Malham Cove, Spring 18

No one can miss the natural spectacle of this huge amphitheatre of limestone that sits about a half a mile north of the pretty little village of Malham. This massive curve of rock was carved out at the end of the last ice age when the melting glacial waters exploited natural weaknesses in the limestone bedrock (in this case the middle Craven Fault) forming what was once a cataract that rivalled Niagara. Once in a blue moon, following periods of intense rainfall does water flow over this cliff down an unbroken drop of around 80m; this last happened in December 2015 for the first time in around 200 years.

Malham Cove, Spring 18; Oil on Board 10" x 8"

I painted this over  a couple of days from sketches and photos while 'minding the shop', and strangely enough its only the second image of this fantastic feature. Word to the wise, if you're staying locally this is best visited in the evening when the hubbub of the day visitors have departed.

Beggars' Stile, Crummackdale

To the west of us lies the beautiful, secluded valley of Crummackdale whose river is fed from the southern flanks of Ingleborough and it is another one of the Western Dales' hidden gems. This was painted from sketches and photos, although I had to imagine what the place looked like with an evening sky.

Beggars Stile, Crummackdale. Oil on Panel 6" x 11"

The stile at the centre of attention is known as the Beggars Stile, and allows access to the karst of the Moughton uplands from Crummackdale. Beyond Beggars Stile is a natural amphitheatre called Thieves Moss, which does leave one's imagination soaring as the old Lancaster to Newcastle turnpike ran alongside these two features.

Gooseker Spring

The gallery was starting to look a bit, well, wintery, so I thought it needed a bit of a freshen up with some fresh green paint and what better than some spring landscapes of the scenery in this part of the Dales. Gooseker or Goat Scar or indeed Gorse Scar (but known locally as Gooseker!) is that ancient trackway that appears in quite a lot of my paintings (and indeed some paintings of artists much better and more famous than I) fortunately it is on my doorstep so the inspiration is literally outside. The initial climb out of Stainforth literally takes your breath away, but the view back towards the village and Ribblesdale beyond is well worth it, along the path towards Catrigg (another of my favourite haunts) you may (or may not) notice there are 3 or 4 tunnels under the roadway, each one with a vaulted roof, these were built to last and allow livestock to pass safely beneath the track between pastures.

Gooseker Spring. Oil on Panel 12" x 12"

The view is what I like to call 'the ubiquitous one' down the lane towards the Hogget house with the mass of Smearsett to the left in the distance. Now this one was painted from photos alone - I did this while 'minding the shop' waiting for foot traffic to pop into the gallery and all the while practising my sales patter (not working though!)...