Through The Trees is a limited edition pack of six greetings cards with envelopes. The sketches feature paths and tracks from my walks through the local woods.
Card 1 - Soft Rain - The Delph Donkey Path, Dobcross
I sketched this view of the bridge on the Delph Donkey sat among the puddles. The water on the right was quite deep after the rains earlier in the week. This much trodden path from Uppermill passes through Dobcross and on to Delph. The Delph Donkey left the main Huddersfield to Manchester line at Moorgate Halt, veering sharply left past Ladcastle Quarry before reaching Dobcross halt. It then continued to Delph with one additional intermediate halt that served the 'Measurements' factory on Delph New Road where trains only called at the start and end of the working day.
The original framed drawing is now sold.
Card 2 - The Many Ways We’ll Wend - Ainley Wood, Delph
I sketched this path on an afternoon in summer heading through Ainley Wood towards Delph while listening to the album Room To Roam by The Waterboys. The light though the trees was beautiful as it danced over the fresh foliage.
The original framed drawing is for sale.
Card 3 - Summer Breeze - Bradbury Lane, Dove Stone
I sketched Bradbury Lane in the afternoon sunshine. Bradbury Lane starts at Intake Lane and Fern Lee Farm, becoming Bradbury’s Lane at Hey Top and ending at Dove Stone Reservoir. The last time I walked this way, the lane was filled with snow. I sat there listening to the album El Mirador by Calexico.
The original framed drawing is now sold.
Card 4 - Sweet Days Of Summer - Digley Reservoir
This was my final sketch from the set of ten drawn on the morning of 16 July. I had set myself a challenge to draw ten sketches that day and limit the time to five minutes for each. I started out well, but then started to stretch the time taken. Some of the later sketches (including this) went to about an hour. Hey-ho! This is Hoowood Lane and leads down to Digley. If you stay on the lane you will get your feet wet, the lower part of the lane was submerged beneath the rising water in 1954.
The original framed drawing is for sale.
Card 5 - Morning Mist - Tame Walk, Slackcote
I have wanted to sketch the path from Slackcote Cottages up to Slackcote for a while. The early light with that hint of mist was quite ethereal as the sun burnt it off. It brought to mind the lyric in the Nanci Griffith song There's a light beyond these woods, Mary Margaret.
The original framed drawing is for sale.
Card 6 - Blue Shadows No.2 - Path To Lowbank Farm, Castleshaw Reservoirs
This was going to be the last drawing for my exhibition, but as Yoda said in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. “No, there is another.” The farmer at Wood Farm told me that wall was his goats favourite escape route.
The original framed drawing is now sold.