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Following the
publication of Stephen Bailey's walking guide to the Derbyshire Portway in
Spring 2008, I began exploring and painting this ancient 50 mile route which
cuts across the county from Stapleford on the Derbyshire Nottinghamshire
border, through the Peak District to Mam Tor near Castleton. I am accompanied
in my travels by the faithful Elk, who has learned that 'Portway' means
adventure!
To learn
more about the route, please link to
Stephen Bailey's Derbyshire Portway book
on Amazon by clicking here.
Excerpts from the Portway Blog:
For some time I had been searching for an historical
Derbyshire route to form the basis for a series of paintings. Travelled by
traders and pilgrims for centuries since prehistoric times, the Portway
traverses a variety of landscapes, punctuated by churches, caves and
hermitages. Stretches of sunken green lanes banked by outgrown hedgerows
contrast with far reaching views from ridge tops. The travellers favoured high
ground, avoiding where possible river crossings, but as a painter I am drawn to
the water, returning many times to Alport and Ashford in the
Water.
The
hermits caves immediately conjure images of the ancient traveller - the hermits
apparently offering assistance to the road weary on particularly treacherous
sections of the route. At Dale Abbey, the cave is beautifully hewn from the
warm rock, overhung by lime trees. At Cratcliff Rocks, a natural stone overhang
provides basic shelter amidst the overpowering gritstone. Although I am drawn
back to this location it is with trepidation - the atmosphere is as dark as the
wet gritstone. An alarm bark from Elk marks our retreat.
The cave at Harborough rocks was
inhabited by a family well into the 19th Century. We were looking forward to
testing whether it is still weatherproof, after escaping the advances of a
dozen horses and some frisky bullocks in a rainstorm, but were beaten to it by
a gang of damp rock climbers.
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Harthill at
Dusk
Ashford in
the Water
Dale Abbey
Hermitage
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