CRAVEN Museum and Gallery is putting together an exhibition celebrating 200 years of the Leeds Liverpool Canal – and wants residents to be involved.

The museum is calling for anyone with stories, photographs or interesting canal-related objects, to come forward and contribute to the exhibition, which opens next Friday, April 29.

Martin Wills, museum manager, said: “We’re putting together a fascinating exhibition featuring film, photographs, oral history tapes, stories and other items relating to this iconic waterway.

“The canal opened fully in 1816 and was hugely important, providing Skipton with a new supply of water which was crucial for industry, supporting many new mills. It was also used to transport goods including food, clothing and building materials.

“In recent years, of course, the canal has been more crucial in terms of leisure and tourism, attracting many visitors to the town with its picturesque walks, boat trips and wildlife.

“I’m sure people have many happy memories of living, holidaying and working alongside this beautiful canal and we’d love them to share these with us for this exhibition. Are you, or have you ever been a gongoozler? If you don’t know what that means, come along to the exhibition and find out!”

Pennine Cruisers, the boating company which has been based in Skipton for around 50 years, has contributed some interesting items to the exhibition.

These include a number of objects featuring Roses and Castles designs, the colourful canal folk art that was used to decorate working narrowboats in the 19th century.

Leanne Kendall, from Pennine Cruisers, said: “A lot of boaters still do this painting as a hobby; it’s all done by hand. It takes a lot of patience but it looks amazing.”

The company has also donated some model boats, including a model Ferret, a historic canal boat built 90 years ago by Yarwoods at Northwich, Cheshire. The Ferret was the subject of a campaign, backed by Hairy Biker Dave Myers, to raise money to conserve the boat.

Anyone with photographs, objects, stories or memories of the canal is asked to contact museum@cravendc.gov.uk or call 01756 706407.