STAR Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart has stepped up to support the Yorkshire Be a Hero campaign by producing a video encouraging local folk to sign the organ donation register. The video clip was released to coincide with National Transplant Week. In Yorkshire alone, there are around 800 people still waiting for an organ to save their lives. Sir Patrick, who has links with Upper Wharfedale, said: “I am delighted to be backing this crucial campaign. Anyone can find themselves in a position where they need an organ, so I would encourage everyone in Yorkshire to take two minutes out of their day, sign the organ donor register and Be a Hero. It’s remarkable that one person has the potential to save nine lives. Once you’ve signed up it’s really important that you share your wishes with your loved ones, so they know you’re on the register.” Sir Patrick’s video can be viewed at leedsth.nhs.uk/be-a-hero.

YOU shall go to the ball – or you will if you take up an invitation from Sense Skipton. The group – part of the National Deafblind charity – is holding a charity ball at Skipton’s Rendezvous Hotel on Saturday, October 17, from 7pm. Tickets are £40, which includes a three-course meal and the chance to win some fantastic prizes in an auction and raffle. Tickets are available at the Sense shop at Newmarket Street, Skipton, and also at Sense shops Shipley at Market Square, Shipley, and 1-2 Broadway, Accrington. For more information, call 01756 795448 and ask for Sue or Wendy.

GARGRAVE-born DJ Luke Pompey is continuing to make a name for himself. And local folk will be able to see him in action at this weekend’s Mint Festival. He will form part of the Sunday line-up at the festival, which will take place at Wetherby Racecourse on Saturday and Sunday. Luke first hit the headlines when he got a DJ slot at Ibizan super club Cream Amnesia at just 18, and two years later supported Tiesto when Galaxy FM invited him to play at the Privilege Club. He has played to crowds in excess of 10,000, alongside some of the biggest names in the industry. Now based in Leeds, he has set up his own record Label – Love Not Money Records – and, since launching in late 2011, has signed more than 100 local artists. He also holds a main residency for Leeds’ Prism @ Mint Club, which was recently voted best small British club and one of the best clubs in the world by DJ Mag. For more information, visit mintfestival.co.uk/tickets.html.

ANYONE who has ever lost a set of keys will know just how much relief the visitor to Aireville Park in Skipton felt when his car keys were returned to him. The man had dropped his keys in one of the park’s litter bins by mistake. Fortunately, Craven District Council staff retrieved the keys and were able to return them to him. The man, who lives in Skipton, was so grateful he sent a cheque for £15 to the officers, who donated it to a good cause – the Friends of Aireville Park.

HERE'S some news that sent shivers down my spine. It seems that homes in Craven could be crawling with Britain’s most venomous spiders over the next few months. Experts are warning that this year’s mild weather could help spark a bumper season for the false widow. Pest management consultant Clive Boase tells me: “We’ve had a reasonably warm year with very few cold snaps and no particularly extended periods of either dry or wet weather. That has led to more invertebrates, such as flies, to feed on and means false widows, as well as many other species of spiders, have been able to continue their development throughout the summer. Sightings of spiders often peak from September as males of many species reach adulthood and venture into homes in search of a mate, but we could be seeing a lot more of them than normal over the next month or two.” According to the National History Museum, false widow spiders were introduced to Britain more than 100 years ago, but have significantly increased their foothold in the UK over the past 25 years. Their bite is said to be as painful as a bee sting.

WHATEVER next? Word reaches me that judges at this year’s Harrogate Autumn Flower Show are turning to the very latest in scientific technology to solve a rather large problem. Faced with the sizeable dilemma of how to decisively distinguish one variety of giant tomato from another, show officials have requested special DNA testing to make sure they don’t end up with ketchup on their faces! This year’s giant vegetable competition at Harrogate Flower Show sees the launch of an exclusive new championship for a variety of heavy tomato called Gigantomo. With a £1,000 prize for the winner of the class and a further £5,000 on offer if the heaviest fruit sets a new world record, some growers had expressed concern about the prospect of a ‘ringer’ weighing-in to top the scales. So, in what the show believes could be a first for the world of giant veg, scientists at the Naktuinbouw Variety Testing laboratory in Roelofarendsveen, The Netherlands, will use their highly sensitive Variety Tracer technology to confirm that the successful specimen is true to type. Molecular biologist Hedwich Teunissen, of Naktuinbouw, said: “This has to be one of the most unusual challenges we have received so far!” The flower show gets under way tomorrow and for more information, call 01423 546157 or visit flowershow.org.uk.

THERE is still time for Craven men and women to sign up for September’s Dryathlon – Cancer Research UK’s booze-free fundraising campaign. The initiative invites social drinkers to take a month-long break from alcohol – and either get sponsored or donate the money they would have spent on alcohol to the charity. Nicki Embleton, Cancer Research UK spokesman for Yorkshire, said: “After a summer of boozy holidays and ‘one too many’ at weddings, Dryathlon offers men and women the chance to kick-start the month with a clear head. Even though September has started, there is still time for men and women across Yorkshire to jump on the wagon today and say ‘cheers’ to a booze-free month. By simply swapping their lager for a latte or their wine for water, and donating money, our Dryathletes can help us succeed in our mission to beat cancer sooner.” Dryathlon will return again in January 2016 for those looking for a booze-free start to the New Year. For more information, visit dryathlon.org.

IT was very nearly a far longer walk than planned for one of my colleagues who was out recently researching a new route for the pages of the Craven Herald. Close to the end of the eight-mile walk in the Forest of Bowland, she and her two dogs came up against a rather lovely Victorian iron bridge, built in 1882 by the Blackburn Corporation to carry water and not far from Whitewell. Unfortunately, as lovely as it is, the bridge features a tricky turnstile and metal grating instead of a solid floor – both strange territory for your average dog. Having successfully managed the turnstile, both dogs refused to walk on the grating – their delicate toes falling between the grating, and a clear view of the drop below. Dog one, Jet, being a whippet and ‘whippet thin’ was no issue, and was simply carried to the other side and tied to a tree. But Bo, the English Pointer, pictured, weighing in at more than five stones, was more of a problem, and he wasn’t going anywhere. My colleague, unable to wade through the deep river and unwilling to retrace her steps, had to carry the reluctant and growling hound all the way across. Her back, she tells me, is still recovering. Interestingly, the walk also included a very narrow suspension bridge – but both dogs coped with that okay.