A HISTORIC collection of photographs showing life in the Yorkshire Dales 50 years ago – the year the Dales National Park was founded – it to have a celebrity opening next week.

Actor Brian Blessed, a keen walker who is President of the Council for National Parks, will attend the opening ceremony at the Dales Countryside Museum, Hawes, at 11am on May 12, along with well known local writer David Joy and park chairman Steve Macaré.

The exhibition is called “I love 1954, I love 2004” and it will show just how much Dales life has changed in some areas – but remained very much the same in others.