A film about Maryport-born miner, rock climber and artist Bill Peascod has been selected for an Australian film festival.
At Home In The Steep Places: The Story of Bill Peascod is one of 11 selected for the Australian Inspirational Film Festival.
Directors Steve Wharton and Perrin Walker said, “Having proved popular with climbers and audiences around the Lake District, it’s exciting to be reaching new audiences who are approaching the film with different interests.
“To be included amongst faith-based and inspirational films shows that our telling of Bill’s story has wide appeal. We hope it has captured some of the spirituality felt by those, such as Bill, who have deep relationships with nature and humanity.”
The film charts Bill’s life from a challenging childhood in the Cumberland coalfields and involvement in the Mines Rescue Teams to his pioneering of new rock-climbing routes in 1940s Buttermere.
He became an abstract landscape painter after emigrating to Australia in 1952 where he developed a distinctive style of ‘burnt’ paintings. After a time in Japan, he returned to Cumbria in 1980 and drew on Japanese influences to paint his beloved fells, which he had resumed climbing with new friends such as Bill Birkett, Sir Chris Bonington and Don Whillans.
Filmed in England, Australia and Japan, the film features interviews with people who knew Bill, climbing and art specialists, rarely seen artworks from private collections and a soundtrack by Cumbrian and Australian musicians, including Mike Willoughby and Dave Camlin.
