IF EVER there were an exhibition to inspire a road trip around Britain this may well be it.

Masham-based artist and author, Ian Scott Massie, has dedicated his visual art practice to portraying the idiosyncratic drama of some of Britain’s most revered vistas.

He has visited more than 70 locations – Christian sites, areas associated with artists, poets and authors, and place with ancient roots and legendary connections – to produce his illustrated book, Places of Pilgrimage, the exhibition for which is at Masham Gallery until April 24.

The illustrations are a collection of vibrant watercolour paintings and stylised screen-prints, which together form the culmination of two years' work travelling, drawing, painting, printmaking and writing.

The artist states: "In words and paintings, I explore the personality of these sites explaining, for example, what I feel on the spot where Saint Cuthbert's coffin rooted itself to the earth, or the visions conjured up on crossing the sands to Holy Island.”

It’s all too easy to take land for granted, to overlook the scars, man-made mounds and the ruins that tell of a bygone era. However, when one takes stock of one’s surroundings it becomes possible to imagine the drama that once occurred around us which, to a large extent, dictated the rich tapestry that defines who and how we are in Britain today.

On choosing the stop-off points on his expedition, Massie had two lists, one of places visited that resounded with him, the other of recommended “special” places.

Local inclusions, each with their fascinating stories and illustrations, are: a gloriously lit Masham, a mystical and somewhat moody Sheriff Hutton, a gently lit Lastingham, a stony shaded York, delightfully drenched Ribblehead Viaduct, transcendently spiritual looking Whitby and a resplendent Coverdale looking to Great Whernside which the artist regards as "close to paradise”.

Sarah Mayhew Craddock