Blencathra is one of the largest and most characterful mountains of the English Lake District.
This print is a view of it from the nearby Castlerigg Stone Circle, just outside Keswick, one of the most evocative ancient places in the North of England, and also one of the most impressive prehistoric monuments in Britain. The stone circle was built in about 3,200BC by late neolithic or early bronze-age people, on an elevated plateau of land commanding unfettered views of the surrounding hills: Blencathra, Skiddaw, Grasmoor and Helvellyn - all names to conjure with. If you look eastwards from the stone circle at sunrise on the Autumn equinox, you will see the sun rising directly over a small hill known as Threlkeld Knott.
Blencathra itself is beautiful in any season. Its gracefully domed shoulders, shining brackeny orange on an autumn evening or scattered with snow on spring and winter mornings, gather themselves about the jagged multiple summit peaks as if to protect them.
The mountain is much-beloved of hill walkers, combining the excitement of clambering over knife-edge rocky approaches to its six separate tops with the airy flatness and spectacular views from the summit plateau. Look North into the wastelands of Skiddaw Forest and the Mungrisdale Common, then turn round to look back out over Helvellyn, Castlerigg stone circle, Naddle Fell, Derwent Water and the wooded islands set in it like jewels, then the Catbells group and the far-off gates of Borrowdale.
In this print of Blencathra, I offer a portrait of the mountain in its historical context. I wanted it to have a sense of the ancient history of the place, with the stone circle and the other marks of man present in the landscape; but, somehow, with the enduring mass and unassailable majesty of Blencathra rising above the rest. I hope this print conveys some of the sensation of being physically drawn towards the mountain that I experience when I see it.
Blencathra is printed using Hawthorn inks on 140gsm white cartridge paper. Image size 190mm x 190mm. Paper size 296mm x 420mm. Edition of 15.
The price shown includes postage and packing for delivery to a UK address. Every print dispatched is wrapped in acid-free tissue paper and securely packaged in a sturdy cardboard tube, and delivered to the address required by post via Royal Mail or Parcel Force (depending on the size of the print) and signed for upon delivery.
If you would like a print delivered to an address outside the UK, please let me know when ordering and I will investigate whether you need to pay anything extra to cover the increased postage price.
