THE foot-and-mouth crisis of 2001 is still a raw memory for Dave Gallivan.
He lived with the consequences long after the images of blazing carcasses were forgotten by the public.
His business – Yorkshire Dales Guides – was almost destroyed when the disease forced vast swathes of the Dales to be closed to the public.
The demand for guided walks and tours down pot- holes plummeted.
"We lost 98 per cent of our business overnight,'' he said. "We travelled outside the area to try and find work."
Now his business is set to double in size, after he received help from a new business network which aims to make the Dales economy more robust by reducing its reliance on tourism.
Creative Rural Enterprises was founded this year by Settle and District Chamber of Trade to promote the Dales as a home to new industries.
It already has 150 members and acts as a sounding board for the existing business community, while encouraging others to move to the area.
It also urges members to work together.
It was this which brought Mr Gallivan into a partnership with Settle-based Karst Media, which was set up to promote the work of playwright John Finch, one of Britain's most prolific and respected TV dramatists.
His work includes Sam and Family at War, and he has also worked on Coronation Street.
Exemplifying the way in which people can work together, Mr Finch's son Steve, a caving enthusiast, has joined forces with Mr Gallivan to set up location-logistics.co.uk, which helps TV and film crews operate in some of Yorkshire's most dangerous places.
Using the skills of Yorkshire Dales Guides, it can ensure the film crew can do its job safely.
"If, say, there was a news item about a light aircraft crashing around here," said Mr Gallivan, "the film crew might need us to take them to it."
Yorkshire Dales Guides has also been boosted by a £20,000 grant from Yorkshire Forward, which has helped it take out a lease on a barn and turn it into an office.
It has one full time and four part-time staff, with annual turnover of between £50,000 and £60,000.
Mr Gallivan, who lives in Horton-in-Ribblesdale, hopes to have up to 10 staff in the near future as demand for the company's services grow.
Steve Finch added: "Yorkshire Dales Guides has already developed a strong network of local guides and instructors. We hope these will develop both in number and earning potential.
"Although the foot-and- mouth crisis is drifting out of the public memory, it will remain the single most important event in relation to understanding the speed of modern change and the future of our rural economy and communities."
Mr Finch said the launch of Creative Rural Enterprises showed that the local business community had to move in a more diverse way to protect it from unexpected crises.
"It's not just small businesses banging on about yellow lines. We want to be a modern business network.
"When the business environment changes, it's within your gift to react to that properly and find ways for a rural area to make a living."
In particular, the network wants to persuade manufacturing and technology companies to move to Settle, a process which should be made easier with the roll-out of broadband.
The network has received £110,000 to spend on a campaign to market the area as a friendly place to live, work and play.
Its supporters include the European Commission, Yorkshire Forward, Craven Council and Yorkshire & Humber Chambers of Commerce.
Simon Campbell, the network's chairman, said: "We want to get to 1,000 members and deliver real benefits by doing business with each other. We are also getting them to do business with clients outside the area."
Andy Tordoff, head of Rural Renaissance and Tourism for Yorkshire Forward, added: "Business people in Settle were the frontrunners in the development of the rural business network.
"This is now being replicated in rural communities across the region."

16 August 2004