See the light... Tourism trail to mark Turner's love affair with Yorkshire

HE MAY not have realised it at the time, but Joseph Mallord William Turner's trips to capture the beauty of Yorkshire in art helped to pave the way for generations of tourists to admire the stunning landscapes.

The artist who was born in Covent Garden, London, and went on to become one of Britain's most respected talents of the last 200 years had a long-term love affair with Yorkshire after he first made a visit in 1797 at the age of just 22.

During his trips to the region, Turner was inspired to produce more than 800 sketches and paintings of some of Yorkshire's most iconic countryside and landmarks.

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And a region-wide trail dedicated to Turner has now been drawn up, which takes in 70 locations from South Yorkshire to the northern fringes of the Yorkshire Dales to give tourists the chance to follow in the artist's footsteps.

The list of locations, which includes Rotherham Minster, Beeston Hill in Leeds and Sutton Bank near Thirsk, has focused on some of the less well-known locations that Turner visited. It does, however, centre largely on the Dales, which provided much of the inspiration for the artist's famous tour of Yorkshire on horseback in 1816.

The North of England's leading expert on Turner, Professor David Hill, has helped to compile the list of locations following nine months of research for the 50,000 project which has been overseen by the regional tourism organisation, Welcome to Yorkshire.

Prof Hill, who is a professor of art history at Leeds University, said: "You can argue that Yorkshire was Turner's favourite landscape, which is a grand claim as he was one of the most-travelled artists of his generation.

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"He was the first artist to popularise Yorkshire and helped attract visitors to the region to see some of the landscapes and buildings that he captured in his art.

"In many ways, he was there at the start of the tourism industry in Yorkshire, and it is wonderful to think that he is still proving to be an inspiration to bring in visitors 200 years on."

The Turner Trail, which has been funded with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, will see benches placed at many of the sites to give visitors the chance to sit and take in the views which inspired the artist.

Interpretation boards next to the benches will provide information about Turner and the artwork for that view.

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The new trail was launched yesterday at Bolton Castle, near Leyburn in Wensleydale, which was a major subject for Turner on his tour of 1816 when collecting sketches for a series of watercolours to illustrate a book called A General History of the County of York.

Artist Ashley Jackson, 69, from Holmfirth, is a lifelong fan of Turner and was at the launch yesterday to create a painting of Bolton Castle.

He said: "I have always said that Yorkshire is my mistress and Turner is my master. I wanted to do with the brush what the Bronts did with the pen, and Turner has been my inspiration."

The Turner Trail aims to boost Yorkshire's tourism industry, which employs 250,000 people and is worth 6.5bn a year but Welcome to Yorkshire's chief executive, Gary Verity, maintained that the latest marketing drive was not aimed solely at art lovers.

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He said: "Yorkshire inspired Turner 200 years ago, and we hope the new trail will inspire a new generation of visitors.

"You can take inspiration from the artwork or you can simply take in a wonderful view at the different locations. It really is giving people the chance to appreciate not just Turner's artwork, but what Yorkshire has to offer as well."

Full details of the Turner Trail are available at www.yorkshire.com/turner