This sketch was done our last full day in Manchester before heading to Scotland, so we spent most of the time repacking and weighing our bags. Later in the afternoon we wandered down the road for a brief visit to the Whitworth Gallery where we saw the John Lyons: Carnivalesque exhibition. I did this sketch after that, sitting in the textiles area.
Wed-7-Aug-2024
On Saturday 3 August day we took a train up to Stockport from Manchester to meet with a friend and then did a hike from Hayfield to Lantern Pike. This of course included a stop at the pub on the way and we ended up having an excellent simple dinner at “The Village Chippy” in Hayfield before heading back to Manchester. I started this sketch when we stopped for a rest (but didn’t finish, hence the delay in posting it)…there were some scary looking cows in the field behind us (actually bulls I think), with huge horns.
Sat-3-Aug-2024
These sketches were done on our day out to visit where our daughter works, along the Huddersfield Narrow canal. The first sketch was done in the train on the way and the second where we stopped for lunch at Lock No.29 E. The Huddersfield Narrow scales the Pennines and has very narrow locks. We walked as far as the Standedge Tunnel which is the longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel in the country.
Tue-6-Aug-2024
On Monday 5th August we visited Heaton Park – taking the tram out of Manchester. I did two sketches there – the first when we sat down for a coffee and lunch at the Lakeside Cafe (where the park was crowded with families and lots of push chairs…this sketch is barely finished and was done really quickly). The second was done when we stopped for rest in the animal centre area where there were some Highland Cattle (just about visible as blobs in my sketch).
Mon-5-Aug-2024
On Sunday 4th August we started our day with a trip to Fred Aldous (my favourite art shop in Manchester) where I restrained myself and only bought two packets of SeaWhite paper (we don’t have enough weight allowance for me to bring much back to the Philippines). Then we visited Salford Museum and Art Gallery and walked around the nearby Peel Park. I sketched this while my wife and daughter wandered off to see “the meadow” which is in a meander of the river Irwell. The statue is of Joseph Brotherton, representative of the borough of Salford in the House of Commons for 24 years (from 1832 to 1857).
Sun-4-Aug-2024
While we still had the car we decided to make a trip out of Manchester and picked this historical house. The National Trust describe it as a topsy-turvy half-timbered Tudor house with a moat, that was built more than 500 years ago. It’s amazing that it’s still standing.
Fri-2-Aug-2024
Here is the first sketch I did on the day after we arrived in Manchester. We had planned to go hot air ballooning early in the morning but it didn’t push through because of poor weather in York. Instead we just hung out at our daughters house, filled the rental car with a ‘big shop’ and went out for a little walk (in a little park near the university of Manchester where I sketched this woman snoozing) and a milk shake. My milk shake was banana and peanut butter flavour…so thick it was like ice cream.
Thu-1-Aug-2024
After Womad we visited some friends in Hampton Marshall and had a lovely lunch, and then visited my old university friends who live near Calne. This sketch is of their dog Lily. She wouldn’t stay very still until she was given a cows hoof stuffed with liver pâté to chew on! Even then it took several attempts on the same page before I could get anything close to a dog-like sketch.
Tue-30-Jul-2024
This is the last sketch I did while we were staying in Suffolk…my daughters new hiking shoes. The day I drew this we planned our meals for Womad camping, did a big shop in the supermarket, said goodbye to my mum and sister and crammed all of our luggage into the car. These shoes seem to be excited for the next leg of our holiday, as they are already walking off the edge of the page!
Thu-25-Jul-2024