The Romantic North
- Â鶹Éç ONE episode summary
The stunning scenery of the romantic North of England, birthplace
of landscape art, has inspired some of Britain's most renowned painters
and writers - from JMW Turner, Thomas Girtin and James Ward to Emily
Bronte, Wordsworth and Coleridge.
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David Dimbleby travels to Lindisfarne, the Lake District, Northumberland
and on to Yorkshire for this week's episode of A Picture of Britain.
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Our journey includes Lindisfarne - one of the most mysterious and
remote places in the country. Joined to the mainland by the narrowest
of causeways, twice a day the island is cut off by the tide.
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The drama of this landscape has inspired two of Britain's most acclaimed
artists at the start of their careers, Thomas Girtin and JMW Turner.
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Incredibly, 250 years ago the Lake District was seen as an ugly and
inhospitable wilderness. Since then it has inspired some of Britain's
most revered artists.
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At Grasmere, David learns that Wordsworth spent his most productive
years here, composing British treasures such as The Prelude and The
Daffodils.
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JMW Turner also took inspiration from the natural beauty of the Lake
District, composing fine works such as Morning on the Coniston Fells.
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Moving on to Yorkshire, David visits Gordale Scar, nature at its most
sublime. No artist before James Ward had attempted to contain such vastness
on a canvas, but in 1812 the artist succeeded by creating his monumental
Gordale Scar (12 foot by 14 foot).
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No trip to the romantic North would be complete without a visit to
the rugged landscape which inspired Wuthering Heights. Haworth Moor,
the setting for Emily Bronte's tragic love story, is David's final stop.
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