Troutbeck is a small village in the hills behind Windermere and Ambleside. Well, this one is, it’s one of the delightful idiosyncracies of English geography that there are two Troutbecks in the Lake District, both on the road from Windermere to the A66, and less than 20 miles apart. The Southern one is a well preserved medieval linear village with 26 listed buildings and most visitors arrive via the main A592 road nearby. The subject of my painting is High Skelghyll, a farm on the steep 3 mile footpath from Ambleside, which I walked on a snowy January day. I wasn’t daft enough to carry painting gear and an easel, and was glad of that each time my boots slipped on the undulating icy track. Instead I took photos, did a quick compositional pencil sketch, then painted the picture at my B & B while the memory of the day was still fresh.