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.

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.

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/