THE royal connection between a former king of England and the region has been explored in a new guidebook.

Richard III's North has been published by the Northern Dales Richard III Group, based in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

The group, which has about 25 members, was established in 2013 following the discovery of Richard III’s remains in a carpark in Leicester.

One of the founding members, Kim Harding, who also edited the book, said members regularly enjoy meetings, trips and talks on a range of subjects connected with the monarch and medieval period but really wanted to publish a book to make people aware of how well he enjoyed being in the region.

And after two years of research, the group have finally been able to publish the full-colour guide, along with a map, which features 60 different locations from Hexham to Skipton and Carlisle to Scarborough.

It has about a dozen places of interest within 15 miles of Barnard Castle alone, a town which Mrs Harding said was really important to the monarch and still contains his boar emblem in the town’s coat of arms.

“There are over 60 locations with many based here in Barnard Castle but we wanted it to be a book for anybody visiting the North,” Mrs Harding said. “It all happened very quickly at the end but it has taken a long time to get all the information together.”

The book also has a foreword by Phillipa Langley MBE, who grew up in Darlington and led the search for Richard’s remains. It is dedicated to the late Beverley Holland, who founded the group with Mrs Harding but passed away in 2014.

Mrs Harding, who began researching the monarch when she was a teenager, said many people did not necessarily know how strong Richard’s connections were with County Durham and the book contained fascinating links to both him and his supporters.

Fellow founding member, Keith Miles, said: “There are strong links with Raby Castle, near Staindrop, as Richard’s mum was born there and his grandfather is buried in Staindrop so there’s a very strong connection with South Durham.”

He added: “Not many people will know that there’s five stone boar heads in Barnard Castle – there’s more evidence of Richard living in Barnard Castle than anywhere else in England.”

The book costs £6 and can be bought by visiting ndriiig.org.uk or at the group’s next meeting at 7pm on Wednesday, November 15, at St Mary’s Parish Hall in Barnard Castle.