AN ILKLEY author is back on home turf following a 'World Tour of Yorkshire' covering more than a thousand miles.

Neil Hanson held a sell-out event at Betty’s cafe in Ilkley as part of this year’s literature festival, with one audience member tweeting it was the highlight of the entire fortnight.

And Ilkley residents have another chance to see him, at the Wheatley Arms in Ben Rhydding on November 13.

"I reckon we’ve covered pretty well every blade of grass in Yorkshire,’ says Neil, "including events at Richmond, Malton, Scarborough, Thirsk, Northallerton, Ripon, Knaresborough, Hawes, Leeds and Wakefield and, of course, one at the highest inn itself.

"But it’s lovely to be coming home to Ilkley for the last one. It should a be a great night and a great way to round off the tour."

Neil’s son, Jack, a regular star in Upstagers productions, is co-hosting the event, and Neil promises an evening with plenty of laughs, a good supper and a few drinks as well.

Neil managed Britain’s highest inn in a remote corner of the Dales in the 1970s and returned as its owner in the mid-1980s, before taking up a career as a professional writer.

Now the author of more than 50 published books and an award-winning after-dinner speaker, his style has earned him comparisons with James Herriot and Gervase Phinn.

His latest book, Pigs Might Fly, tells the humorous tales of that far-off era at the inn.

“It’s a unique place in a spectacular setting and it has always attracted some extraordinary characters,” he added. “They ‘broke the mould’ with a lot of them, and as well as telling the story of my time at the inn, I wanted to write the book as a celebration of them.”

Neil will also be showing the iconic 1985 Everest double-glazing advert, featuring Ted Moult, and telling the hilarious tale of how it came to be made. A recent Channel 4 poll voted it one of the 50 most popular adverts of all time.

The event starts at 7.30pm. Tickets, including a one-course supper and tea or coffee, cost £10 from the Wheatley Arms. Call 01943 816496, e-mail info@wheatleyarms.co.uk or buy them at The Grove Bookshop in Ilkley.

Pigs Might Fly is published by Dale Publishing, priced £9.99 in paperback.