The adventurer, presenter, explorer, wildlife enthusiast and all-round daredevil, Steve Backshall, attracted a sell-out audience of all ages at the Royal Hall in Harrogate on 19th October.
Steve’s talk encompassed adventures from his new book Expedition: Adventures into Undiscovered Worlds.
Backshall enthralled the audience with tales of narrow escapes and scrapes, and jaw dropping tales of close calls with near death as well as lessons learned from his extraordinary year.
The talk was hosted by Cause UK in association with The Wild Watch. With more than 50% of species in decline across the UK, Nidderdale AONB is currently conducting its biggest wildlife survey with the Wild Watch project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to inform conservation strategies.
The Royal Hall reported the book signing queue broke all records, with hundreds snaking down the corridor as he signed books and met fans for two hours after the talk.
Steve also gave a special presentation to the Wetherby Whalers Explorer Scout Unit, and talked about how being a scout opened his eyes to adventure and nature.
The positivity of the event was testament to Steve as one of the best loved wildlife presenters in the UK.
Steve Backshall said: “Having the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Harrogate offers a brilliant opportunity to get into the wild, climb rocks, canoe, go caving, bird watching, hiking, or star gazing. I hope to enthuse people of all ages to tap into their sense of adventure and awe in our natural world and discover the incredible life-affirming experiences our natural world and landscape offers. The more we engage with the natural world, the more we fall in love with it, the more we care for it.”
Clair Challenor-Chadwick, Director of Cause UK, said: “We were so thrilled to welcome Steve to Harrogate and the response was truly remarkable. We would like to thank the team at the Royal Hall who handled the crowds and event with huge professionalism.”