AS his first job as Mayor of Skipton, it fell upon Cllr Andy Rankine to carry out the very pleasant task of congratulating fellow councillor, Paul Whitaker, for his outstanding service to Skipton Town Council. In recognition of 30 years continuous service and as an active ward councillor for Skipton North, Cllr Whitaker was presented with an 'outstanding service' badge. He was first elected onto the council in 1987 and served on the council's planning committee - along with Betty Campbell, Gwynn Walters and Audrey Thornton, all sadly no longer with us. Cllr Whitaker has always fought the corner for the town council and has served twice as town mayor and done much to cement the friendships between Skipton's two twin towns. Also a member of Craven District Council, he has forthright views on Skipton's culture, environment and its social aspect.

CHILDREN from Skipton's Greatwood Primary School were taught some valuable lessons about money management thanks to a visit from CAP (Christians Against Poverty) Money Kids. The children were taught about earning, spending and saving money. They also carried out a few different activities including planning a holiday, and all with a set amount of money to spend. It meant they had to decide how they were going to spend their money, but also gain the best holiday to fit their family. A valuable lesson indeed! CAP Money Kids is a national body aimed at primary school children, from nine to 11 years old. Its aim is to set the foundations of good money management to ensure children grow into financially capable adults.

EVERYONE at the Craven Herald was left scratching their heads this week after pictures of distinguished gentlemen in Victorian dress were unveiled behind some old plaster. During redecoration, a chunk of plaster fell off in one of the rooms, unveiling the portraits on an old fire surround. After exhaustive research, and with help from someone on Twitter, we believe we have identified the three as, from left to right, a young Lord Byron, William Shakespeare, and Sir Walter Scott.

IT'S a tempting offer - one of the country's sofa specialists, and number one stockist of La-Z-Boy, is asking people in Craven to send it pictures of their other half in full relax mode. It is on a mission to find the country's Ultimate ‘La-Z-Boy’- and is prepared to give the winner a £1,500 voucher, to put towards one of its La-Z-Boy sofas, as well as Netflix and takeaway vouchers.

Lindsey Duncton, the company's marketing manager, said it was a tongue in cheek campaign aimed at discovering the couch potato in all of us.

So, if you think your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend is the UK’s laziest layabout, - and they won't mind being ridiculed by the nation, submit your entry online at: blog.scs.co.uk/competitions/are-you-the-uks-ultimate-la-z-boy/.

SKIPTON resident Jill Wilson has been awarded the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Outstanding Achievement Award. Mrs Wilson was nominated for her 'continued and committed work to ensure that Craven District Council has a local plan that truly reflects and acknowledges the outstanding area." She is due to be presented with the award by Tom Fyans, National Director of Policy and Campaigns at the annual general Meeting of CPRE North Yorkshire on June 17.

MY walking colleague, out and about near Tosside recently, came across this warning to poachers on the approach to Gisburn Forest - she had never seen one before, and bearing in mind she had her whippet with her at the time, she tells me she remained extra careful for the remainder of her walk.

AND, on the subject of walking, at least two of my colleagues here in the Skipton office have signed up to Cancer Research UK's challenge to walk 10,000 steps every day throughout June to raise money for the charity. Now, 10,000 steps may not sound a lot - but it is actually about five miles, or eight kilometres. That may of course be eminently achievable at the weekend - I recently heard of a very prominent Craven person who managed 27,000 steps by just gardening - but, when several hours a day are spent sitting at a desk, it can get a little tricky. My colleagues are therefore walking up and down the stairs several time throughout the day, parking their cars further and further away from the office, and one day this week, one of them tells me she walked a mile in the opposite direction to her car following an evening meeting of Craven District Council, just to get the steps in. It was either that, or trudge up and down the stairs when she got home. The charity has worked out, by the end of the month, everyone completing the 10,000 steps per day will have walked 150 miles - or the equivalent of London to Manchester. To find out more, visit the website cancerresearchuk.org

Yorkshire Trails, a company that creates trails aimed at getting people out into the great outdoors to learn and be entertained, has decided Yorkshire is not big enough for it. Its been gorilla spotting to create a team building activity in Keswick, delivering a Robin Hood themed spy trail in Nottingham for some visiting French teenagers and even exploring London on a secret mission for some upcoming trails around the capital. "We're even off to France later this month to cast our expert eyes on some trails out there," says its spokesman, before adding, it has been busy looking at the Yorkshire Three Peaks area.