ST Mary’s, Carleton, has pulled off a coup – it is the only North Yorkshire church to play host to a knitted Bible during a two-year tour of the country. On loan from St George’s United Reformed Church in Hartlepool, the Bible consists of 35 hand-knitted scenes, including the Three Wise Men, David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale and the Nativity. A preview evening will be held at St Mary’s tomorrow from 7.30pm to 9pm and tickets costing £5 are available from church. The exhibition will be open from Saturday until Friday and can be viewed between 10am and 4pm (apart from during the 11am Sunday service). Entry is £1 for adults and free for children. And, to give physical nourishment, the Coffee Pot cafe will be open, serving tea, coffee, juice and cake throughout the week. For more information, contact 01756 797899.

SUPERFAST wi-fi has been installed at Grassington Town Hall - and that is good news for rugby fans attending Wharfedale Beer Festival on Saturday. For, I am told, the Rosslyn Park vs Wharfedale Game will be streamed live to the town hall so festival-goers do not miss any of the action. The new wi-fi has five access points throughout the building, giving speeds of up to 40mgb, and has been funded through the Super Connected Cities voucher scheme and a generous donation from Wharfedale Brewery. The town hall hopes that the new facility will increase its chances of attracting corporate users as well as allowing it to stream events such as opera and ballet.

IT might have been unseasonally warm at the weekend, but the Royal Mail is already well into its Christmas operations. Preparations have been going on since April - and some Christmas mail has already started its journey to other parts of the globe, with surface mail now en route to destinations in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Asia, South America, Russia, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Malta and Iceland. Surface mail to the rest of Western Europe should be posted by Tuesday, November 17, to arrive in time for the festive season. David Cunnington, international operations director at Royal Mail, said: “In the modern world, it is easy to forget that mail can still take a long time to reach some destinations by land and sea, especially to the Antarctic. We don’t want anyone to be disappointed if they are waiting for Christmas mail. As always, we urge customers to post early as Royal Mail builds up to its busiest time of year.” Airmail recommended posting dates for around the globe are typically in early December.

VOLUNTEERS with the Craven and Upper Wharfedale branch of the RSPCA will be doing their best to make sure that this year’s ‘salad day’ is a huge success. The event - which will take place on Saturday - will see fundraisers take over Skipton Town Hall for the day. They will man a variety of stalls and raffles as well as serving hot and cold food from the kitchens. And they will be hoping to make up for last year when the event was cancelled due to restoration work at the town hall building. An RSPCA spokesman tells me: “We are hoping to make this year’s event bigger than ever. Being a self funding branch, we rely on such fundraising event and donations - all the money raised will go towards caring for local vulnerable animals in branch care.”

BOLTON Abbey’s popular Mince Pie Bazaar returns later this month. It will take place in the village hall on Saturday, November 21, from noon to 3pm. The format is simple - charities take a table to raise money for their own funds and in return they donate a dozen homemade buns, mince pies or a cake, which are sold to pay for the hall. To book a table, call 01756 710587.

SO Skipton has a parking problem? But the town is not alone. The picture above was taken near Settle by reader Tony Carroll, of Giggleswick.