Moors, monkstables and martyrs

PETER WALKER’S former editor at publisher Robert Hale said last night that his “sheer good nature brought out the best in us all”.

Gill Jackson told The Yorkshire Post: “Peter based his stories on his own time as a police officer in his beloved Yorkshire, which defined him.

“Latterly he retired Constable Nick and the others into a monastery to form its own police force – ‘monkstables’ – based, I believe, on Ampleforth.”

Mr Walker also published several works of non-fiction, including one on the 17th century Catholic priest Nicholas Postgate, the so-called Martyr of the Moors. Ms Jackson said: “His knowledge of Yorkshire and its folklore was second to none.”