Dave Butcher Leaving High Peak Artists and Gallery in the Gardens

After 17 years with High Peak Artists I have decided to leave at the end of January 2022. I was recruited in February 2005, having already been accepted to join Peak District Products (an art and craft group of professional artisans living and working in the Peak District, now called Peak District Artisans). Based in Buxton we originally had an exhibition space in the Buxton Pump Room, opposite the 17th century Crescent building. Then in 2009 we moved to a purpose built gallery area, called Gallery in the Gardens, in Buxton Pavilion Gardens (SK17 6BE) main building and I've had the same space ever since to display and sell my work from.

I changed my display on Christmas Eve and these pictures show roughly what it looks like now - until everything is sold or 31st January when whatever is left will be removed.

There are lots of Dave Butcher original darkroom prints and framed photos at much reduced prices, most with 60% to 80% off the normal price. Lots of bargains, but only while stocks last, once they're gone they're gone!

From February onwards discount original prints will be available online from the Clearance Prints page on my website and from my Etsy shop. 

 

New Peak District Images on DaveButcher.co.uk

I have been catching up with scanning my negatives and have added several new Peak District images to my davebutcher.co.uk.


Included this time are Buxton, Hartington, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Tideswell, Mam Tor, Robin Hoods Stride and the Roaches.

Buxton Grin Low Trees in Winter, near Solomon's Temple, Peak District; 565807

Solomon's Temple and Runner in Snow, Peak District

Chapel-en-le-Frith Church Brow, Peak District

Chapel-en-le-Frith Terrace Road

Mam Tor from Rushup Edge in Summer, between Edale and Castleton

Hartington Village in Winter; 566010

View from Old Mermaid Inn to Hen Cloud, Roaches and Ramshaw Rocks

Tideswell Church, Cathedral of the Peak, from Church yard

Robin Hoods Stride between Youlgreave and Elton

Peak District Summer and Winter in 2 Days!

The weather has been a bit mixed over the last few days. Warm sunny days early last week. Cold sunny days at the end of the week. Showers and cool Saturday while we were running a photo course. Sunny and cool Sunday and Monday, Sunday I was running a darkroom printing workshop. Today was cold with frequent snow showers as I walked to Buxton to run the Gallery in the Gardens, back to winter but it's almost May!

Here are a few photos from my phone so you can see what it's like.

Rushup Edge from Eccles Pike Monday 27th April

Old Roman Road to Buxton Tuesday 28th April

Combs Moss and Snow Tuesday 28th April

Kinderscout from the Whitehall Centre Tuesday 28th April

Winter Returns to the Peak District

Interesting walk to Buxton today, winter returned! Real blizzard on the way in this morning and again coming back this afternoon. In between sunny spells! Here's a phone picture from this morning.

Last Sunday my bad back went into spasm after 3 days in the darkroom and quite a few hours on the computer working on my 2 new books. It was very stiff for several days but is easing off now. A few easy walks and as little work as possible usually helps. I walked a bit Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and today I made it to Buxton and back.

The next 2 days should be darkroom printing days to catch up with orders. At least the book layouts are done. The next job is adding the picture captions and then it will be back to me for checking them.

3 Shires Head in Spate on Photo Course

Today I ran a personal Peak District photo course for Nick and Rex who work together in Windsor.

Not the best day weatherwise! Heavy rain delayed our start. Then we had a break in the weather, headed out and had over an hour dry and took advantage with some good waterfall photos in the Goyt Valley.

The rain returned at noon so we went for an early lunch at the Church Inn in Chelmorton. A sunny afternoon was forecast and we didn't want to miss it!

As usual the sun came out while we were in the pub.

We resumed the day taking photographs of the small fields, dry stone walls and trees from Chelmorton Low, the hill behind the pub.

Big clouds came over to block the light so we went off for more waterfalls as they don't need sunshine to make them impressive.

3 Shires Head was in full spate. I can't remember seeing so much water here before, and I've been here dozens of times over the years. Lots of scope for stunning photos.

Only my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone to record for this blog. Hope these give you an idea of what it was like. The last 2 show how conversion to black and white changes the scene.

Good Day for Trees in the Peak District

Out for a walk in the Peak District with good friend Peter Moore from Kenilworth. Took this tree on my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone and edited in Snapseed. The wind was strong and made it tricky to check the image as my eyes were watering so much.

Tried to post this earlier but didn't go.

Snowy Peak District

I'm in Buxton Pavilion Gardens running Gallery in the Gardens all day. After 6 days at the Ideal Home show in Earls Court in London and 5 at the NEC immediately before that it was good to get out walking the hills for a change.

What a day we have here in the Peaks! Wall to wall sunshine with a dusting of snow on the tops. Lots of ice though so a bit slippery. It's a 6 mile walk over the hills to get here but I grabbed a few shots on my Samsung S3 phone and edited them to black and white using the editor in Google+ photos on my Nexus 10.

I had intended to take more photos of London during and after the show but decided it was too much for my bad back so we've decided to go down after Christmas, weather permitting. Shame though as we had 4 good days which would have been great for photos. We did manage to walk in and out to the show for the first 4 days, 3 miles each way but the only greenery we found was walking through Brompton Cemetery, a large green space just south of Earls Court. No peaks though!

Course Time in the Peak District

We have a spell of doing lots of courses. We planned just one photo day and one darkroom day on our programme for July but have had several private bookings for both photo and darkroom. This is quite interesting as July has previously been a quiet month for courses.

The bonus this year is the weather, lots of sunshine and little rain. It doesn't seem like Derbyshire at all! There's still room on the calendar for more, if you're interested just get in touch for a chat.

Today I walked to Buxton to run the Gallery in the Gardens in Pavilion Gardens. Clear sunny skies and temperature of 24°C, a bit of a breeze on the tops made it a good temp for walking, as I walked the 6 miles here this morning. It will be warmer as I walk home tonight.

Here are some photos from the photo course on Saturday, all taken by Jan using a Nikon D90.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Peak District

I am running the Gallery in the Gardens with Paul Tavernor in Buxton Pavilion Gardens. www.galleryinthegardens.co.uk. Open until 5pm. There's a Saturday Bazaar on here too so lots to see.

It's a beautiful day in the Peak District too. I walked in the 6 miles across the tops. Still about 3 feet of snow on the tracks in places, most gone from the hills though. Forgot to take a photo on my phone on the way here, sorry.

Winter Returns to the Peak District

After 2 days of snow and strong winds we ventured out into the local Peak District hills for a walk from our home in Tunstead Milton. The snow had stopped but the wind was still gusting up to 30mph. We turned back after about 3/4 mile. The snow drifts were well over 6 feet high and effectively impassable to walkers. We returned home for our snowshoes, normally reserved for use in the Alps or Rockies and just a few occasions in the Peaks.

Our snowshoes, MSR Lightning Ascents, were perfect for the conditions. Quick to put on and light and stable, even when crossing 8 foot high drifts on the tops. The main difficulty was in negotiating the stiles!

Taken by Dave Butcher on Samsung Galaxy S2 phone.

The strange thing was the lack of snow on the fields but big drifts on the roads and tracks as well as near fences and walls. The back roads around Combs village, near Chapel-en-le-Frith, were all blocked by lots of big drifts.

 Taken by Jan Butcher on Blackberry Curve phone.

Taken by Jan Butcher on Blackberry Curve phone.

In all we walked about 9 miles, it felt more like 15 because of the extra effort needed! 

Taken by Dave Butcher on Samsung Galaxy S2 phone.

I took a roll of Ilford FP4 120 film (10 negatives) with my Mamiya 7 camera and 65mm lens, all hand-held because I didn't want to carry the weight of a tripod as my back was aching before we started. Had to be careful not to put anything too close to the lens as I couldn't have much depth of field, I needed at least 1/60 sec exposure, with a dark yellow filter, to avoid camera shake.

Tomorrow I should have been running a private landscape photography course but we have rescheduled for 3 weeks time. It will take a while to clear the side roads.

If you can get out in the hills it's a good time for photos, especially black and white ones. Don't plan to use any side roads though as they may well be blocked by snow, even the A6 was blocked into Buxton for part of today.

More snow and cold temperatures are forecast for the rest of this week. 

Have fun!

More Snow in the Peak District

I walked 6 miles across the local hills so that I could run Gallery in the Gardens in Buxton today. Blizzard conditions at times and a few inches of snow everywhere.

The roads were slippery as I came down into Buxton, seemed to be ice under the fresh snow. Tricky.

Still snowing.

Jan driving us down south tonight ready for the funeral of her aunt in north London tomorrow. Hope the roads are clear.

Snowy Photos in the Peak District

We nipped down to Bakewell today to take some snowy photos. Took photos of Bakewell along the river and the old bridge.
Then stopped off in Ashford in the Water for shots of the church, river and Sheepwash Bridge (an old packhorse bridge).
The was a good 3 inches everywhere, snow on tops of walls, covering trees. A good day for black and white photos. Sorry this one is in colour, it's a mobile phone shot!

Frozen Peak District, No Snow

We are back from our recent photo travels to Oxford and Rome; home late afternoon yesterday.

Today I walked across the hills for a day in the Gallery in the Gardens in Buxton Pavilion Gardens. It was a very heavy frost last night and temperature still below zero. Lots of ice everywhere but no snow, could see across to Kinderscout, highest land in Derbyshire, and couldn't even see any there.

Really nice day today. I should be out taking photographs!

Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk Round 2

We have just had a very enjoyable weekend with lots of friends staying with us, walking the hills and visiting local hostelries. The only rain from Friday morning to Sunday night was while we were in the Quiet Woman in Earl Sterndale having a lunch break from the walking! It's not often the Peak District is one of the driest places in the country.

Today I travel up to Shap in Cumbria with good friend Al ready to resume our leisurely version of Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk which we started last year from St Bee's on the west coast. Tomorrow we start with a 17 mile walk from Shap to Kirkby Stephen and finish in Danby Wiske on Saturday afternoon, just under 70 miles in total in 5 days. Next year we hope to complete it and arrive in Robin Hood's Bay on the east coast.

Fingers crossed for dry weather!

I bought some new boots on Thursday, Meindl Dovre Extremes. They are similar to Meindl Lohtse boots but 3 inches higher around the leg. My Achilles tendon has been sore for quite a while now and having the top of my hiking boots hit the tendon as I walk doesn't help. So far I have walked about 25 miles in them without a problem. Hopefully that will help the tendon to recover while I continue to walk the hills and take photos.

From White Peak Walk to Darkroom Course

Yesterday Jan and I walked from Elton near Wirksworth to Robin Hoods Stride, Lathkill Dale from Youlgreave to Middleton, Long Dale and Grattan Dale back to Elton. About 11 miles in total in 5 hours.

I didn't take the camera as my bad back needs looking after. Lots of photos that I would have taken if I had one though, so will go back another time for photos.

Grattan Dale was interesting. About a foot or so of water in the bottom of the dale as the trail follows the river. No trail in places made it interesting. Mostly dry and sunny, just a few spots of rain around lunch time.

Today I'm running a darkroom course for Warren from Hong Kong, his second course with me. Starting anytime now.

Tomorrow I walk to the Gallery in the Gardens in Buxton for a day running the Gallery. Trying to improve fitness for walking from Shap to Danby Wiske along Wainwright Coast to Coast from Tuesday to Saturday next week with good friend Al from Gloucester.

In Bed at Haddon Hall

We set up our stand in the State Bedroom at Haddon Hall today. What a place, a medieval manor that is largely unmodernised. There is also no heating so we will probably need thermal underwear for the show at the weekend!

It opens at 10am Saturday. Here is a photo of the stand from today. You may notice that the bed has been removed from the State Bedroom. Loads of room for the stand but not much chance of a nap!

A Walk in the Clouds

As planned we walked the hills today. Unfortunately, we spent the entire 4 hours walking in the clouds, no bright spells at all.

Just up the road Combs Reservoir had interesting snow patterns on the surface. Light was a bit ordinary but I did take it on the mobile on return as mist had thickened to add more atmosphere.

Snow was between 4 and 15 inches deep, mostly 4. Mist thickened through the day.

We went round the reservoir towards Combs then up Ladder Hill and across to the Goyt Valley before heading home.

Took a couple of reminder shots on the mobile but nothing on the proper camera.

Winter Walk in the Peak District

Saturday 28th January was a great day in the English Peak District. Blue sky, white fluffy clouds, snow on the tops.

We were out a bit late, after 3pm, but the low sun made for great views. I only had my mobile phone camera so just a quick snap as a reminder.

The view is from Ladder Hill looking towards snow covered Kinderscout, the highest point in Derbyshire at 636m. The foreground wasn't very interesting so I cropped it to panoramic format.

Great Peak District Fair

It's the annual Great Peak District Fair in Buxton this weekend. We will have our usual stand in the Octagon in Pavilion Gardens, along with 16 other members of the local art organisation Peak District Artisans. If you come you will be able to browse through several hundred of my photos in sizes from 25 x 20 up to 100 x 50 cm. There will be posters too at prices starting from just £10. All 3 of my books will be on sale too, plus 2012 courses.

The show is open from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th October. Over 100 exhibitors from the Peak District including photography, art, craft, farmers market and beer festival. Free entry. What more could you ask for!

If you are interested I also have a permanent exhibition in Pavilion Gardens in the Gallery in the Gardens, just a few yards from the Octagon in the same building. I am also a member of High Peak Artists who run this gallery as an artists co-operative of 39 artists and craft workers.

A Day to Remember

What a great day in the Peak District. Blue sky and white fluffy clouds, temp over 24C but a cool breeze to stop me overheating.

I worked most of last weekend (getting my books ready for accountant) and we are running landscape photography course for 5 tomorrow and a darkroom printing course on Sunday.

I had to scan some images and ship the tweaked files to Germany today but after that I was out of the door!

I started with a walk up Eccles Pike the small hill behind the house. Spectacular views and a chat with the only person I would see until almost at the end of the walk. Clear views to Kinderscout, Chinley Churn, Whaley Moor and Combs Moss.

Then down to Chapel Milton and Wash (a small hamlet, nothing to do with personal hygiene). Then along the stream and up the hill to Shireoaks. On the edge of Kinder now.

Next it was along the Pennine Bridleway and a short diversion up South Head. I stopped for a cereal bar before heading over to the neighbouring Mount Famine. Strong breeze here so I made sure my sun hat was secured properly.

Quite steep descent from here and then down the quick way to the pretty village of Hayfield. The first pub is the George and it has changed to Marstons Brewery so a good one to stop at.

I called Jan to let her know where I was (she offered to pick me up which saved an 8 mile stagger home). Then in for a pint of Cumberland followed now by a pint of Bank's.

8 miles in 3.5 hours over 3 little peaks in spectacular conditions. A day to remember!