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/