Nearly three years ago I set out on a journey to discover stories of the Yorkshire Dales and then visit the places where they were set. I was looking for special places that had inspired legends or were the set for great stories. I found them in abundance and wrote a book: Tales of the Dales. I also staged an exhibition of the paintings, which led to a second exhibition. This, in turn, led to a commission from the renowned gastro-pub The Angel (at Hetton) asking me to paint a group of pictures and write a book of locally based stories.

So I'd been researching the area between Grassington and Skipton and coming up with a pile of interesting tales (and some great painting locations) when the Grassington Festival asked me to talk about stories from the Dales and how they feed into my work. Therefore on June 25th I'll be speaking about what I've been doing and telling some stories at a special lunch at the Angel. If you would like to join me tickets are available from the Grassington Festival. For details and to book CLICK HERE

My current exhibition - The High Country - finishes next week on the 18th June. Its a collection of paintings about the areas around the head of Wensleydale and the glorious three peaks. This is Penyghent, above, where I had my first taste of the Pennine landscape which has been my home for the last 27 years.Opening times are : 10 - 4  Sunday: 11 - 4  Wednesday: closed 
(Open by appointment at other times)