Day 4 With my back to Roseberry Topping I turned towards High Cliff Nab. The path is paved with pieces of old memorial stone, so I was running on odd names and dates. I’d like to include some of these somewhere in a painting. When I got back to Calderdale I discovered that the stone came from the old Trinity Secondary School in Halifax.
Along the high paths I was conscious of now heading towards the sea as it was suddenly cold. I ran through Slapewath and Skelton where I completely lost the path to a new housing estate and went around in circles for a bit feeling cross. Once through the maze of new housing I found myself in a lovely wood with a beautiful red brick viaduct, bluebells, wild garlic and the sound of Skelton Beck…
Finally in Saltburn by the Sea! I’ve never been before and I couldn’t explore much as I was suddenly very cold. I stopped by the sea lift and put on just about everything I had in my pack (2 buffs for my cold ears) before heading down to the beach to send my Mum a photo of my feet on the sand.
This is quite a small painting but it’s my current favourite. I wanted to paint something that felt suddenly open and cold; full of empty space. From this point the landscape and it’s colours are very different.
My friend Nancyann, who works in the studio with me, loves this piece of coast – especially the walk from Saltburn to Loftus along the cliffs. She’s often told me about The Charm Bracelet sculpture (I know that’s not it’s proper name. I believe it’s really called ‘The Circle’,). It was lovely to meet it at last.
From the charm bracelet the guide book tells me that the ‘path hugs the coast line’. I had to have a word with myself as it ‘hugged it’ rather too close to the cliff in many places . I nearly risked barbed wire and a field with a bull in it to avoid one especially ‘huggy’ stretch, but decided to use one hand as a blinker and look in-land instead. It’s not entirely irrational given the speedy erosion of this stretch of coast. There are places where you are almost seeing it happen live!
I spent the night near Skinningrove in a little wooden camping pod with a hot tub. It felt very decadent when I booked it but accommodation was limited near the path, and I stayed in that hot tub until I’d properly thawed out and my fingers had gone crinkly. Nancyann met me there and took me out for dinner. After a few days of quick-cook yellow food I’d been craving green vegetables. I ate everything and ALL of that gravy. And I’m not sorry…
Day 5 was lovely. I started early from my camping pod and headed down to see the sea before heading up on to the cliffs again.
This is a beautiful spot near Boulby. The path is away from the cliff at this point – a nice safe gap between me and the sea! The wild flowers were amazing here. Pink and purple campion that seemed as tall as me!
This sculpture of a radio operator troubles me. Why has the sculptor places his tea where he can’t reach it?
I’m just about the stretch the paper for two Staithes paintings.
There will be a small square of black….
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