THE writing was already on the wall when a couple went for a walk in the rain around a North Yorkshire landmark.

What teacher Chris Moss had not told his intended, Elizabeth Tennant, was that he had been to the promenade overlooking Richmond's River Swale earlier that day.

She was soon to discover why he had insisted on dragging her out in the wet.

A proposal of marriage was attached to the wall - carefully crafted to match the plaques which highlight features of the ruins of the town's Norman castle.

"Elizabeth could not understand why I was insisting going out before the rain had stopped," said 36-year-old Mr Moss.

But she still said a very definite yes and the couple hope to tie the knot in October, at the church at Easby, just a mile downstream.

Mr Moss, who teaches art at Richmond School, said: "I thought of the idea lying in bed one night. I needed a prop to help me over the nerves of proposing, so I made the plaque out of wood, cardboard and silver paint by copying the others which mark historic places around Richmond."

But, not every heart was melted by the gesture.

Someone who saw the plaque reported it to Richmond Civic Society and the council.

"They traced me because my name was on it and both organisations spoke to me," said Mr Moss. "However, once I had explained, they were fine about it."