An Artist's Journey Down the River Nene.

“We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy of beauty and life for future generations.”

 ― David Brower

Northamptonshire is  beautiful, green and abundant with life. It has many villages and towns and a rich diversity of wildlife. However the scenery we usually see as we drive along the roads is often one that involves traffic, and the busy rush of the rat race. The charm of places that we live in, can be completely missed or forgotten about as we are channelled along the highways.

This summer, I rediscovered the river which is right at the heart of this county. It has a different, slower and more gentle existence that passes right beneath and besides our manic roads. The Nene river in May this year was hot and serenely tranquil, it was like being in a completely different place - another world.

​A New Project based on the River...

I choose to listen to the river for a while, thinking river thoughts, before joining the night and the stars. — (Edward Abbey)
Last year, I decided that it was time to really experience the river which has always been a presence in my life growing up in Northamptonshire. The river has special kind of immutability, much like the sea because it is always there and it constantly flows to the ocean. Its meandering course is a reminder of the natural world;but it also reminds me of fishing with my father or feeding the ducks as a child.

Boarding a narrow boat at Gayton, we peacefully travelled through the Nene valley visiting Northampton, Wellingborough, Irthlingborough, Thrapston and then Oundle. Then, I rented a canoe and paddled as far as Warmington. Drawing and taking photographs was a great way to record what I saw as it allows you truly to soak up the atmosphere.

Below are some of drawings I made whilst cruising along the river...

Sketchbook Drawing whilst on the River Nene, early in the morning.

Canoe Through Fotheringhay
One the highlights of my trip along the river was seeing the Church at Fotheringhay as I paddled past in a canoe. The building sits majestically near the river bank and makes a great subject for the first in a series of paintings based on this trip.

In the foreground of the painting is a swan drifting downstream, whilst the words from the poem ,'Summer Evening' by John Clare are weave through the picture, enhancing the sense of abundance in the environment.

Summer Evening
The frog half fearful jumps across the path,
And little mouse that leaves its hole at eve
Nimbles with timid dread beneath the swath;
My rustling steps awhile their joys deceive,
Till past, and then the cricket sings more strong,
And grasshoppers in merry moods still wear
The short night weary with their fretting song.
Up from behind the molehill jumps the hare,
Cheat of his chosen bed, and from the bank
The yellowhammer flutters in short fears
From off its nest hid in the grasses rank,
And drops again when no more noise it hears.
Thus nature's human link and endless thrall,
Proud man, still seems the enemy of all.
                        
   John Clare


​This is the first in a series of paintings based on this inspiring cruise down the River Nene.

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Ten facts you may not know about the Nene River and Northamptonshire.

• The River Nene was once a tributary of the River Rhine when England was part of the European continental land mass.

 

• Ten thousand years ago the Nene River was a torrent  of melt water. This came from the ice sheet that once covered much of the north of the UK. The water ground down the soft limestone and left behind a fertile valley.

 

• Northampton was built at the confluence  of the two sources of the river. The southern source emerges beneath the shadow of an iron age hillfort, a mile west of Badby Village at Arbury Hill. The Northern source of the river Nene is at Naseby to the west of the village.

 

• The River Nene is the tenth longest river in the UK.

 

• The Nene Way footpath starts at Badby and follows the river for 67 miles and end at Wansford on the Cambridgeshire boarder. Cambridgeshire.

 

• Covering more than 41,000 hectares, the impressive Nene Valley commands an area three times bigger than the Great Fens and is a haven for many different types of wildlife.

 

• The Nene Valley is internationally renowned for its variety of over-wintering water birds including curlew, lapwing, widgeon and gadwall, the Nene Valley is also home to kingfishers, red kites, otters and grass snakes.

 

• . The Battle of Northampton was fought on the 10th July 1460, near the River Nene in Northampton. It was a major battle of the War of Roses and took place not far from Delapre Abbey.

 

• Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury used Hardwater Mill near Wollaston, as a hiding place after escaping Northampton castle in 1164.