On the weekend, I visited Melincourt Falls in the Neath Valley, gathering reference photos for a painting. 

This waterfall is 25m high and surrounded by an ancient oak woodland. Large ferns grow in the damp mist from the Waterfall. In the Spring, there is a carpet of bluebells. 

Melincourt is rich in history; being an artist, it was inspirational to find out that in 1795 a young Joseph Mallord William Turner visited the Waterfall.

Below is a photo of his watercolour sketch. At the time, he was preparing his first oil exhibition and was studying the rendering of water.  

Questions

I wondered how much the waterfall had changed over the last 222 years.

I wonder how he learned about the waterfall and how he made his journey there with his bag full of art supplies.

Was it on a horse, was he on his own, or did he travel with other artistic friends?  

I plan to return in the spring with my sketchbook and some paints when the Bluebells are out on the forest floor.

 

 

(Photo Jan 2017 Melincourt Falls)

 

 

 

(Turners watercolour study from his South Wales sketchbook part of the Tate Gallery London. )