Near Hackness, a moonlit scene with pine trees

Grimshaw moved to the spa town of Scarborough in the second half of the 1870s in search of sea air and an antidote to the growing metropolis of Leeds. He rented the romantically named 'Castle by the Sea' from Thomas Jarvis, a patron and local brewer, and arranged to pay his rent by supplying pictures at 10 guineas each. The artist kept a coach and pair, and Hackness, which lies only three miles inland, was easily accessible from Scarborough, as were the Forge Valley and Scalby, other popular settings for his pictures at this time.