A man described as “the world’s greatest living explorer’ got one of the country’s biggest literature festivals off to a fine start yesterday.

The description of Sir Ranulph Fiennes came from the Guinness Book of World Records and he was in West Yorkshire to talk about his own personal heroes at the start of the Ilkley Literature Festival.

Sir Ranulph, who became oldest Briton to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 2009 and the first person to reach the top of the mountain and cross both polar ice caps, spoke to a packed audience at the King’s Hall, as the first speaker at the festival which runs until Sunday, October 16.

His own heroes include polar survivors and MI5 double agents.

Last night, poet Simon Armitage officially opened the festival and unveiled the words to his Stanza Stones poems, which will be carved into stone across several moors across the Pennine Watershed, including Ilkley Moor.

Other big names due to perform at this year’s festival include Jeremy Paxman, Evan Davis, Alan Hollinghurst, Janet Street-Porter and Mark Radcliffe.

For more details about the festival and ticket information, go to ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk or call the box office on (01943) 816714.