The Ruined Church - Bishop Thornton

St John's church, Bishop Thornton. 

Something a bit on the Gothic side for a change. Inspired by Casper David Frederick's The Abbey in the Oakwood, this ruined church has enchanted me for 35 or so years, ever since I came across a photo in Richard Muir's excellent Shell Guide to the English Landscape. This solitary tower isolated in an island of tombs never fails to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I hope to have represented my feelings about this captivating place with this painting, the arms of the bare trees clawing out to the tower like bony hands, the gravestones are probably more dishevelled here than in reality and the path certainly does not exist, but hey, its a painting not a photo.

I have painted and sketched it en Plein air with little success, but here in this 8" x 10" I have finally scratched that itch. There's some narrative as the dried flowers on one of the graves attest to provide something a little bit extra.

The Ruined Church - Bishop Thornton 10" x 8" Oil on Board

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.

Stroll through Fountains

Oil on Board 12" x 6": Painted from sketches and photos in the studio from an afternoon stroll at Fountains Abbey. Probably one of the best preserved ruined (oxymoron?) monasteries in Northern England. Some beautiful light finally emerged from behind the clouds illuminating the western side of the church tower enthused me to scribble down a quick sketch, and snapshot on a phone camera - so pretty useless as a photo but great as an aide memoir. The two people which add a little life to the scene and aid the composition were chucked in from some other sketches from elsewhere in the abbey.

Oil on Board 12" x 6"

How Hill

How Hill - Oil on Board 8" x 6"

Another trek across the Pennines resulted in about 60kg of apples and a couple of paintings, one a pochade is waiting to dry before being 'touched up' and this one of How Hill, painted from a photo. I guess I am allowed to paint this from a photo as I spent over an hour observing the scene while painting the other pochade. How Hill was orginally a chantry chapel, part of the old Fountains Abbey estate, the tower that is still standing was built on the site of the chapel in  around 1720 and was used as a gaming house. Historic England has a great deal to say on the matter How Hill Chapel link. All that said, it was well worth the journey across the hills, although I have to crush and squash all them apples now...

Bridge 170 - Gargrave

Bridge 170 - Oil on Board 8" x 6"

Catchy title ! Simply the 170th bridge on the Leeds Liverpool canal, otherwise known as Higherland Bridge (and locks) at Gargrave. The bridge itself was built around 1790, and the whole length of the canal finally all joined up in around 1816. Canal enthusiasts will notice the white stones surrounding the arch, which enabled the bargemen to judge the width of the canal, real canal enthusiasts will notice that I had omitted a vertical white line above the middle of the arch to enable the bargemen to see where the center of the canal was, and it was only during the research of writing this did I actually  realise how important an omission this was... so for those canal enthusiasts - sorry...

In the Shadow of the Viaduct

Packhorse Bridge - Dent Head Viaduct - Oil on Board 8" x 6"

Beneath the Dent Head Viaduct sits this little packhorse bridge spanning the Fell End Gill, overshadowed by the pillars of the Dent Head Viaduct. The pochade was painted en plein-air last week, and as summer turned to autumn I certainly could feel the chill. The bridge was in danger of total collapse some 5 or 6 years ago when a stone mason Pete Roe from Swaledale took upon its restoration, and thankfully saved this wonderful little structure for a few more generations.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/may/09/country-diary-dentdale-yorkshire-dales

Luncheon Hut, Gayle Beck Lodge

Gayle Beck Lodge - Oil on Board 5" x 7"

Anyone who has driven over the B6255 from Ribblehead to Hawes cannot fail to have missed the broken down, abandoned, ruin that was once a 'luncheon hut' for shooting parties out on the moors above Gearstones. There has always been an air of mystery about this little building, whose fate is quickly fading away.

The lodge has recently been in the local rag, The Craven Herald, and there is a call to save this iconic little building. Local landscape photographer Martin Henson has a wonderful article about it on his site.  http://www.martinhensonphotography.co.uk/help-to-save-gayle-beck

The painting was taken from a photo I took during one of the snowstorms we had in January this year, it reminds me of the paintings of Peter Brook, an artist who I greatly admire with his chilling portraits of farms in the Pennines.

Skipton Castle

Another painting of a sunny day in Skipton, it doesn't seem possible that 6 weeks ago farmers were digging lambs out of snowdrifts, gritters were out on the roads, glaciers were slowly advancing and our coal bill was huge, but that’s all in the past. Spring has arrived, albeit rather late, to the splendid market town of Skipton, self-titled 'The Gateway to the Dales'.

So while my wife was in town trying to sell her wares (don't get the wrong impression - these are bridal fascinators), I went for a stroll along the Springs Branch of the Leeds / Liverpool canal (previous post) which was, for one day of the year, bathed in glorious sunshine. I managed to capture the view of the previous post and this post within 5 paces, not bad eh? I guess inspiration is like busses, you wait hours for one and two come along at once. Or does it depend on your frame of mind? I mean - glorious sunshine, happy face, snap snap that'd make a great painting.

I have visited Skipton castle regularly over the last 30-odd years, my first recollection was when my sister took me there when I was a wee nipper. It is a superb place to explore, and well worth the entry fee, I won't go its history here, suffice to say it is riddled with the stuff, and although many parts of the castle are a private house, there is much to explore, my kids love it. 

"Skipton Castle" Oil on Board 8x6"

This is the view of the back (north side) of the castle on the crag overlooking the canal and river, it must have been quite a structure in its time, and although most of the castle here is bathed in shadow, I hope it gives some impression as to its splendour.

www.skiptoncastle.co.uk