ACTOR Brian Blessed will launch a photographic exhibition in the Dales next week to help celebrate the national park's 50th anniversary.

I Love 1954, I Love 2004 opens at the Dales Countryside Museum, in Hawes, at 11am on Wednesday. Mr Blessed is president of the Council for National Parks.

The exhibition also coincides with the launch of a book, edited by local author David Joy.

The Yorkshire Dales: A 50th Anniversary Celebration of the National Park, features 144 pages of poems and photographs, as well as passages by celebrities including David Hockney, Alan Titchmarsh, David Bellamy and Harold "Dickie" Bird, describing their favourite aspects of the Dales.

The I Love 1954, I Love 2004 exhibition runs until June 14. Admission is free.