A FLAMBOYANT character on a horse brought back memories when the unidentified man's photograph appeared in the Wharfedale Observer and Ilkley Gazette.

No details survived with the picture which dates back to 1963 - but readers were quick to put a name to a face and to come forward with the fascinating story behind the image.

A number of people identified the man and his horse as William Holt and Trigger - whose adventures together included a mammoth ride to Italy and back.

Liz Powell remembers meeting Mr Holt when he stabled his horse at the Listers Arms Stables in Ilkley during a journey around the Yorkshire Dales.

"I used to ride at the time and that is how I got to know him," she said. "I think he was researching a book."

"He was a flamboyant man and he was lovely and made us laugh at the stables."

Liz, who was 16 or 17 when the photograph was taken, said: "It brought back happy memories of my younger days when I used to ride."

In a strange coincidence she stumbled across Trigger's grave many years later.

"I am a keen walker and a few years ago I was walking with my friend near Todmorden. We were walking through a field in the middle of nowhere when we came across a plaque in memory of Trigger," she said.

The plaque, which bears the message "Journey on Together", describes the horse as "Much loved. Noble and Faithful Companion of William Holt."

Another reader, Sylvia Sutcliffe said: "William Holt came from Todmorden and he was riding around the country selling his latest book. He gave a talk to the Otley Townswomen's Guild.

"He was a very well-known character in Todmorden. He wrote several books including I Haven't Unpacked and The Wizzard of Whirlaw. He rode around the continent as well."

Ken Bellwood said: "The man was author William Holt who chose to ride everywhere whilst researching for his novels. I have in my possession a book titled "The Wizard of Whirlaw" which is inscribed "With best wishes and gratitude for hospitality, From my saddlebag at the Transport Cafe , Ilkley, August 1963. (Signed) William Holt."

The cafe mentioned was in Lower Brook Street and was owned by Mr Bellwood's family.

David Bingham, who lives in Soyland, near Ripponden, said: "I was over at a friend's house and she buys the Ilkley Gazette. I thought I know that man."

He remembers Mr Holt coming to his parents farm when he was a child, and he also remembers that Trigger originally belonged to a rag and bone merchant.

"He was very flamboyant and a fantastic guy," he said. "He rode to Italy, sleeping by the roadside."

William Holt's life was truly the stuff of legend. Born in 1897, the son of a coal merchant, he packed an incredible amount in before his death in 1977.

He worked in a cotton weaving shed at the age of 13 but went on to hold down numerous jobs, including those of stunt man, deck hand, language teacher, editor, and newspaper correspondent during the Spanish Civil War. A Communist who spent nine months in jail for protests against the Means Test, he was also a self taught linguist, artist, author, and a freelance Second World War broadcaster for the BBC.