IT is reassuring to hear that potentially life-saving equipment has been fitted in both Yorkshire Air Ambulance aircraft. The rapid response emergency service now carries a portable Zoll Autopulse, an automated, battery-powered chest compressor. The equipment provides chest compressions to patients who are in cardiac arrest and will help trauma paramedics carrying out on-the-scene CPR. In its first week the Autopulse was used three times by crews. Pete Vallance, Yorkshire Air Ambulance clinical operations manager, said: “By using the Autopulse paramedics and doctors can reduce the impact of fatigue from doing CPR. It also frees them up to provide other treatments such as ventilations, administering medication or carrying out defibrillation whilst chest compressions continue.” Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) provides a service to five million people across Yorkshire from its airbases at RAF Topcliffe, near Thirsk, and Nostell Priory, near Wakefield. The independent charity has to raise £12,000 every day to keep its two aircraft flying and has so far flown over 6,200 people to major trauma centres across the county.

JUDGES at Kettlewell and District Horticultural Show won’t be looking for only the finest examples of people’s creative skills at its show next Sunday, August 30, but will be on the prowl to find the most “disastrous” entries. A special class has been set up to accept anything from any category in the show that went wrong. The show’s Elizabeth Sowden tells me: “Judges will be looking for the weirdest and most strange looking vegetables, plants and flowers and baking and crafts that have flopped.” The show is also inviting visitors to the village, popular with tourists, to have a go in the open classes. This year’s junket is also a special time for Rose Wright, who is retiring from the committee after 60 years. The show will be held in Kettlewell Village Hall between 1.30pm and 4pm and entries will be accepted at the village hall next Saturday, August 29, from 11am to 4pm or on the show day between 9am to 9.30am. The categories are flowers, vegetables, fruit, eggs, pot plants, photography, bakery, preserves, drinks, art, handicrafts and a children’s section. Prizes will be presented at about 4pm.

FOR all of those gripped by the television series, Who Do You Think You Are?, help is at hand at a number of Craven libraries. Ancestry internet sessions will be held at libraries in Skipton, Settle, Bentham, Ingleton, Cross Hills and Grassington. They are aimed at helping people research their family history, but experience in computers is essential and the cost is £2 per person. Library staff will be on hand to guide people around premier genealogy sites, Ancestry.com, and Find My Past, both accessible free in all North Yorkshire libraries. Sessions will run at Skipton Library on Tuesday, September 8, from 10am to midday; Settle on September 10, from 10am to midday; Bentham on September 11, from 10am to midday; Ingleton on September 11, from 2pm to 4pm; Cross Hills on September 16, from 1pm to 3pm, and Grassington, on September 18, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm. For more information, contact the library on 01609 534104.

MANY of us will have developed stiff necks last week in an attempt to catch some of the much-anticipated Perseid meteor shower. A colleague tells me she was hopeful of a very good view from her very rural location with no real light pollution. After seeing a couple of shooting stars, she gave up and took herself to bed, leaving her teenage son stretched out on a blanket on the lawn. In the early hours of the morning, she was woken up by the Pointer whimpering at the front door, in a desperate attempt to join his young master on the lawn. He was quickly dispatched into the garden where the pair of them remained until dusk. How’s that for dedication?

THE introduction of card-only ticket machines in Skipton’s Coach Street car park seem to be causing much consternation, particularly among more mature motorists. Instead of inserting coins in the machines, drivers have to pay using either a credit or debit card. But, on a short visit to the car park on Friday, there were several motorists wandering around looking lost and had to be given a quick lesson by more savvy visitors, not fazed by new technology. The only cash machine is at the entrance of the car park – a good distance away from where most people park. I have to say the card machines are not user-friendly and I wonder how many visitors have just given up and driven off to a more welcoming place.

PUTTING black pepper on one’s strawberries does strike as a tad ‘precocious’, but surprisingly, it is quite delicious. So, the fact that someone has come up with it as an ice cream is no surprise. Leeds-based Northern Bloc ice cream is now stocking Keelham Farm Shop in Skipton, and at the weekend turned up with its 1970s ice cream van to launch its product. Its out-of-the-ordinary flavours also include chocolate and sea salt, white chocolate and popcorn, and bourbon vanilla. Keelham owner Victoria Robertshaw, who runs the business with her brother, James Robertshaw, says: “Sourcing locally is really important to us and we carefully hand-pick the Yorkshire suppliers that stock our shelves. We’re excited to introduce Northern Bloc ice creams to our shops in both Thornton and Skipton. It’s truly tasty. We’ve tried and tested every flavour and the Chocolate and Sea Salt ice cream is a particular favourite.”

YOUNG farmer Laura Robinson, pictured, took the supreme champion rosette in the sheep section with her Continental ram at the annual Rathmell Young Farmers show. Despite it being a rainy day, there was a good crowd of exhibitors and visitors to the event, which was being held for the 71st time.

WITH the football season now up and running TV Licensing is reminding pubs and clubs across Craven to make sure they are correctly covered by a TV licence. Any pub, club or sporting venue which shows live television must have a valid TV licence. Pubs without a valid licence are breaking the law and run the risk of a court prosecution and fine of up to £1,000 plus costs. Matthew Thompson, TV Licensing spokesman for the North, said: “With around 73 pubs within 10 miles of the centre of Craven, many fans will be watching matches in the pub, soaking up the atmosphere whilst following all the twist and turns of what is sure to be an exciting season. It’s important pubs and clubs are correctly licensed and we know landlords and managers want to stay within the law, which is why we are issuing this advice at the start of the 2015-16 Premiership Season.” And Martin Caffrey, operations director for the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Association, tells me: “I would like to encourage landlords and licensees, as well as bar and club managers, to make sure they are up to date with their TV Licensing requirements for what promises to be a busy season of footballing action. Showing live sport is a massive draw for millions of pub-goers so I’d urge those in charge of buying the TV licence to check the bar is correctly licensed while they have the time.” For more information, call 0300 790 6131 or visit tvlicensing.co.uk/businesses