NOMINATIONS are being invited for the second year of an annual award in memory of an Addingham countryside campaigner.

Ken Willson, who died in 2003, aged 89, spent most of his long and active life working and campaigning for the Yorkshire Dales.

In order to celebrate his lifetime achievement, the Otley-based Yorkshire Dales Society (YDS) and the Craven branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), two of the many organisations with whom Mr Willson was long associated, established an annual award in his name to recognise the achievements of young people in the Yorkshire Dales.

Anyone may nominate a young person in the Dales who they believe merits consideration for the award.

The nominations for the 2006 award will close on March 31, 2006, and the young person concerned should be less than 30 years of age at that date.

He or she should live or work either within the National Park or the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or in an adjacent community such as Wharfedale, and have made an important contribution in one of the following five areas of activity:

l The protection and enhancement of the Dales' natural or built environment.

l The understanding and enjoyment of the landscape, natural history or cultural heritage.

l The cultural life of the Dales through the arts or related cultural activity.

l The local economy including upland farming or forestry.

l The care and social well being of Dales' communities.

It is intended that the award, which in 2006 will be a cash payment of £500, should recognise the added value made by the individual to his or her chosen field of work or voluntary activity, and should also help to support and further the award winner's future career or chosen field of activity.

Anyone wishing to nominate an individual for the 2005 award should request an official form of nomination which can be obtained from the Yorkshire Dales Society, Civic Centre, Cross Green, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 1HD, or telephone (01943) 461938 leaving your name and address. Last year the award was won by two Yorkshire Dales conservation workers.

Nominations should reach the society's office no later than March 31, 2006.

A memorial plaque to Mr Willson has now been placed in the recreation field on Silsden Road, Addingham. The plaque is on the wall near to the Turners Lane gate and next to a chestnut tree planted in Mr Willson's honour.

Before his death Mr Willson was a member of Addingham Civic Society and one of the leading organisers of the village millennium wall hanging in the Memorial Hall.