THE Yorkshire Dales Access Forum meets in public for the first time at the Dales Countryside Museum, Hawes, onFriday, at 1pm.

The forum advises the national park authority on providing access to the countryside under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, and on improving footpaths and bridleways.

One of its main tasks is to comment on a recently published map, which shows proposed public access land within the national park.

The map is available for inspection at the park authority's offices in Grassington on weekdays, this Saturday, and on Saturday, February 15. The map for the north part of the park is at the Dales Countryside Museum daily and all maps may be viewed at www.countryside.gov.uk/access/mapping