THERE was quite a coup for Skipton on Saturday as it ranked right up there with Salzburg, Vienna, Prague and York as a venue for a concert by the Australian Children's Choir.

The choir, whose patron is the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, was held at Holy Trinity and the children were given a civic reception.

While Skipton might have been impressed with the Australian children, they, in turn, were certainly impressed by Skipton, as visitors to their website will find.

One chorister wants Skipton mayor, Paul English, to be mayor of Melbourne in Oz!

They loved his speech in which he told them he was probably the youngest ever Skipton mayor and certainly the first with two earrings. They were also impressed that one of the town councillors, Ken Creek, is an Aussie who hails from Victoria.

Arriving in the dark, they saw little of the town before visiting "fabulous" Holy Trinity Church for a quick rehearsal before their joint evening concert with Keighley Vocal Union.

"What we did see, however, was the extent of their hospitality and it was boundless. There is something about the welcome we received from both the choir and the town of Skipton that made us feel like we were coming home to friends," said the tour website compiler.

The Australian choir was presented with a framed watercolour of Skipton's famous canal - and a copy of the Craven Herald with its front page advertisement for their concert plus an article about Skipton, Australia.

The children have added their own comments which included "the Mayor was really nice and had a sense of humour".

Describing Skipton as "small and cosy", one of the singers declared: "I loved the warm reception we received at Skipton. Everyone was so friendly, particularly the Mayor who I want to take back to Melbourne with us! Even though it was the smallest venue we'd sung in, I think it was the best concert so far because the people appreciated it so much more".

You can see the comments by visiting www.theacc.com.au and clicking on tour pages, day 10.