The Trees

We arrived at Warter and walked up a winding path to the old St James church and met with Rose. In the past the church had fallen into d
isuse and was due to be demolished but Rose and her husband set up the preservation trust and saved the building; it is now the St James Heritage Centre.

The church itself is a beautiful building with a truly impressive interior. Important sculptures and local history fill the space, so many wonderful stories - all being kept alive by the trust. There are sunday pop in cafes with home made cakes, bookable art workshops and lectures - and four local walks that include the locations of several of Mr. Hockneys paintings, for further information conact roseandrobin@vistaarts.co.uk

After our talk we set off to the Bigger Trees Near Warter location, which took a few minutes. The sky was marvellous, the trees, now lush with foliage, the house and shed, recognisable. The great thing about visiting the site was to compare the scene with the painting - the changes, the vision, the imagination of the artist and his choices became more startling with the visit.

Of course, visiting the location of a masterpiece isnt necessary or indeed possible in many cases, nor does it necessarily provide a way to become closer to it - yet a visit to Monet's garden at Giverny is still a very popular thing to do, and the scenery of Warter and around is truly amazing - worth a visit for sure.