Watching The Salmon Leap; Boroughbridge.

After last week's heavy rain we went to Boroughbridge salmon ladders at the weir. I was painting and Sara was reading. We hadn't been there long when we got chatting to a man and his wife, who spotted salmon fry trying to leap into the salmon ladder (from the bottom left of the picture) whilst we were talking. They were only about two-three inches long, but they kept popping out of the water every few seconds. This was magical enough, but as I started painting, I spotted lots of adult salmon trying to leap the weir in the main part of the river. These were up to 2.5-3 feet long. It was absolutely fantastic, and something that I hadn't thought I would ever see.

The painting was (deliberately) tricky. I didn't pay much attention to the houses at the back - I was more interested in seeing if I could capture something of the churning river, which was running fast and heavily coloured (by peat from the moors?). Anyway, the highlight has to be the salmon!

Salmon Ladders, Boroughbridge. Oil Sketch.