Lesson in landscapes and the legacy of Dotheboys (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Lesson in landscapes and the legacy of Dotheboys

3:34pm Friday 26th June 2009

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A TELEVISION series that explores historical places while teaching amateur artists how to improve their painting will feature links between Bowes and Charles Dickens.

Presenter Charles Evans will look at the role the area played in Nicholas Nickleby, notably the fictional Dotheboys Hall and its whip-em-hard headmaster Wackford Squeers.

In one of the ten episodes of Brush Up Your History, produced by the TV company Orion, the presenter will be seen visiting the Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle and Eggleston Gardens, where he speaks to horticulturist Malcolm Hockman.

Mr Evans, of Acklington, in Northumberland, said: “I was stunned to discover how badly boys were treated at a notorious boys’ school in Bowes in the 19th century. Dickens based characters in Nicholas Nickleby on people at the school.”

The presenter is also filmed talking to Teesdale journalist Jim Mc- Taggart about the history of the dale.

The series will be transmitted on Discovery’s Real Time and Travel and Living channels in the UK and Europe from January, and will be repeated until March.

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