WE’VE been doing a lot of walks in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty recently, so this book of old photographs is something of a find. The Bowland Scrapbook has been put together by the charity Champion Bowland to celebrate the AONB’s 50th anniversary. A small team of volunteers interviewed dozens of people, and collected photos and newspaper cuttings, to put together the book to celebrate rural life in this beautiful and relatively unchanged area. It is on sale now in village shops and centres, including Settle Tourist Information Centre, for a small donation. Funds raised will be poured back into the AONB.

SOME of the best places to observe the panorama of the cosmos have been revealed by an organisation devoted to finding dark skies. And they are right on Craven’s doorstep. Bowland’s area of outstanding beauty has four such areas pinpointed by the Dark Sky Discovery Partnership managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh. They area Beacon Fell Country Park, Crook O’Lune Picnic Site, Gisburn Forest Hub and Slaidburn Village Car Park- all ideal for observing the Milky Way or other constellations with the naked eye. And leading star-gazing events and workshops is physicist and amateur astronomer Robert Ince who will be working alongside the Bowland area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB). “In the Forest of Bowland you can literally see thousands of stars - it has a real wow factor.” said Robert. “Everyone can enjoy stargazing with a pair of binoculars and some basic information on how to get started, including star maps. During 2016 we’ll be running a series of events at Discovery site locations – during the spring when glittering star clusters and magnificent constellations like Orion grace the sky, and in the autumn when the Milky Way is overhead and meteor showers like the Perseids can put on an amazing show.” To know more, add your name to the mailing list by emailing hetty.byrne@lancashire.gov.uk or keep an eye on updates at the website: forestofbowland.com/Star-Gazing.

HERE’S a great combination: learn about local history and enjoy a pre-Christmas mince pie at the same time. And that is what is being offered by North Craven Heritage Trust on Sunday, December 13. It has organised a conducted visit to Settle Town Hall, followed by mince pies and a talk on Settle’s World War One Conscientious Objectors at the Friends Meeting House. All are invited to take part - just meet at 1.45pm outside Settle Town Hall. For further information, contact John Asher on 01729 825075.

A RETIRED gamekeeper now living in Northamptonshire is asking for help in finding out what happened to an old friend and colleague with connections to Craven. Brian Hulse says he started his career as a gamekeeper with Richard Fowler back in the 1960s, but gradually lost touch. Anyone able to help can write to Mr Hulse at 45 The Grove, Moulton, Northampton. NN3 7UE.

A SKIPTON primary school is offering a signed Burnley FC shirt to the highest bidder. The home shirt, which features signatures from the entire 2015/16 team, including Tom Heaton, George Boyd, and Joey Barton, is being offered up at a blind auction by Parish Church Primary School. Bids can be made at the Brougham Street school’s Christmas bazaar on Saturday between 10am and 11.30am, or before December 4. Bids should be sent in writing to Burnley Shirt Auction, Parish Church School, Brougham Street, Skipton, BD23 2ES or emailed to admin@parish.n-yorks.sch.uk.

THE heavy rains may have made most of us a bit down in the mouth recently, but a Skipton pub found something to fit the bill and raise a smile on Thursday. Trying hard not to let the recurrent issue of the pavement flooding outside The Albion ruffle her feathers, landlady Sera Brook came up with an idea that had passers-by quacking up. Sera said: “As we have a moat outside our pub, we decided to adopt some ducks!” Punters were happy to raise their glasses to their new plastic pals, but it’s unlikely to be a permanent water feature as Sera has contacted North Yorkshire County Council to see waddle they’ll do about the problem puddle. Hopefully their highways department will be able to move them up the pecking order a bit.

THE team at the Morrisons store on Broughton Road, Skipton, are inviting local pensioners to join them for a mince pie and tea or coffee on Tuesday. The store will treat them to free refreshments between 2.30pm and 5pm. Store manager Daniel Quartermain tells me: “We’re very grateful of all our loyal customers and this is just intended to be a very small token to show our appreciation ahead of the Christmas season. We look forward to seeing some very familiar faces.”

SANTA is on track with his Christmas preparations - and, on Sunday, he will get steamed up for the first Santa Special of the season at Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. All trains run from Bolton Abbey station and will not stop at Embsay. Trains will run on both Saturdays and Sundays during the first three weekends in December. Pre-booking is essential.