Cumbria

"Looking up the Slopes", Great Langdale, Cumbria 13"x9".Watercolour. Alistair Butt ARSMA © 2008.While walking along the valley of Great Langdale, in the Lake District, a break in the cloud lit up part of this view. The small stream running down the hill, the Herdwick sheep grazing in the sunlit field while the background hills, Side Pike being the main one, were still in shadow.The Herdwick Sheep

The Westmorland Hotel is one of the finest hotels in Cumbria, located in tranquil countryside with spectacular mountain views yet surprisingly it is just minute’s from the M6 motorway in between Kendal and Penrith, in Cumbria - The Lake District. Accessed via the award winning Tebay Services and its Farm Shops, the family owned AA 3 star hotel is a superb place to break your journey when travell

"Spring in Dentdale" Dentdale, Cumbria 12"x16".Oil on board. Alistair Butt © 2007.What first attracted me to this view was the sparking highlights on the water, the River Dee in Dentdale, Cumbria as it flowed over and around the rocks, followed by the contrast between the still water with the reflections and the moving water towards the foreground. The trees and bank added a nice backdrop to the river. The first task was to find a spot that had as much water as possible, i.e. less rocks as the whole river bed was covered by them. When located it was about 6 feet into the river.This was not the quickest of pictures to paint and many of the smaller stones/pebbles were not painted. The under painting was completed first and was really done to establish the sky and background hills for the over painting (of the trees) to come later, though the mid and dark tones of the water/tree leaf/bank etc were painted at this stage plus indicating the positions of larger stones and main tree branches

A few days with changeable weather in the beautiful area where the borders of County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria almost meet. Exploring, not for the first time, or the last, Teesdale, Weardale and the routes between the two dales before moving further north to follow the River Tyne and Hadrian's Wall between Corbridge and Brampton plus visiting sections of Northumberland National Park and Kielder Forest.The two pictures above give a 'flavour' of the landscape, rolling hills, winding narrow roads, some stunning farms but 90% of the time the light and/or rain resulted in marking the locations for another trip and better light. I usually record all potential subjects with the following details: time of year to return (early spring, late winter etc), time of day (morning, evening etc), sun position in relation to subject (for light direction). Like all things, nothing stays the same, I have returned to some locations to find new farm barns blocking the view, 7 very large trees c

Congratulations to the residents and city of Cumbria, UK! They have emerged as the early front runner to host the the long-term disposal of 500,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste. But... Earth-centred news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming

The official report into Friday’s train crash that killed one person when a Virgin train derailed has been published and is available to download here crash cumbria train uk virgin World news crash, cumbria, train, uk, virgin, World newscrash, cumbria, train, uk, virgin, World news