One of the Western Lake District’s most elusive artists went by the name of Percy Kelly, who was born in 1918 in Workington. Kelly, was a man inspired and captivated by the rugged fells and pikes of the coastline, rather than the more picturesque rolling hills of the inland Lake District. A painter and drawer from an early age, Kelly was born to parents of Irish decent, that made the western Lakes their home. He would wander for miles, exploring the seaside nooks and crannies and later go home to draw what he had seen, with precocious accuracy and precision.
Percy Kelly died in 1993, leaving a gripping collection of work. Remarkably, he never sold even one of his pieces. The panoramic portrayals, of the costal towns of the Lake District, drawn in the 1960s by Kelly, are considered master pieces and Kelly is widely regarded as one of the best artists the Lake’s has ever produced.
Going along the western coast, takes you along Kelly’s travels, seeing what he recounted in his paintings and drawings.
To this day there is a trail marked in his memory, where tourists can recount the journeys he took around the landscape, picking up inspiration for his paintings along the way. Stretching from Whitehaven and past Maryport, it is a beautiful tranquil walk.