My flat is lovely, but it does have quite thin walls, and unfortunately for my neighbours, I am the…read morekind of girl that sings. Constantly. I suspect I might even sing in my sleep. Luckily for the poor blighted denizens of my building, I found Damian Oxborough. His website was professional and promising, and his musical pedigree undeniable (a multi-instrumentalist with a Music degree, first class honours). And while I was hesitant at first about trusting my tres tres girly mezzo-soprano "weeblyweeeeeeeeeeee" to a male teacher, I decided to go for it - after all, first lesson free, so how could I refuse? And... bingo. Straight away he was picking me up on aspects of my technique and making a huge difference to my voice. My range has improved, my tone is cleaner, and it basically just feels as joyful as singing should. I'm also learning a huge amount about musical theory, and even working on my sight-singing. Damian's manner is warm, humorous and engaging, and he's fantastic with all ages. I've sat and heard the tail-end of others' lessons when I've arrived slightly early for my own; from guitar with a mature gentleman to piano with a young girl, he knows exactly how to get the best out of everyone, challenging his pupils and yet encouraging them at every step. The perfect teacher.

If only this were annual instead of biennial! Every odd-numbered year, puppets of the world descend…read moreon the little town of Skipton, and it's absolutely worth the journey around the globe. With the programme growing every time in proportion to the festival's reputation, there really is something for everyone - even (and perhaps especially) for people who profess to dislike puppetry. There's such a huge range of artistry and style that it's my personal opinion that not liking puppets is like not liking food; what - ALL food? ALL puppets? That's why this festival is so important: it introduces people to puppetry as an art form, as something beyond seaside Punch & Judy. There are shows for children, shows for all ages, shows you wouldn't dream of taking children to, shadow puppets, glove puppets, rod puppets, foot puppets, hand puppets, puppets that aren't even puppets until someone picks them up and moves them in a certain way... Every single show this year was a total sell-out, but the free side shows and walkabouts in the hub area at the canal basin are worth a look even if you can't get to a show. A real highlight of the weekend is the giant puppet parade. Anyone is welcome to create a puppet at one the workshops before the festival, and the whole community and all the visiting performers march down the High Street, all colours and ribbons and extraordinary movements. The time of year also means that, for the last two festivals, everything has taken place in bright, warm sunshine. There could perhaps be more happening in the hub area once the sun sets - unless you're in the beer tent or one of the marquee venues, you could be forgiven for thinking everything had finished for the day. Some live outdoor music and a couple of after-dark walkabouts would just top everything off perfectly. They're constantly striving to improve on an already majestic weekend, with feedback and suggestion forms handed out to anyone who will take them, so I can't wait to see what they'll accomplish on the back of this year's success. Again, if only this were every year. If only it lasted for longer than a weekend. The organisers manage to pull together a world-class programme every time; roll on 2015, I say!

Very lovely presentation of local history and geology. Lots of details if that's your interest…read morewith the interactive displays or get a good overview if you prefer that. Really enjoyed seeing the Shakespeare First Folio and the story of how this book came to be in the museum. Many of the original artifacts from the 1800's and 1900's are in good condition and conveniently displayed. Well worth the visit.

As a historic castle and market town on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, Skipton's a popular…read moretourist spot. When you grow up there, though, and spend your teenage years just weaving around slow-moving coach parties, it's easy to forget that the area holds so much in the way of interest - and hippos. That's where the Craven Museum plays such an important role. The museum is essentially just one sizeable room. Visitors start at the prehistoric Leeds hippo skull (no, really) and move forward in time by - appropriately - going around the room clockwise. As you'd expect, many of the artefacts on display are industrial and agricultural, but the museum's crowning exhibit sits in the middle of the Early Modern period in a special booth all of its own: a genuine original First Folio of Shakespeare's plays. True to my name, I am something of a fawning fan of the Bard's, and I've come here more than once simply to stand in something approaching awed reverence in front of the tome. There are some informative notices explaining its journey of ownership, ending with its donation to the museum, and it's worth visiting just for the Folio. But there are other highlights on display, too, such as some beautiful dresses and an old lead ingot engine. Someone has designed some neat little activities for kids, as well. There's a colouring table and a play-archaeology dig, and at the moment they're running a crowd-sourcing project to identify a mystery artefact found in the area. It's something a little like a five-pronged shoe-horn and there are some great ideas from children on the Post-It note suggestions. You'd struggle to entertain a class-load of children here for long on a school trip, as much for the reason of limited space as anything else, but if you've got a small family then it should keep the young ones entertained for a little while. It could stand to be more interactive, but given the size of the place and the fact that it's entirely volunteer-run, it's an amazing and fascinating addition to the town and to the area as a whole.

Skipton beer festival is held in the hall of a local school. It's quite a small festival which is…read morequite different to the ones i'm used to. Most of the festivals in Manchester arequite large and filled with hipsters, this is mostly full of old men and a few families. This is what people who don't go to beer festivals think all beer festivals are like. That being said, i quite like Skipton beer festival. There is a variety of good beer on offer, my personal favourite this year was a milk stout which I never thought I would say... There was a selection of food on offer including pork pies, meat and potato pie, a cheese and onion pie (if memory serves me right...) bacon and sausage sandwiches, burgers, beef chilli and veg chilli. I opted for the meat and potato pie then some beef chilli a few pints later. Both were tasty enough and came in the right size portion for a beer festival (enough to keep you going without stuffing you beyond capacity to drink more beer). I tasted the veg chilli which really was quite tasty. Some of the other food (the sandwiches and burgers) looked less appealing to me. The reason why i'm giving it 4 stars is because there is no music and not enough seating. These issues plus small nature of the festival and it being so close to the lovely centre of Skipton means it's likely you'll get bored a little quicker than you would at other beer festivals and move onto other things. Not that getting to visit Bizzie Lizzie's is a bad thing... p.s the prizes in the raffle are sh#t but not as hilariously so as Saltaire beer festival...go one way or the other!

A great little beer festival in the lovely town of Skipton. It's set in a school hall which is…read moregreat because you feel quite rebellious for boozing at school. Both years I've been there's been plenty of nice beers on, decent food, and a great atmosphere. This year there were a few beers dedicated to a local CAMRA member who had passed away, which I thought was lovely. Losing a star because: - No music whatsoever. My ideal beer festival music would be a brass band that do covers of pop songs (eg 'Don't You Want Me' by the Human League). - There's some ridiculous rules around which chairs are allowed into the hall. I don't quite understand it and I think it's been put in place by the school not the festival organisers but still it was truly ridiculous. I went to ask for a chair so my dad could sit down and was told there was none, while I was standing a few feet away from maybe 100 chairs all stacked up. But apparently only the black chairs were allowed in the hall. Those chairs were orange...! In defence of the festival staff, one guy went on a mission to get a chair, brought it to my dad and then spent some time chatting to him about the best pubs in Skipton. So that made it somewhat better

Graham did my wedding at the weekend . He was fantastic ,…read moreturned up and set up early , played all the songs I'd requested plus more . We chose quiet a specific music list with a massive variation in music and left some choices up to him, he absolutely nailed it . He's so laid back and also took any requests and found the music for us and played it on the spot. He's a nice guy too and his prices are great ! Would 100% recommend