!

Thought you might like to see this short film from Alan Fentiman, should be good if you suffer from insomnia! All you have to do is start counting the sheep.(lol)
Alan shot this clip as we were heading up to Hard Knott to film my Wainwrights in Colour video. We waited buy the gate as the farmer drove the sheep past us and they just kept coming!
No prizes for the correct number of sheep!
You Tube clip Alan Fentiman

Cotherstone Circular

 Another route today taken from the Teesdale walking guide book by Paul Hannon. Starting in the village of Cotherstone this delightful route follows the river Tees upstream, through the next village of Romaldkirk before crossing over the river to head downsteam back to the start.

Romaldkirk village.

It was a very pleasant day and this route has much of interest. I should have the set of photographs posted on the website shortly.

A Wainwright Saturday

 Very unusual for me to have a day off on a Saturday but today was the AGM of the Wainwright Society so early on we headed over to Staveley near Kendal to join some over the other members in a pre-meeting walk to one of the Outlying Fells, High Knott. The weather was a bit damp but its always good to meet up with Society members for a  stroll an added bonus to visit a fell which we had not been on before.

High Knott summit.

Following the walk we replaced calories at Wilf's Cafe at Staveley before attending the Society's AGM which was enjoyable and informative. After a few of us retired to the Eagle and Child pub to "chew the fat" and sup a pint or two. Odd how the WS involves quite a bit of laughing and drinking!

Another good society day.

Have you seen this man?

 I took a wander down The Bank here in Barnard Castle this morning to have a word with one of my fellow shop-keepers here in the town. The Bank is well know for a "collection" (an appropriate term I think) of antique shops one of which is owner and run by this guy,  David Harper.

 Of course David has become one of televisions antiques experts and is in fact currently part of the Antiques Road Trip series on BBC2. The last episode of his week is on tonight at 6.30 so lets hope he continues his great dealing week and I am looking forward to seeing what good bargains he has found.

Going, going, gone!

Is winter on its way out? Today I walked the dogs on the quiet lanes that surround the house. A nice enough walk but with not much too see today. However I did get this photo.

The last of the snow.

This snow arrived on the 17th December 2009 and has been here ever since. Now it looks as if its days are numbered that will be three months that we have had snow somewhere close to the house. Saying that, we can see Cross Fell from the house and it still has a white cap. It has been some winter.

A Change of Plans.

I set off quite early this morning in the hope of completing a decent high level route in the Eastern Fells. The weather looked promising as I headed west but by the time I set off walking at 8am the clouds were starting to roll in. In normal circumstances this would not have been a problem but today I had especially set out to tick off some references for the project. Reluctantly, half way up St. Sunday Crag I turned round and adopted plan B. Instead of one long walk we ended up doing five shorter routes. Still, it wasn't a wasted day by any means as I did manage to obtain about twelve more references. The big route will have to wait for another day.

High Sweden Bridge

As you can see, the weather did actually improve during the day. The photos from the day will be online shortly.

Mad dogs!

A busy day in the studio today but as always I did find time to get Zeta and Bailey out for a run. Bailey's training is coming on quite well albeit on a flexi-lead but now we are giving him some training and of course fun off the lead in an enclosed field not far from the house. He loves to be off the lead and runs like a Greyhound. Zeta can just about keep up with him and they love chasing each other round the open space.

Bailey on the run!

The Chase!

Tomorrow will hopefully be a day out on the fells, weather permitting so that should give them another good leg stretch. The joy of having dogs.

A Teesdale Wander

Another beautiful Spring day here today so I stayed local to do a route in Baldersdale which is a side dale off Teesdale. I actually followed a route from Paul Hannon's book of Walks in Teesdale which we now stock here at the gallery. It is a route of about 5 miles which takes you over the Millstone outcrop of Goldsborough which happens to be on the Bowes Loop section of the Pennine Way. I should be able to get the rest of the photos onto the website tomorrow.

The rocky outcrop of Goldsborough.

Turning in

As for the new artist that I went over to Cumbria to see yesterday? That was Jonathan Leech, a woodturner from North Cumbria whose work I had admired and considered would be great to have here at the gallery. So on Friday I visited him at his workshop and had a great chat to him about his craft and I came away not only with some of his work but also with an insight about his skills. So today I spent the day photographing and cataloguing the stock and putting it on the website.

Burr Oak Bowl

Even today we sold a couple of his pieces which is a great omen for the future with Jonathan here at The Teesdale Gallery.

Looking into holes?

Today was a bit of a mixed day. As well as a meeting with a new artist from Cumbria I was hoping to get time to fit in a reference walk as well. I had a couple of routes planned depending on the day and the weather so hopefully I would be able to head home with not only some new stock but also at least some references for sketches. My meeting took a bit longer than expected so I opted for a shorter walk into Mosedale and onto the slopes of Carrock Fell where I had to find just one specific open mine shaft. Fortunately I found it without falling in!

Skiddaw  from Mosedale.

As for the new artist, there will be news to follow.

On the bookshelf

With all the recent interest in my Wainwrights in Colour project I do get customers both in the gallery and on the website asking about the work of Wainwright himself. So to follow up on this I have decided to stock a small range of books which will include the Lakeland Pictorial Guides. Alongside these guides I am now also stocking a limited range of walking books which cover our local area, Teesdale, the Northern Pennines and other locations.

The Wainwright Pictorial Guides.

I dont expect to compete in the book market with big online stores but at least I can give my stock of books a personal recommendation.

Local stroll

Another Spring day here around Bowes. I had time to take the dogs out along the Sleightholme road and give Bailey a bit more training. He is progressing well but not trusted enough yet to be let off the lead especially around livestock. We are lucky enough to be surrounded by farmland and Grouse Moor so there is plenty of room to wander.

Sheep on the moor.

We are too high up here to be into the lambing season yet. There is still snow lying on the moor as you can see behind these sheep as they feed.

A Touch of Glass

Now the new stock is arriving at a nice flow. Always quite exciting to have another box of goods turning up and with most of the artists it is usually a bit of a surprise whats is within the package. I tend to leave it up to the artist to send me a good selection of their products. Today it was the turn of Stephanie Bowen. Stephanie is a Glass Artist from Lancashire and her range of contemporary bowls and hangers are bright and attractive.

It will be a couple of days before this work will be on the website and I'm pretty sure there will be a good reaction to the new stock.

Purely studio work

It was a day for getting on with some of the Wainwrights in Colour sketches today and quite a productive day it was. The only frustration that I have at this time is that some of the sold work I cannot complete as I need a few references for these fells where the detail of the sktech will still be covered in snow. Consequently I am having to work a bit "out of order" on some of the fells. However, some sketches do in fact need the snow to be as near as possible to AW's depictions in the Pictorial guides like the example shown below of the crags on High Street.

This was painted today from a refernce I took last week on my Mardale Round. Unlike on the day that AW got his reference Blea Water is frozen over in my drawing. It just goes to show how consistently cold it has been for the last few weeks.

A walk in Borrowdale

It was a great day over in the Lakes today- bright blue skies, snow on the high fells, and even warm sunshine. Is this Spring? I was able to take advantage and get a walk in over two of the lower fells of Great Crag and Grange Fells which are in Borrowdale. They may be low in height but they do give fine views in most directions. And they enabled me to ticki off a few other references along the way.

Brund Fell.

It was another day of an early start but the effort was well worth it. The photos are now online, to view, click here

March- It must be hares!

  Yesterday's trip was partly to collect some more stock for the gallery. Its always great to go and collect work from the artists workshops and studios even though it takes up precious time. I feel that it gives me an insight to the artists and how they work which helps when talking to customers. So the boxes are unpacked and now all I have to do is make up a good display but it's not hard with these guys, they really sell themselves.

Boxing Hares.

photos for the new stock will be online shortly.

A day away.

A bit of an unusual day for me today as I had a bit of business to do down near Wrexham, however it did give me a chance to call and see my Mother who lives down that way. A fair bit of driving was involved and an early start was called for. Fortunately the first part of the journey towards the M6 does involve passing close to the Howgills. The dawn was just breaking as I passed the Cross Keys Inn so I couldn't resist this photo.

Cross Keys Inn.

The Howgills are a great range of Hills basically lying between the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. They offer some quiet fellwalking over some rounded hills that give excellent views. This year The Wainwright Society's Challenge involves walks on the Howgills and other areas featured by AW in some of his lesser know guide books. To find out more click here. It's a great opportunity to cover new hills (and of course raise funds for a good cause.)

 A long day of driving was worthwhile but reminded me of why you dont see me too often on Motorways.

Below Abbey Bridge

Not a long walk today before opening the gallery so I took the dogs for a stroll alongside the river but below the Abbey Bridge this time. It was a bright frosty morning and before the trees come into leaf I was hoping to get a good view or two of the bridge and other interesting features of this section of the Tees. Sadly there is now a increase or riverside "scrub" which obscures these points of interest.

Abbey Bridge, even here this delightful arched bridge is difficult to photograph without being veiled by branches etc. Further downstream is "The Meeting of the Waters" where the river Greta and Tees join, a scene made famous by Turner in one of his watercolours. Nearby is The Dairy Bridge, another location popular with artists which can no longer be enjoyed to full effect thanks to the encroachment of undergrowth.

I might just "have a word" with one or two people about the problem, after all, it would be a shame if  nothing was done to "show off" some of the jewels that Teesdale has to offer.

Any thoughts anyone? (In the hope that someone actually reads my jottings here!)

A Mardale Round

The forecast for yesterday was brilliant so an early start (leaving the house before 6) meant that I should have got a good day in on the hills. I planned to visit the Far Eastern Fells where I needed to tick off some references for sketches for the Wainwrights Project. A star filled sky as I left home soon turned to fog in the Eden valley so I guessed there was a good possiblity of a cloud inversion once I gained height. It didnt happen though as by the time I reached Mardale Head the fog had gone.
By 7 I was heading up the north ridge of Branstree at the start of what was to be a brillient and productive day. I have put the photos online which should tell the story of the day.
It was a late finish but well worth the effort only slightly frustrating in the fact that the snow levels obscured some of the detail I need for one or two drawings. Never mind, there's always next time!

Harter Fell from Mardale Ill Bell.

To see the rest of the photos click here: A Mardale Round