Hi Everbody

Well,it’s seems amazing but we have just had a nice 6 day holiday in the Lake District of England, and with really nice weather too, whilst our home county of Kent was suffering heavy rain and thunderstorms!

The area around Windermere was very busy and fortunately I had pre booked very nice restaurants some of which I have mentioned below.

The visit gave me an opportunity for some watercolour pen and wash sketches and due to the nice weather I was able to paint them “en plein air” which was very enjoyable.

In the next post I will include so more formal studio watercolour  paintings of the Lakes but here are the sketches that I have so far completed.
I hope you enjoy looking at them.

Firstly near to Windermere is Ambleside , although we didn’t realise that Ambleside at the lake is a mile or more from the town.

We went there on a Windermere lake cruise but having to wear a mask all the time on the boat was both unpleasant and in my opinion totally unnecessary as we were all distanced and out in the open air!

The House on the bridge in Ambleside.Sketch, pen and wash 10 inches by 9

In Ambleside I managed to sketch the famous House on the Bridge, which is quite extraordinary and dates back to collecting tolls , I believe mainly to do with the sheep trade.

The next day we went to Derwentwater where parking at the Lakeside is a very tricky thing to do, but on the way we spent some time at Ashness Bridge, a very old Packhorse bridge near to Derwentwater.

I was able to two quick sketches of this very picturesque scene one from the South side and one from the North.

Ashness packhorse Bridge looking South

The road there is very narrow but there is a National  Trust car park thank goodness!

Ashness Packhorse bridge looking North

Not far away from Asness bridge is Derwnetwater and there is a lovely walk along the South shore of the lake, with views across the lake to Skiddaw mountain.

I managed to capture this view in this sketch and of course there are many more photos for future paintings.

Derwentwater with Skiddaw Mountain in the distance. Sketch, pen and wash 10 inches by 9

Our next day was spent at Ullswater after a beautiful mountainous drive from Windermere across the fells.

Ullswater was much quieter and thus more enjoyable for a quiet time sitting and painting by the lake and watching the steamer gliding over the Lake. While at Ullswater we also visited The Airs Force waterfall and felt quite elated that we climbed the 220 feet to get to this marvellous waterfall.I will be doing a sketch of it shortly, as I didn’t carry anything up to the viewing point.

Ullswater. Sketch, pen and wash 20 inches by 9

On our final day we spent a few hours on the west shore of Coniston Water and i managed to paint this sketch with the very old Coniston Steamer on the lake.

Coniston Water. Sketch, pen and wash 20 inches by 9

I have arrived back with lots of ideas for future paintings which will appear on this blog in a while.

In th mean time should you venture to the Lake District I would strongly recommend these restaurants, but do book well ahead!

In Windermere – Francine’s (brilliant) and San Pietro.

In Bowness – Villa Positano (great food and atmosphere)

Beyond Ambleside The Drunken Duck (very good food but more expensive) 

I hope you will one day enjoy them.

Happy travelling once again!

Brian