Exploring the Yorkshire Wolds Countryside
The Yorkshire Wolds Landscape That Inspires David Hockney
Apr 23, 2009
No wonder Yorkshire-born David Hockney was so dismayed early in 2009 when he discovered that his favourite copse near the tiny village of Warter in the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire had been completely cut down. Having done two paintings featuring its majestic sycamores and beeches - one in winter, one in summer - he had intended to paint them in spring and autumn too.
Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding Inspire David Hockney
Even so he will continue to be inspired by this quiet rural area of copses and woods with a patchwork of fields which stretch across rolling hillsides under wide skies. The countryside is punctuated by small market towns and villages with markets where local crafts are on sale and farmers sell their produce. David Hockney grew to love the Wolds during visits to see his late mother who lived in the seaside resort of Bridlington.
Each place in the Yorkshire Wolds seems to have its own special feature, like the churches with slender spires in Bishop Wilton and South Dalton, the rows of whitewashed cottages beside the village pond at Bishop Burton and the 4000-year old standing stone at Rudston, 26 feet high - the tallest in Britain.
Paths include the Yorkshire Wolds Way
To explore the area on foot, there is a network of marked footpaths including the Yorkshire Wolds Way which runs for 79 miles between Filey on the coast north of Bridlington and the River Humber near Kingston-upon-Hull. A series of short circular routes off it lead to some of the most scenic parts of the Yorkshire Wolds, particularly around Huggate, Londesborough and Welton.
Or by bike, there is a choice of short circular trails around Driffield and Pocklington, in addition to routes 1 and 5 of the National Cycle Network.
Historic Houses in the Yorkshire Wolds like Sledmere House and Burton Agnes HallAmong several historic houses in the Wolds, Sledmere House in Sledmere is one of Yorkshire’s finest, famous for its plasterwork and a pipe organ which is played for visitors on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Burton Agnes Hall near Driffield is an Elizabethan manor filled with treasures - paintings, furniture and porcelain - collected over 400 years by 15 generations of the Cunliffe-Lister family who still live there.
Also in Burton Agnes a medieval manor, owned by English Heritage, has a rare and well-preserved undercroft dating back to Norman times as well a 15th-century roof.
East Riding Arts and Vista Arts
Although David Hockney is by far the most famous local artist, the work of less well-known ones - painters as well as craftspeople such as jewellers and potters - is promoted by East Riding Arts which stages exhibitions and organises ‘open studios’ events. In Pocklington, Vista Arts offers art courses and day workshops.
As in the case of David Hockney, all this artistic endeavour is clearly inspired by the serenity and beauty of the Yorkshire Wolds countryside in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
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