One day a few years back, a little wooden door appeared overnight in an old tree near York.
That mysterious moment has now inspired a magical new children’s book, co-authored by a very familiar face in the city.
In his day job as communications and evaluation manager at York Museums Trust, Lee Clark gets word out about the remarkable events at places like the Castle Museum and Art Gallery.
But in his spare time he has penned The Elves of the Wild White Wolds, beautifully illustrated by his brother Neil.
Caught the imagination
The brothers were brought up in the Yorkshire Wolds. And it was the transformation of an old tree near Garrowby Hill that prompted Lee to turn author.
The Elves of the Wild White Wolds is published by Lee and Neil Clark
On sale at Brew and Brownie on Museum Street, York
£6
“I loved how this little door appeared in a tree overnight and really caught the imagination of people,” he said.
Word of its appearance slowly spread, with children often leaving gifts for the inhabitants.
“It is placed in a spot which has always had a magical quality to it and it inspired me to have a think about a story which would explain how it got there.”
Dudley and Dot
The Elves of the Wild White Wolds tells the enchanting story of mischievous Christmas Elves, Dudley and Dot, who live at the North Pole and dream of seeing the world.
One Christmas Eve they sneak onto Father Christmas’ sleigh, but their secret adventure doesn’t turn out quite as they planned…
Lee worked up the story before collaborating with Neil, a professional illustrator, who created all the pictures and designed the book.
It is the perfect present for anyone in your life aged four to six – or of any age who just loves Christmas.
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