LOCAL people could transform the future of a Skipton-based manufacturer, which is in the running to win a national award with a top prize of £30,000 of government support. Principle Healthcare International is calling for online votes to help it clinch the Best Exporter in the UK title against nine other British companies. The Airedale Business Centre-based manufacturer was named Yorkshire and Humber Best Export winner last month in stage one of the GREAT Faces of British Business competition. The international team is now hoping local support and votes will help it bring the national title home when the results are announced on Tuesday, March 3. Managing director Andrew Davies said: “The success of Principle Healthcare International is down to a dedicated team of professionals who excel at creating a manufacturing and an exporting operation that delivers the highest quality products for customer brands, private label contracts, government tenders and our own portfolio of brands. However, it is local votes that will set us apart in this national competition and see us earn the title of Best UK Exporter. We’re calling on local people across Skipton to spend two minutes casting their vote which will help us shine the light of manufacturing success on the Yorkshire Dales.” The winners will be decided by a combination of judging and a public vote. To vote for Principle Healthcare, visit greatbusiness.gov.uk/competition before Monday.

Malham Cove – one of the most famous features of the Yorkshire Dales National Park – now has a new, distinctly Oriental image. The 70 metre (230ft) high, gently curving cliff of white limestone is among seven Yorkshire and 101 British points of interest that have been given a new name by Chinese people in national tourism agency VisitBritain’s new ‘GREAT names for GREAT Britain’ campaign. In China, it is popular to give names to favourite celebrities, places and foods that give a literal description of what Chinese people think about these things. For example, Stonehenge is called Ju Shi Zhen (huge stone clusters) while the Beatles were renamed Pi Tou Shi (gentlemen with long hair). And in the run-up to the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Sheep – it has been announced that the favourite for Malham Cove is “white cliff with water crossed”. Two other names have been put forward - “white cliff reborn in fire” and “vast white cliff spreading miles”. Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority chairman Peter Charlesworth said: “It is fantastic that a feature of the Yorkshire Dales National Park is being looked at and talked about in China. The country has a huge pool of tourists and anything that can tempt them to come here in the future can only be good for our communities.” And Joss Croft, marketing director at VisitBritain, said: “The campaign has given Malham Cove huge exposure across China and the opportunity to create a unique affinity with potential Chinese tourists. We hope its new Mandarin name raises its profile and enables it to compete effectively for the world’s biggest outbound market, which will deliver local growth and jobs across the national park.” Members of an independent judging panel – which includes a leading Chinese journalist, celebrity and language expert – are now sifting through the suggestions before picking the overall winning names next month.

Marie Curie is calling out for volunteers to support the charity and be part of the Great Daffodil Appeal. It is looking for people to give a couple of hours to stand with a collection bucket to raise funds from the local community in exchange for a daffodil pin badge. The Great Daffodil Appeal is Marie Curie’s annual appeal to raise money to care for people with a terminal illness so that they can be in the comfort of their own homes. It hopes to raise more than £43,000 this year, which would equate to over 2,000 Marie Curie nursing hours. Leah Mitchell, local community fundraiser, said: “We have lots of collections in the Craven area so if you or a group of friends can spare a couple of hours to raise vital funds for Marie Curie then we’d love to hear from you.” Collections are due to take place at Skipton’s Tesco store on Friday, February 27, Morrisons over the weekend of March 7 and 8, House of Fraser on Saturday, March 14, and on the streets of the town on Saturday, March 21. Elsewhere, there are collections at Settle Co-op on Saturday, March 7, the town’s Booths store on Friday and Saturday, March 20 and 21, on the streets of Settle on Tuesday, March 24 and Saturday, March 28, and on the streets of Grassington on Saturday, March 28. To sign up, contact Leah on 07538 380909 or email leah.mitchell@mariecurie.org.uk or visit mariecurie.org.uk Three South American alpacas from Kilnsey Park have featured in a new programme about Britain’s historic canals. The alpacas were filmed at Saltaire for Barging Round Britain, an eight-part series looking at the importance of Britain’s canals and presented by John Sergeant. The first episode - screened on Friday - focused on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Britain’s longest canal, which runs through Craven. Jamie Roberts, owner of Kilnsey Park Estate, has a family connection with the Saltaire, as his great great grandfather James once owned Salts Mill. So when the TV producers were looking for someone to tell the story of the mill they got in contact. “We had a lot of fun trying to film the alpacas being sheared with a crowd of people watching. One of the animals wasn’t behaving very well and he spat at the presenter – John Sergeant was a bit shocked but took it very well,” said Jamie. Salts Mill was built in 1853 and was the biggest mill in the world for a time, employing over 3,000 people. Today it is a World Heritage Site attracting tens of thousands of visitors. “People often wonder why we have alpacas in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales, but it makes sense because of the family connection. We named our alpacas Titus, Bertie and Silver after the three main owners of Salts Mill – Titus Salt, my great great grandfather and Jonathan Silver.” The alpacas can be visited at Kilnsey Park seven days a week during the summer season, which runs from March 23 to November. The Dales visitor attraction will also be offering family alpaca walks on weekends during the summer.