Overview

This collection of watercolour and other paintings and sketches charts the 66-mile journey of the Derwent from its source to its confluence with the Trent. The Derwent flows through a landscape offering beauty and variety. Rising in high moorland it tumbles along a steep sided valley dropping 1000 feet in six miles to reach a series of reservoirs in the conifer-clad valleys. There follows a limestone gorge at Matlock, with scenery which Byron compared with ""anything as fair in Greece or Switzerland"". The lower valley runs, thickly wooded, to the outskirts of Derby and then flows slowly over a broad plain to join the River Trent. The Derwent hosts a diverse range of flora and fauna, captured by the artist. The place of the river in the history of industry is also remembered - World Heritage Status has been proposed for one of the sketches, where its waters have driven various types of mill for centuries. The paintings show many different points along the river including the aquaduct at Cromford canal, the Belper Mills, and St Mary's bridge. They are accompanied by the author's observations of the surrounding area including notes on local history. This book records not only the landscape and wildlife but also illustrates people enjoying the countryside through the varying seasons and weather conditions. It is thus a record of the changing year, the inhabitants and the flora and fauna of a region.

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9780718830137

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Ashley Bryant was born in Derby, and lived in the nearby village of Allestree where he became acquainted with the River Derwent. He now lives in Essex where he and his wife run an arts centre, specialising in arts courses for adults. His paintings and prints are distributed world-wide, and he has held exhibitions as far afield as Japan. He has produced artwork for BBC television and is currently involved in the production of videos and books on painting techniques.

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