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Pennine Way Sketchbook I travelled light on my Pennine Way walk, but what artist could be without at least a sketchbook and pen! I made quite a few quick sketches, but here are half a dozen of my favourites. Although they're very simple, for me they capture a moment somewhere along the 268 mile trail. From these sketches and the photographs that I took I plan to produce a series of watercolours that will hopefully convey my feelings and impressions as I walked the Way. Look out for these in my gallery over the coming weeks and months.
The summit cairn on Bleaklow, one of the two big hills of the first day. There was a brief window in the cloud and I was able to do the sketch in about five minutes. Then the mist rolled in again, so it was onward and downward to Torside and my accommodation for the night. Day one was 16 hard miles in mist and drizzle - ah, the joys of hill walking.
Day three. Stoodley Pike appears in the distance - an ancient monument that is one of the seven wonders of the Pennine Way. You can see it for miles and it marks the descent to the Calder Valley . The next day it was my companion on the distant horizon until at least lunchtime as I headed on to Bronte country and Top Withins.
As I approached Hawes in Wensleydale, I looked across the dale and saw tomorrow's task ahead. Great Shunner Fell rises to 2340ft and the Pennine Way goes right over the top. This sketch was done in brilliant sunshine on Saturday 24th September, my sixth day on the Way and just about 100 miles from the start at Edale.
On Sunday 25th September I walked from Hawes to Keld in Swaledale. Over Great Shunner it was, of course, wet, misty, windy, the usual Pennine hill conditions. By the tiny village of Keld the weather had improved again and as the shadows were lengthening I sketched this view from the window of my lodgings at East View bed & breakfast. My thanks to Margaret and Keith for making me very welcome - one of my best stops on the Way.
Almost a week later and I'd made it to the end of the Pennine chain, but not the Pennine Way. Ahead of me lay Whin Sill and the Cheviots, four more days of walking. Here I caught a glimpse of Hadrian's Wall as it snakes over Whin Sill. Those Romans certainly knew how to take advantage of nature's line of defence - these hills are steep!
And so to the end of my walk. This is the Schill, in the Cheviots, the last big hill of the Pennine Way. Cloud was scudding over the tops, but it remained clear enough for me to do this quick sketch from the viewpopint at Auchope Cairn. Then it was on over the Schill and at last the descent to Kirk Ketholm and the end of the Way. Nineteen days and 268 miles through wind and rain, across bogs and bleak moorland, but I still think it's the best walk in Britain!
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