A FESTIVAL celebrating the life of Walter Morrison, the ‘Grand Old Man of Craven’, is getting under way this weekend.

The Walter Morrison Festival marks a century since the death of the MP, businessman, social reformer and philanthropist, who lived at Malham Tarn House and who loved the Dales landscape.

He paid for Giggleswick School Chapel, fought for primary school education for all children in Britain, and also financed the production of ‘Craven at War’, copies of which were presented to surviving soldiers and relatives who those who died in the First World War.

The festival will include a series of exhibitions, talks, a schools programme and a new walking route. It will kick-off on Friday (May 21)with a free lecture about his life and will be broadcast live from the Memorial Library at Giggleswick School where Mr Morrison was a governor for almost 60 years.

To book for the online lecture by Robin Bundy, Malhamdale Local History Group archivist, visit:https://the-folly.arttickets.org.uk/museum-of-north-craven-life/2021-05-21-walter-morrison-a-man-of-many-parts the-folly.arttickets.org.uk. More talks are planned for the autumn.

From May 22 to September 30, a series of five exhibitions about Mr Morrison will take place at Giggleswick School Chapel, Kirkby Malham Church, Kirkby Malham Parish Hall, Malham Chapel and at Skipton Library. For information on venue opening dates, visit thefolly.org.uk/walter-morrison-festival.