The Romantic North - BBC ONE episode summary

The stunning scenery of the romantic North of England, birthplace of landscape art, has inspired some of Britain's most renowned painters and writers - from JMW Turner, Thomas Girtin and James Ward to Emily Bronte, Wordsworth and Coleridge.

David Dimbleby travels to Lindisfarne, the Lake District, Northumberland and on to Yorkshire for this week's episode of A Picture of Britain.

Our journey includes Lindisfarne - one of the most mysterious and remote places in the country. Joined to the mainland by the narrowest of causeways, twice a day the island is cut off by the tide.

The drama of this landscape has inspired two of Britain's most acclaimed artists at the start of their careers, Thomas Girtin and JMW Turner.

Incredibly, 250 years ago the Lake District was seen as an ugly and inhospitable wilderness. Since then it has inspired some of Britain's most revered artists.

At Grasmere, David learns that Wordsworth spent his most productive years here, composing British treasures such as The Prelude and The Daffodils.

JMW Turner also took inspiration from the natural beauty of the Lake District, composing fine works such as Morning on the Coniston Fells.

Moving on to Yorkshire, David visits Gordale Scar, nature at its most sublime. No artist before James Ward had attempted to contain such vastness on a canvas, but in 1812 the artist succeeded by creating his monumental Gordale Scar (12 foot by 14 foot).

No trip to the romantic North would be complete without a visit to the rugged landscape which inspired Wuthering Heights. Haworth Moor, the setting for Emily Bronte's tragic love story, is David's final stop.