YP Letters: Heartbeat writer has left a lasting legacy on the Moors

I was sorry to learn from your newspaper (The Yorkshire Post, April 25), of the death in a York hospice of the much-talented Peter Walker, the policeman, writer, and in his teenage years, cycle tourist.

I first met Peter when from the age of 14 I joined the Redcar section of the Cyclists’ Touring Club. Peter as a cyclist, born as he was in the village of Glaisdale in the heart of the North York Moors, knew all the wonderful lanes and tracks that had become so familiar to him and us young, and not so young, cyclists, drew on his extensive knowledge of the National Park.

Then we didn’t have to find the traffic-free roads and lanes to enjoy a day on two wheels – there wasn’t any!

After his days as a policeman and during the years that he became known as a very successful writer, under the pen name of Nicholas Rhea, the inventor of the wonderful Heartbeat TV series, I met him several times when I was cycling by his home in Ampleforth.

There was always a cup of tea available and if the weather was fine we would sit out in his back garden on a seat that had been on the old railway line that was just one of many branch lines axed by Dr Beeching.

Little did I know then that many years later my son Neil would get a part in an episode of Heartbeat called Take Three Girls. Peter came out to see the day’s filming for just a short time and Neil and I thanked him for his enormous contribution to promoting the Moors and the nearby seaside, as depicted in the books he wrote and on which the Heartbeat series was based. Today this results in many thousands of visitors enjoying the Moors and especially the North York Moors Railway.

He did so much to improve the economy of this part of the North York Moors and his outstanding impact on this once forgotten landscape cannot be overstated.

My sincere condolences to his wife and family at this sad time, as his legacy lives on with regular episodes of Heartbeat being shown on ITV3 and the North Yorkshire stage of the Tour de Yorkshire taking place last Friday.

From: Mrs EH Bell, Driffield.

I COULDN’T possibly agree more with J Robinson of Kirkbymoorside regarding All Round to Mrs Brown’s. I watched a snippet of the programme just once, out of curiosity. It literally made me squirm and I also feel quite ashamed to realise such utter rubbish is acceptable for entertainment.