Riverside Journey: A Portrait of the Derwent By Ashley Bryant This beautiful collection of watercolours and other paintings and sketches charts the 66-mile journey of the Derwent from its source to its confluence with the Trent. ISBN-13: 9780718830137 Specifications: 210x297mm, 96pp, Hardback with colour illustrations Price: £30.75 • US$64.00 Publication: March 2001 Order this Title Now

About this Book

The Derwent flows through a landscape offering unrivalled beauty and variety. Rising in high moorland it tumbles along a steep sided valley dropping a thousand feet in six miles to reach a series of reservoirs in conifer-clad valleys. There follows a limestone gorge at Matlock, with some of the most spectacular scenery in Britain which Byron compared this 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 flood plain to join the River Trent.

The Derwent hosts a diverse range of flora and fauna, sensitively captured by the artist. The place of the river in the history of industry is remembered too - World Heritage Status has been proposed for one of the stretches, where its waters have driven various types of mill for centuries.

The paintings show many different points along the river including the aqueduct 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 wonderful 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, as well as a picture of one of the most beautiful and interesting parts of Europe.

Sample Illustrations

Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version of the image:

Moorland Valley	Matlock Gorge
The Aquaduct	Sunrise

About the Author

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.

Other titles available by Ashley Bryant:
The Thames: An Artist's Journey