Drawing 21: The Jaws of Borrowdale
Direction of view: S
Notes: I had never been able to find the viewpoint for this sketch, but David Johnson of the Wainwright Society found it in April 2014 at grid reference NY248185. It is on a small promontory well to the left of the path from Manesty to Hause Gate. The foreground will often be in shadow; a summer morning may be best.
This sketch also appears on page 16 of Wainwright in Lakeland. It is one of my favourites out of the whole 400; the detail is exquisite, and the sense of depth convincingly conveyed.
Comments: I finally tracked this down on 5th November 2017, and was delighted to find the foreground rocks as drawn by Wainwright; I blessed David Johnson, and had a snack sitting on the rock in the centre: it is a smashing viewpoint. Buildings in the valley are much more prominent than in the sketch.
It was about 3pm, so almost the whole scene is in shadow; much better than harsh contrasts in fact. I had already taken sketches 304 and 294; it was a delightful and colourful autumn day, so I was quite happy with the result – taken on my Sony A7 camera.
