THERE will be a great opportunity to discover the wonders of the night sky in Gargrave on Sunday.

It won’t be outside, however, but in the comfort of Gargrave Village Hall when Skipton Town Hall on Tour brings the the Cosmos Planetarium, below, to Gargrave as part of the Yorkshire Dales Dark Skies Festival.

The Cosmos Planetarium offers people the chance to discover the wonders of the night sky in a state-of-the-art, 360 degrees, immersive multi-media theatre experience.

Tickets, which are £6 each, include a 20 to 30-minute show in the planetarium, followed by the chance to try out a virtual reality headset and take part in ‘cosmic crafts’.

There are three different shows to choose from, ‘Ted’s Space Adventure’, which is best for under fives, ‘We Are Aliens’ and ‘Capcom Go! The Apollo Story.’

Ted’s Space Adventure is showing at 10am, 12noon and 2.30pm. We Are Aliens is showing at 10.30am, 1pm and 3pm. Capcom Go! is on at 11.15am and 1.45pm.

Booking is essential, at: skiptontownhall.digitickets.co.uk, by phone on 01756 792809, or at the Box Office at Skipton Information and Visitor Centre, Coach Street, Skipton.

Skipton Town Hall is currently undergoing a major development and is not due to fully re-open until December.

CRAVEN will see not just one, but two, stages of Tour de Yorkshire this year.

The second stage of the international cycling event will start in Skipton on Friday, May 1, for the ‘Three Peaks’ stage, from Skipton to Leyburn, while cyclists will return to Craven on Sunday for the fourth and final stage, the ‘Yorkshire Classic’ from Halifax to Leeds.

Organisers, Welcome to Yorkshire are calling on anyone - community groups, businesses and landowners, to get into the spirit, and enter its land art and best dressed competitions.

The land art competition recognises the efforts of those who create the giant artworks which line the route each year.

Welcome to Yorkshire says they have become a key feature of the race, end up being beamed all over the world, and have in the past included a winking goose, which ended up winning last year, and a turkey riding a 1970s Raleigh Chopper bike, pictured right. Ingeniously, it was painted onto a field near the Côte de Goose Eye climb, near Laycock.

The best dressed competition meanwhile, honours the communities and individuals that go the extra mile to celebrate the race, and is split into four categories: Best Dressed Village, Best Dressed Town, Best Dressed Host Location and Spirit of Le Tour.

Entries close on Sunday, April 26. Full details at letouryorkshire.com/competitions

Welcome to Yorkshire is urging people to get their entries in early, so it can let television and others know of any stand out entries so they can be picked up by the cameras.

STAYING with Welcome to Yorkshire, the tourism agency has launched its annual White Rose Awards, which aims to celebrate the best tourism businesses in the county.

There are 19 categories open to both Welcome to Yorkshire members, for free, and non-members, who have to pay a fee, with businesses and organisations able to enter multiple awards.

The prize is a coveted White Rose Award trophy which will be presented at a ceremony towards the end of the year. This year’s event will see two brand new awards for ‘casual” and “fine dining” under the banner of Taste of Yorkshire. These will run alongside all the classic awards covering food and drink, the arts, events, accommodation and attractions.

Several Craven businesses have won an award in the past, including The Broughton Hall estate, last year’s winner of the business events venue award, and the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink festival, held in Skipton and current holder of the tourism event of the year. To find out more, visit the website: wra.yorkshire.com/categories.

I AM grateful to reader, Kathleen Norman, who tells me the early flowering blossom on Coach Street, Skipton, pictured above right, which featured on these pages on February 13, and were pictured a week earlier, are a winter flowering variety, called prunus subhirtella autumnalis.

THE animal charity, Yorkshire Cat Rescue in Skipton is on a desperate hunt to find more volunteers, I am told.

If you, or someone you know has a few hours to spare, or wants to learn some new skills and gain experience pop in and ask to speak to the manager of the shop in Craven Court, off the High Street.

Area shops manager, Kathy Maxwell says: “Volunteers are at the heart of the charity, and without them our shops would really struggle. You can do anything from manning the till, to sorting stock and even helping out with window displays. There’s lots of fun to be had and everyone is so welcoming.”

For more information about volunteering, visit the website: yorkshirecatrescue.org/Pages/Category/where-to-find-us, or pop in to the store.

100 YEARS ago, church people from all parts of Craven assembled in Skipton Town Hall to bid welcome to the Lord Bishop of Bradford, Dr Perowne and Mrs Perowne, reported the Craven Herald in early March, 1920. There was no mistaking the sincerity and heartiness of the welcome extended to them, said the Herald. “No matter in what part of the diocese the Bishop may find himself, his Lordship cannot meet with a more cordial, Frank and honest reception that was accorded him in Skipton.”

There was a great desire to co operate with the Bishop in the great work he had undertaken and there was longing that, as a result of the division of the old Ripon diocese, the life of the church in the district should be quickened and a real effort made to fight the fatal spirit of indifference.

ALSO of 100 years ago was a report of an inquest into an elderly woman who was knocked down and killed by a train as she crossed the railway line between Skipton and Colne at Earby.

The woman, of Brook Street, Earby had been with her young grandson at the time, and he too was called on to provide evidence at the inquest. The inquest jury recorded a verdict of accidental death, with the coroner describing the crossing as dangerous and said it was similar to other accidents at the station.

The railway company provided a bridge, but could not compel people to use it, the inquest was told, and in addition, elderly people found it too difficult to use. The jury foreman commented that it was high time things were altered, not only was the crossing dangerous to passengers but it was a great nuisance to traffic.

Last week, I wrote about pinfolds, this appeared in March, 1920: “Ingleton parish Council wrote to settle rural council seeking the necessary powers to create a pinfold following damage caused by roaming animals. On one occasion, four horses caused damage of nearly 20 when they trampled about on an allotment. It was pointed out that powers to erect a pinfold carried with them many other facilities, such as that for selling animals not claimed within a given period, and other clauses which could make cattle and horse owners more careful than they had in the past.