Here is a sketch of my mum done while we were having a video call. I showed her this after I had finished it and she said “that’s not me…that is a little old lady”.
Sat-7-Feb-2026
115-3381 – Not me
UK
105-3142 – Killer boots
Here is a sketch that I started in the UK, but left unfinished because I didn’t have time to add the colour. I did this after our trip to Lyme Park and Gardens and despite being tired after driving back, I couldn’t resist sketching my daughters boots. I have been meaning to sketch these for ages.
Sat-31-May-2025
105-3146 – Heathrow Terminal 4
Here is my last sketch done on our UK trip for this year. They day started with getting up at 5am and driving 4 hours from Manchester to Heathrow through dreadful drizzly rain. We arrived in the nick of time to drop off the hire car and then had to repack our bags at check-in counter as one was over 23k (even though the other was well under!). Otherwise the flight was uneventful and we got food despite being told when we checked with a phone call the day before, that there would be none provided (so I ate both sandwiches and airline food). On the flight I watched “The Mercy” movie …which was much more depressing than I thought it would be!
Tue-3-Jun-2025
105-3145 – Hope Valley Edale hike
On our last full day in the UK we picked up our friend in Hazel Grove for a 13km hike starting in Edale. We had tried to hike to Mam Tor from Edale in December 2022 (see sketch No.69-2262) but never made it to the top because of the rain. This time the weather was perfect and sunny. I sketched this after a scramble through rocks to the first high point where we ate lunch. We then hiked along the ridge past spectacular rock formations and then down “Jacobs Ladder” ending at the lovely pub, The Old Nags Head, in Edale for a beer. Somehow we summoned the energy to go shopping in Lidl when we got back into Manchester, so we we were very tired in the evening.
Mon-2-Jun-2025
105-3144 – Horse in Bexley Square
Despite being tired (after seeing off our daughter and shopping in the Arndale for a wok), we stopped for a beer at the The New Oxford pub and I drew this. The pub has a huge range of beer – I had the house ale. This horse sculpture by Emma Rodgers (@rodgers_art.emma) recognises Salford as home to Englands first public library and it is covered with messages and sayings from famous Salfordians, poets and musicians. The visit Salford website (https://www.visitsalford.info/) also notes that “a dog cocking its leg against the lamp post is a tribute to Salford artist Harold Riley and his famous sketches of dogs”…you can just about see the dog in my sketch.
Sun-1-Jun-2025
105-3143 – Brunch at idle hands
I did this sketch while we were waiting for our brunch at a nice little café (@idlehandscoffee) and saying goodbye to our daughter who was heading back down south to London. I had a lovely 3 cheese grilled sandwich. The waitress took a photo of my sketch and my daughter said I should make more effort to “shamelessly promote” my artwork!
Sun-1-Jun-2025
105-3141 – Lyme statues
Here is the second sketch I did (immediately after the previous one) at Lyme park and Gardens, choosing to draw this instead of going round the gardens. I started off sketching fast and loose as rain repeatedly threatened…then the sun came out so I had more time to add detail. Someone sat next to me and took a picture. Afterwards we walked to the “cage” (a tower that was probably built as a hunting lodge in 1737). The three statues you can see in my sketch are of Neptune, Venus and Pan.
Sat-31-May-2025
105-3140 – Lyme park ice creams
Here is the first sketch I did when we visited Lyme Park and Gardens – a stately home managed by the National Trust. After visiting the house (which dates from the latter part of the 16th century and is famous for appearing as Mr. Darcy’s estate, in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice), we found a spot to sit and have our packed lunch. The house has massive ornate rooms, crusty paintings, elaborate carvings, tapestries and chandeliers. I stopped this sketch (which includes a little kiosk selling ice creams, hence the title) part way through (finishing it later) to walk around the garden but then immediately realised the view from the other side was more interesting.
Sat-31-May-2025
105-3139 – Ewloe Castle
On this day we drove to Wales for a walk in Nercwys Forest, followed by a visit to a (non) castle in Mold (there was only a mound where a castle used to be), coffee in the “Cracked Coffee House” (@_crackedcoffee), then a visit to this castle hidden in the woodland. This one was probably built by “Llywelyn The Great” around 1210 but otherwise has a “murky” history. We all sat in the bailey and I sketched this fantastic huge oak tree. Meanwhile nearby some local kids were smoking dope on the battlements and our daughter got bitten by something (probably a spider) which later swelled up into large lumps! After sketching we had our own little our own little ‘latag’ (show and tell).
Fri-30-May-2025