IN PASTEL paint, pencil and collage the children of officers of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority – aged from a precise 23 months (Ruby Snelson) to 12 years – have answered the question What Does the National Park Mean to You? in unique and idiosyncratic ways.

Sheep, churches, hills, more sheep, Aysgarth Falls, fields and skies are recurring motifs in the exhibition of work at the Yoredale, Bainbridge, home of the authority, often reflecting the interests and occupations of parents whose backyard and workplace is one and the same – half a million acres of some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain.

Though the pictures themselves show no evidence of parental help – not that difficult to spot as a rule – there is certainly parental influence: “Daddy feeding the sheep on Penhill with Castle Bolton in the distance” (it’s actually bang in the foreground) from Eleanor Dinsdale, four, being a perfect example.

Parents’ work at the authority is also reflected. Edie Johnson’s detailed Field Patterns suggests more than a passing interest in dad Miles’s work with field mapping in his role as senior historic environment officer. And siblings Kit and Anne Halliwell’s farming landscapes, teeming with birds and animals, surely reflect mum Hannah Fawcett’s job as wildlife conservation officer.

But the idyllic scenes are punctuated by some unexpected guests also. Six-year-old Ralph Bergs' angry fish proclaims from his pool: "Hey you – get out of my business," while sister Poppy, eight, portrays “Gates for fields to keep the black dragons in.”

Older sister, Rosie’s work is also in evidence. “Even the bugs in the trees are good for the National Park,” she proclaims.

Five-year-old Adam Harland’s Night Sky Over Ribblehead Viaduct is dotted with a myriad contrasting, colourful stars, with the moon hanging eerily over the scene, while Edward Wood, seven, envisages Venus Over Pen Hill in an intricate pencil drawing.

There are Dales churches by Isabella Barker, eight, and Tazmin Bowes, seven (“note the prevalent vernacular architectural style” one parent couldn’t resist adding), and nine-year-old Lilly Coy captures the characteristic black-faced Swaledale sheep in a tiny, but remarkable, detail of her Camping at Muker.

The reception area at Yoredale is used to exhibit the work of a wide range of artists through the year, but in the quiet, post-Christmas period Lesley Knevitt, corporate services officer, herself an exhibiting artist, wanted to give the children chance to shine.

“We liked the idea of asking them that very simple question, of what the park means to them, and they’ve come up with such an amazing variety of work, some of it actually reflecting the sort of work their parents are involved in as officers of the national park. Wildlife conservation, field-mapping, and building preservation” she says.

It's hard to single out examples. Best to see for yourself.

The exhibition is on until early March, is free and can be seen at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Yoredale, Bainbridge, DL8 3EL, Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm.

Betsy Everett