FORMER curator of the Museum of Dartmoor Life in Okehampton Alan Endacott has put years of collecting information to good use by publishing his first book.

Mr Endacott, who left the museum in 1981 and is now area manager for English Heritage in Devon and Cornwall, has spent three years putting together ?Tales of Old Ockington? ? a 2,000-year history of Okehampton and the Dartmoor community.

?It?s something I have been meaning to do for years because in my day to day job as curator of the museum I picked up a lot of information from research, the archives and talking to the older generations in the district,? said the Throwleigh-born writer.

?I met so many interesting people with fantastic stories to tell and it is their stories which really make the book.

?Having accumulated all this information through the job I felt I had a responsibility to put it down on paper so everyone could have access to it.?

Mr Endacott hopes Tales of Old Ockington, which is what Okehampton used to be know as, will appeal to a broad range of people.

?The last full history of Okehampton was published in 1930 although there has been various books written since then on different periods of history,? he added.

?Not many towns have such a broad history as Okehampton and every aspect is covered somewhere in the town.?

Mr Endacott will be signing copies of his book at the Museum of Dartmoor Life tomorrow (Friday) from 4pm to 9pm and he would be delighted to see some old friends.