Drawing 222: St. John’s in the Vale
Direction of view: SSE
Notes: From the bridleway between St John’s church and Sosgill Bridge, at grid reference NY313216.
This view also appears on page 7 of Fellwanderer, and page 61 of Memoirs of a Fellwanderer. In both cases they are prints from the same original sketch, reduced in size and with bits cut off: typical recycling by Wainwright.
Comments: I first visited this viewpoint on 28th September 1980 with Peter Messenger, on a day of beautiful blue sky and sunshine, when we climbed High Rigg after photographing this drawing, and also 54 of Blencathra.
I took the picture for a second time on slide film in August 1981, though I don’t have a note of the precise date or circumstances.
I visited the location for the digital project on 19th August 2015 (see drawing 75 for further details). I parked on the road north of Sosgill Bridge, and headed across fields to join the track from St John’s church to Sosgill. Reaching this track at a certain point, I had to decide whether to search to the left (north) or right (south). I headed left, and continued for almost a mile before giving up the search. Returning to my original location, I then found the sketch 100 yards away to the right! However, some unexpected sun burst through the stubborn cloud; just reward for persistence.
