In May 2022 I spent a week travelling and drawing in Northumberland. These are the pictures I drew. With the exception of the chalk drawings of medieval sculptures in Hexham Abbey, they are all drawn with brown ink, dip pen and brush, on A3 paper.
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Prudhoe Castle, in the Tyne Valley. A ruin now, it dates from Norman times.
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The old bridge at Corbridge, built in 1674. It's only one vehicle (+pedestrians) wide.
Corbridge was once the most northerly town in the Roman Empire. |
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Strange Medieval sculptures in Hexham Abbey. The abbey somehow survived the reformation, but these sculptures must already been old at the time.
I drew them using black chalk. |
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More sculptures from Hexham Abbey. Their names come from the Abbey's guide notes. 'Fox preaching to geese'?
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The Moot Hall, in Hexham. It dates from the 14th or 15th century.
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Tynemouth Castle, seen from Collingwood's monument to the south.
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Another view of Tynemouth Castle, and the priory, seen from the north side, over King Edward's Bay.
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St Mary's Lighthouse, in Whitley Bay. It was sunny, but with a cold gale blowing.
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Alnwick Castle, seen from 'the pastures', just above the river Aln.
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The gates to Alnwick Castle. Those stone sculptures of soldiers on the battlements used to fascinate me as child, but I was never convinced by my parents' explanation that they were to scare off Scottish raiders.
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Warkworth Castle. Possibly the most romantic, on a conical hill overlooking the village, with one side sloping down through woods to the River Coquet.
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Dunstanburgh Castle. This was built by Earl Thomas of Lancaster, who then led a revolt against Edward II, was defeated in battle, captured and executed. So, he didn't enjoy his new castle for long.
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A closer view of the gates to Dunstanburgh Castle. It's unusual in that it's in a lonely place on a headland above the sea, not near a town or village.
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Bamburgh Castle. Undoubtedly the most spectacular of the Northumbrian castles, it's a huge, complex fortress high up on a rocky promontory. There's been a fortress here for 1400 years. The current building has a Norman keep, but much of it was rebuilt in an imagined Arthurian style by the great 19th century industrialist, Lord Armstrong.
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Lindisfarne Priory, on Lindisfarne, or Holy Island. It was really hard to draw, with so many interacting shapes, and the cragginess of the broken stonework.
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Two views of Lindisfarne Castle, also on the island. I drew the first one while sitting behind a stone wall among the sheep droppings, sheltering from a gale and slanting rain. The rain had eased off by the time I attempted the second one, but the wind hadn't and so, with no shelter, this one was drawn hastily in under ten minutes.
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Edlingham Castle. This is on the wild and spectacular road from Alnwick to Rothbury. It was a fortified manor, but abandoned in the mid 17th century. Like so many others, it was then used as a source of stone for new buildings.
Maybe that accounts for the leaning tower. |
In September of the same year, I went back for a few more days drawing. This time, in addition to brown ink & wash, I used some watercolour.
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This is another view of Warkworth Castle, seen from the riverside and over the town's rooftops.
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Bamburgh Castle, seen from the village centre.
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Bamburgh Castle again, this time from the beach, north side.
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The old limekilns at Beadnell Bay.
The bay curves round, so that even though it's on the east coast, the buildings were in full sunlight as the evening sun fell in the west. The kilns really are a rich golden colour. |
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Alnwick Castle, seen from the old Lion Bridge that crosses the river Aln.
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Dunstanburgh Castle, from the north side. There's less to see, but in some ways it's more atmospheric than the view from the south.
I had to walk round a large golf course to find a place where I could draw from. |
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Craster Harbour.
This is where the famous kippers are made. The whole village smelled of woodsmoke from the smoke house. |
Norham Castle. First built in 1121 it changed hands many times during the wars with Scotland. James IV bombarded it with cannon, destroying the outer walls - but then came Flodden.
The castle was painted several times by Turner.
The castle was painted several times by Turner.
Etal Castle. Built in the 14th century, it was briefly taken by James IV of Scotland shortly before his defeat - and death - at Flodden, just a few miles away.
St Lawrence's Church in Warkworth. It's built with beautiful golden stone, dating from the 12th century.