A century ago lovestruck George Petty proposed to his sweetheart Emilia Pedley in one of Ilkley's most scenic spots.

The couple settled in Liverpool where they enjoyed a long, happy marriage and had five children.

But the memory of the bridge where they had declared their love stayed with them for ever - prompting their son Sid to bring his girlfriend Jean Prescott to Yorkshire in order to propose in exactly the same place decades later

The romantic family tradition inspired a beautiful painting after George and Emilia's granddaughter told their story to TV artist Alan Hydes.

Pam Tankard, 55, of Church Street, Addingham, came forward after Mr Hydes appealed to Gazette readers to help him find a view typifying the town to feature in his show Painting the Past.

And the enduring love story was captured for posterity when Mrs Tankard met Mr Hydes on the bridge to talk about her grandparent's romance, which featured in an episode of the programme last year.

She described how her grandfather had travelled from Liverpool to Yorkshire with the Territorial Army and was captivated by the sight of a beautiful young woman in a rowing boat by the old bridge.

He managed to arrange a meeting with Emilia and in 1907 returned to Ilkley to propose to her near the spot he had first laid eyes on her.

The story so entranced their children that their son Sid followed suit and proposed to the woman he loved in exactly the same place.

More than 50 years later Mrs Tankard was trying - without success -- to find a painting of the bridge to give to her aunt and uncle for their golden wedding anniversary - when she read about the artist's appeal.

She said: "I wrote the story on a scrap of paper but never dreamt Alan would chose me.

"When I saw the painting I was thrilled - it was just beautiful."

Sadly her uncle died while the programme was being made, but she is hoping to give a print of the painting to her aunt.

She is pleased that her choice of view will now bring pleasure to so many others, and she said: "My grandfather would have been absolutely delighted, and my grandmother would have been just thrilled. "

"My grandparents had a very happy marriage, as did my aunt and uncle. It makes me feel very emotional when I stand on the bridge."

Now Mrs Tankard, who has two grown up daughters and a son, is hoping the family tradition will continue.

She laughed: "My son Robert is almost 18, so the pressure is on him now. He is my hope."

The love story proved inspirational for the artist, and his painting of the bridge became one of his favourites in a series of Yorkshire landscapes.

He said: "It is very romantic story. And that particular bridge in Ilkley is a really beautiful - it is a fabulous place."

In the popular TV series a historian was on hand to talk about the background of each chosen location, and Mr Hydes was amazed to learn that a bridge has stood at the same spot for hundreds if not thousands of years.

He said: "It was fascinating really because on that very spot where the stone bridge is there has been a succession of wooden bridges over hundreds of years but they have all been washed away in great floods.

"The Romans had a wooden bridge there and before them the Brigantes."

Water features in many of Mr Hydes' landscapes, including the bridge at Burnsall and the weir at Otley, and the choice of subject reflects his own fascination with it.

"How many people walk over a bridge without stopping and looking into the water?" he said. "I go over the Wharfe every weekend and stand and look over the bridge at the water below."

The weir at Otley holds particularly happy memories for him as he used to take his young son Robert - now 19 and working for Kay Mellor - to the playground nearby.

But there is also a sad story behind the watercolour - he painted the picture for an elderly cousin who had to leave Otley and wanted something to remember it by.

The bridge at Burnsall, on the other hand, was his own personal indulgence.

"It was such a lovely view I decided to produce a little watercolour. I sat in the back of my 1947 ex-army Land Rover and painted it over three days.

"Various people said they liked it, and a few made offers to buy it but I said I would never sell it. But there comes a time when you have too many paintings and you have to let some go."

The original was eventually sold to a well-known football manager.

Mr Hydes has painted a whole series of Yorkshire landscapes, and he joked that his work was seasonal - with portraits on cold winter days and outdoor work when the sun shines.

But he did agree to one outdoor commission in winter after a request from a local doctor.

"It was January with frost on the ground and I have never been so cold in my life, " he laughed. "I had to take hot water bottles to stuff up my jumper."

Details of other landscapes can be found on the artist's website www.alanhydes.co.uk.