An artist who fell in love with a woman from Cameroon is to put on an exhibition in memory of his late wife and her country.

Barry Langroyd Hanson, who lives in Killinghall Road, said his show of work coming to Bradford’s Industrial Museum next month would be a mark of continuing love for them both.

The 71-year-old met his wife Esther when she was working in a hotel in Barfut.

He had holidayed there since 1991, inspired by a stint of national service in the country in 1961 – Mr Hanson was part of Britain’s very last in-take.

Nearly 20 years ago, he first started holidaying in Cameroon, spending three months a year there.

He went on to marry Esther in a traditional ceremony where he had to buy three pigs.

She later joined him in Bradford, but returned home soon after because she could not get used to life in the UK.

Tragically, she fell ill with liver disease and died in 2006, aged just 46.

“She was a wonderful person. The sadness is that if she’d stayed here with me, her illness would have been treated properly, she’d have got better and would still be around today, but Bradford was too much of a culture shock for her.”

Mr Hanson, a former teacher and ex-groundsman at Undercliffe Cricket Club, still spends winters abroad seeing his two stepsons.

“Esther was a beautiful woman and Cameroon is beautiful too. It’s a continuing love-affair,” he said.

Over the past three years, he has painted a series of 35 paintings of scenes and landmarks both in Bradford and Barfut.

He added: “That’s why my exhibition is called From Bradford To Barfut, A Cross-Cultural Love Affair. It commemorates my love for Esther and for Cameroon.”

The exhibition at the Industrial Museum runs from May 22 to July 18.