A man investigating the unsung heroes of 20th century Aire Valley art has had great success in appealing for relatives to come forward with examples of more work.

Dave Foster began studying a group of painters called the Aireville Group after he stumbled across the talented oil and watercolour paintings of his grandfather in the attic of his family home.

He appealed for family members of other unknown artists in the area to come forward at a talk he gave in Haworth, and had great success.

The granddaughter of Robert Arthur Dawson arrived with examples of his work and that of Charles Frederick Dawson, and the great nephew of TC Butterfield also provided some paintings.

Mr Foster said the paintings were great finds and contributed to his understanding of the 1880-1950 art era - about which he is making a film, book and photographic record.

He said: "It was a great turn out and some of the Dawsons' stuff was really special. I am particularly excited about those paintings, which are, along with the work of my grandfather Walter C Foster, definitely the best paintings to come out of the valley.

"When you look at them they have quite a lot extra. Some musicians have that little bit extra when they play and these paintings have a lot extra when you look at them, they were painters of immense calibre.

"I am interested in those unsung heroes from that era and I am working on the theory that they were deliberately kept out of the loop because they were so good. I don't want their work to get lost to time, which is why I am researching them and making sure they are documented now."

Mr Foster said he would be happy to hold other talks to attract more people coming forward with paintings from that same era.

He can be contacted on (0113) 274 2106. Further details about his upcoming film on the Aireville Group can be viewed at tigershark.tv/ava