A DAY WITH WENDY LAWRENCE

I have known Wendy for many years but never visited her studio, so on a glorious day in November, I set out from my home in Shropshire on the border with Wales to visit her at home in Denbigh, some 30 miles away. It was one of those gifts of a day where the light was like crystal, and the sun illuminated the landscape in that golden, otherworldly way that only happens in autumn. As I travelled along the road to Llangollen, the trees danced in their beautiful colours, framing the road in a tunnel of dappled light, allowing me to glimpse in snatches, the ruined remains of Dinas Bran Castle, sharply defined against the blue sky on the hill behind the town.

I was mildly irritated when passing through Llangollen itself because, like everywhere it seems at the moment, the traffic was seriously held up by road works. Deciding not to let this spoil my enjoyment of the day, I queued patiently to get through the hold-up, then travelled onward, up toward the Horseshoe pass, passing the ruins of Valle Cruces Abbey on the route, until the vista opened out to reveal the amazing topography of the limestone cliffs leading off to World’s End.

From the top of the pass, the views are far-ranging on a good day, and this was just such a day. The temptation was to stop to savour it for just a few minutes, but the pesky roadworks had slowed me down, so I was already running late, and I knew the rest of the journey would be no less thrilling. On I travelled through the Vale of Clwyd toward Ruthin and beyond to Denbigh, which was, as usual, buzzing with activity; it is a really lively town.

Wendy lives close to the town centre on