Exhibition: Memories of farming life

2 March 2024

The 2024 programme of exhibitions at Bowlees Visitor Centre in Teesdale launches on 2 March with a selection of paintings by local artist Mike Attewell, who depicts his memories of upland farming life stretching back to the 1930s, including farmhouse interiors, livestock, and the wild animals and birds he loved to observe.

Mike was born in 1930, and spent time in Hexhamshire as a child, including when his hometown of North Shields was bombed during the second world war.  He trained as an artist at King’s College, Newcastle and had a long career as an art teacher, and for many years worked at Wolsingham Grammar School in Weardale.

The exhibition, ‘Memories of Farming Life’, is based on memories from Mike’s childhood in the years before the age of the tractor when upland farms were not mechanised.  He has always had a great interest wildlife and spent many hours birdwatching in his youth.

Mike’s paintings all come from his imagination and depict a simpler and more sustainable way of life as well as celebrating wildlife in the hills and hedgerows.

Mike said, “We would like visitors to enjoy the paintings of animals and birds, but also to reflect on how things have changed over the years.  How is food produced?  Where does it come from? What impact does agriculture have on wildlife?  Can we find a way to farm sustainably now, without people enduring the poverty and hardship of the past?”

Now aged 93, he lives in Durham City with his wife Rosemary, and continues to have a passion for the natural world.

Simon Wilson, Programme Manager at the North Pennines National Landscape team said, “It is a real privilege to have art exhibited that includes personal memories of such a significant period of change in agriculture. There is a valuable social record in Mike’s work. This exhibition should remind us all that we have witnessed significant declines in wildlife in the last century and challenges us to be champions for nature. The North Pennines National Landscape Team and our partners work with farmers, landowners and partners to conserve and restore biodiversity. Though farming practice has altered, through managing land sustainably, the area remains one of the most important places for nature in England.”

Mike’s pictures are displayed at the centre until 27 March, which is open from 10am to 4pm during the weekends of 3 – 4 March and 9 – 10 March, and open daily from 16 March. For more information visit the North Pennines National Landscape website: https://northpennines.org.uk/bowlees-visitor-centre