Cumbria’s High Sheriff David Beeby paid a visit to the ALATI Brush and Lens Exhibition in Alston’s historic parish church on Saturday September 11 and saw for himself the quality of landscape art and photography practised on Alston Moor.

David is chair of the Cumbria Community Foundation which made a £1,000 award to the Alston Landscape Art Town Initiative (ALATI) for this exhibition and the forthcoming Christmas competition and exhibition.

David said: "It is fantastic to see such a range of artistic work on display at a community building.

"It is great to meet the artists themselves and to hear the stories behind the art."

The exhibition features images of Alston Moor by artists and photographers including Lionel Playford, Gilllie Cawthorne, Helen Johnson, Helen Wilkinson, Mike Knowles, Gordon Monk and Brian Davies.

It has been running from September 4 and its final day will be tomorrow, Saturday September 25, at St Augustine-of-Canterbury’s Church in Alston.

ALATI Chair, Kathy Reeds, said: "More than 250 people have visited the exhibition in its first week.

"Their comments have been very positive and they are clearly delighted to see how the photographers and artists are depicted this wonderful part of the country."

This year’s exhibition has attracted back an artist well-known in the area in the 1990s.

Bob Armstrong now lives in Lincolnshire, but still features the Pennine landscape in his work.

He said: “In the 1990s I lived in the North Pennines for several years and the experience of living in such spectacular scenery has shaped my approach to painting ever since."