ABOUT a month ago I managed to complete the Yorkshire Three Peaks in the not too shabby time of around 11 hours.

The following weekend, my 21 year old son raced round the 25 miles or so in seven hours, and now my brother, just shy of his 60th birthday, has also beaten me, in a time of nine hours and 20 minutes. And not only that, but he did it on one of the hottest days of the year and with the diversion in place to the top of Ingleborough, described by the national park as more difficult and longer than the usual route.

Talk about being deflated. Not sure how I’m going to manage it, but somehow I’m going to have to shave two hours off my time.

WHILE my brother was doing battle with Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, I was not too far away on the just about deserted paths through limestone pavements and rising fells above Settle and Giggleswick.

Stopping for lunch, I was attacked by flying ants. I’m not normally bothered by such things, but these insects as tiny as they were, stung like hell. It felt like they were spitting acid, and all over my neck and arms. Nasty little critters. Thankfully, the antiseptic wash I’ve taken to carrying did the trick and took the burn out.

A LITTLE further on, I reached Stainforth, and the place was packed with families, enjoying the River Ribble. I’d never seen so many people in the water, and it stayed that way for about a mile or so away from the nearest car park. Once I’d walked a couple of miles away, the countryside became deserted again. Interestingly, the Ribble Rivers Trust is currently running a ‘year on the Ribble’ photo project. It started during the lockdown, when people were only allowed out to take daily exercise. The charity cannot have known just how interesting the project will turn out to be, and such an interesting historical source in the years to come.

SOME 10,000 angels took flight at Ripon Cathedral this month – and are now suspended 50 feet above the nave in the ‘A Wing and a Prayer’ installation.

Around 24 volunteers helped raise a huge net - bearing the angels - high above the ancient pillars of the cathedral ahead of the opening of the exhibition at the start of the month. The public response has been incredible, says the cathedral, which welcomed 500 visitors over the first weekend with many posting images and comments on social media. Joan Priestley posted: “It is a really beautiful tribute absolutely stunning well done”, while Debbie Dickinson said: “This is just so beautiful, what a wonderful tribute”, and Margaret Harrison “What a beautiful, powerful, emotional tribute - amazing”, and Christine Ward “This is absolutely beautiful, what a way to remember everyone we lost.”

The project was designed by the cathedral development team during lockdown as a way that Ripon Cathedral could support the local community through the coronavirus pandemic; each angel represents a thank you to key workers or a prayer for a loved one.

Margaret Hammond, development manager said:“We were overwhelmed by the number of volunteers wishing to get involved in the making of the 10,000 origami angels, they ranged from three years to 90 years old. Also 300 school children created and decorated angels, some of which are on display together with the prayers that were sent in online. Our volunteers were so happy to help - not only with the making of the angels, but also when it came to hanging them - we had over 100 volunteers in total”.

The funds raised from the angel installation are helping to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance – on the front line every day - responding to the people of Yorkshire. The money raised will also support the work of the cathedral. Both the YAA and the cathedral saw their income hit during lockdown.

The free exhibition is open every day until September 29 with a special service of thanksgiving on Sunday September 27, to celebrate the feast of St Michael and All Angels.

If you would like to be a part of Ripon Cathedral’s 10,000 angels, visit: riponcathedral.org.uk/pray-for-our-angels/ or visit the cathedral during August and September .

To donate your angel go to: cafdonate.cafonline.org/12976

A TRULY fascinating sale of aviation memorabilia including rare lots of Zeppelin interest is coming up on September 4 at the Tennants’ of Leyburn Militaria and Ethnographica Sale.

The auctioneers describe aviation memorabilia as a ‘niche area of collecting’, but one that inspires dedicated enthusiasts to scour the world for rare pieces of early aeronautical history.

The subject takes in military history, transport history, engineering and represents the extraordinary technical achievements as well as the pioneering spirit, daring and bravery of the aviators of the early 20th century. And, of particular interest will be the pieces of Zeppelin history - including a photograph of the pilot Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson, standing before his biplane, who at the age of 21, became the first airman to shoot down a German airship while flying over Hertfordshire in 1916. The photo is expected to be sold for up to £150.

First developed by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin at the turn of the century, rigid airships or Zeppelins were hailed as the future of air transport.

The German inventor’s first successful design came three years before the Wright Brothers took their first flight – and after improvements a commercial airline was established in 1910.

By the outbreak of the First World War, the airline had flown over 1, 500 fee paying flights. Subsequently adapted for war, Zeppelins became the instruments of the first bombing raids over Britain; killing 500 people they loomed large in the public imagination, including in Craven.

Restrictions after the war temporarily halted the airline, but by the mid-1930s the Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg were operating transatlantic passenger flights; they were both a symbol of modernity and of German might.

The Hindenburg disaster of 1937 combined with political and economical turmoil halted the airship programme. Allied bombing raids destroyed the Zeppelin factory in World War II, and enormous technological advances in aeroplane engineering spelled the end of the age of the Zeppelin.

Many of the Zeppelin related lots in the sale come from a private collection, and include an aluminium exhibition model of the Hindenburg Zeppelin, transport posters and an anti-Zeppelin dart

An illustrated catalogue for the sale will be available at www.tennants.co.uk two weeks prior to the sale.

50YEARS ago on August 21 1970, the Craven Herald reported that British Rail was prepared to dispose of its entire interest in the Skipton- Colne railway line.

It was revealed in a letter from BR read at a meeting of Earby Urban Council. The line had been closed for several months. The letter asked Earby whether it was interested in the purchase of that section of permanent way within its boundaries.

No price was mentioned. It was decided to defer a decision until investigations had taken place into possible use, including access to the Punch Bowl area via the railway line at the junction of School Lane.