Helmsley School winner in National Park competition

A Guisborough sixth former won a prestigious musical composition contest last night (November 28) at an event celebrating the National Park’s 60th birthday.

And young writers from primary schools in Fylingdales and Helmsley won joint first prizes in a story writing competition.

Music competition winner Richard Bracknall

The National Park asked the budding composers and authors to create pieces of work inspired by the North York Moors.

Local authour Ian Johnson talks about his first novel 'The Witcher Keys'

In the wonderful Lion Inn atop the North York Moors local author Ian Johnson describes the remarkable background to his first novel 'The Witcher Keys'.

Ian, who is also a construction manager, was working on an old house that tenants had repeatedly quit complaining the house made them feel ill. Looking into what the problem might be led Ian to uncover ..... well.... let's let Ian tell the story:

The novel is published by The Book Guild on October 25th and, as Ian says in the film, there will be a launch at the Lion Inn next month. To order the book from Amazon just click the link below:

Call to artists

Arts and crafts people with a love of the North York Moors are being invited to take part in an exhibition celebrating the 60th anniversary of the National Park. ‘Your Place’ runs from 21 July to 19 August at the Inspired by… Gallery, Danby and will feature exhibits from 60 creatives whose work captures the area’s special qualities.

The Inspired by… Gallery was set up five years ago to give local artists an opportunity to promote their work to a wider audience. The Your Place exhibition will build on this ethos by offering 60 artists a chance to hire space at the gallery to raise awareness and sell their artwork throughout the four week run. The gallery is part of The Moors National Park Centre which attracts over 110,000 visitors each year.

The exhibition is part of a range of events to mark the National Park’s anniversary and will follow Inspired Landscape – a showcase of new work by six of the region’s leading contemporary artists Peter Hicks, Len Tabner and William Tillyer, Joe Cornish, Stephen Gillies and Kate Jones which runs from 13 May to 17 July.