Sponsored by
My Yorkshire: Paul Hudson
BBC Look North's colourful weather presenter swapped his role of being on hurricane and cyclone watch for the Meteorological Office covering places such as Miami, South Australia, the Pacific Islands and Singapore for the comfort of a Leeds TV studio.
Born and bred in Keighley, he loves sport and the weather.
What's your first memory of being outdoors?
I was on holiday in St Ives. I'd broken my arm in an accident the week before. I remember playing on the beach and I had a plastic bag over the pot on my arm while I sat on the beach making sandcastles. I broke my arm after nicking my brother's bike that was far too big for me and went head first over the handlebars and into a lamp-post in Keighley when I was about eight.
What's your favourite part of the county and why?
Lots of places really. The Yorkshire Wolds are beautiful, and I have always liked Grassington. I used to go up there to my Uncle Joe's, who has just died at ripe old age of 95. He had a lovely cottage on the River Wharfe. I love the Dales. Wharfedale in particular.
What's your idea of a perfect weekend/day out in Yorkshire?
A sunny day at Flamborough Head, North Landing. Very quiet. A viewer sent a picture of Flamborough Head a couple of weeks ago when it was beautifully sunny and what you forget is that, because it's limestone, when the sun is out and the sky is blue, it looks like the Mediterranean. It's only a small part of the east coast, but it's always really quiet and you can relax there and forget work.
Do you have a favourite walk, or view?
There are two, or maybe three. I would have to say Flamborough Head again, Bempton cliffs. But I'd also go again with Wharfedale. I like it up at Cam Flats. I did a strand called Hudson's Rivers and it is the source of the River Wharfe. There are some lovely walks over the top there. Then there's Malham Cove. We're so spoilt for views. On a lovely sunny day you can't beat Malham Cove.
Which Yorkshire sportsman/woman (past or present) would you like to take for lunch?
I have a 25-year season ticket for Bradford City, but the sport I've always been most interested in is cricket. I was a member at Yorkshire CCC from the age of six. Everybody goes on about Headingley, but Bradford Park Avenue was our ground. We used to go during school holidays. For us, from Keighley, it was our local ground. I remember the first picture I took on my camera was of Geoffrey Boycott. As he walked out of the dressing room I caught him on my camera and he said, "Oh, I should have been smiling for you." He comes across as being belligerent and a typical Yorkshireman, but I bet he's got a softer side. I also think he would say BPA was his favourite ground. My over-riding memory was that he always seemed to score a ton there.
Which Yorkshire stage or screen star (past or present) would you like to take for lunch?
I used to love All Creatures Great and Small and I know he's not from Yorkshire but I'll go for Christopher Timothy because of the programme.
If you had to name your Yorkshire hidden gem, what would it be?
Washburn Valley, where the reservoirs are – Fewston, Thruscross, Swinsty and Lindley Wood. Where in the drought of 1995 and '75 the old village became uncovered. That part of Yorkshire near Otley is absolutely fantastic. The village of Fewston is particularly beautiful, especially in autumn when the trees are turning, but hardly anybody seems to have heard of it outside of West Yorkshire.
What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?
We're just so brilliant! The confidence we've got from living in such a great county is immense. We're the biggest county and one of the most diverse. I've worked down in Devon. The Meteorological Office is down there now, and they all go on about Devon being God's County, but that's our title. We've got the coast and hills and everything else. We're a proud county.
Do you have a favourite restaurant or pub?
The Red Lion at Burnsall. If there's one place that we'd go to as a family when we have time, it's there. We love the walk from Grassington to Burnsall. Lunch at the Red Lion sounds good to me.
Do you have a favourite food shop?
I don't have one. The wife does all that.
How has Yorkshire changed in the time you've known it, weatherwise?
The county's weather has changed considerably. Just look at the number of extremes we're now having. From a high temperature or rainfall point of view, it's remarkable and I cannot remember the last time I ever went on Look North and said it's been the coldest day since whenever. Look at the records over the last two years. July 2006 was the hottest ever in Sheffield, autumn 2006 was the warmest ever. 2006 was the warmest year ever. April 2007 was the warmest month ever. We had the floods in June last year, and the wettest 12-day period ever recorded in Yorkshire last summer. It's very clear the climate is changing and will continue to change. That is the thing that will change and has changed the most in Yorkshire.
Are those changes for the better?
I don't think they can be. I know the Tourist Board will shoot me down in flames. The Tourist Board in Bridlington did because I dared to say that climate change was a bad thing and they said it was the best thing that's ever happened to their industry. Don't get me wrong, there will be short-term benefits, but there are so many more downsides.
Think back to the summer of 2003 where 15-20,000 people died through heat stress during the heatwave that affected Europe. That will be average by 2050. I recently saw a report on the misery that floods bring, so surely it's got to be changing for the worse. Yorkshire used to have some really hard winters. From a scenery point of view, you read recollections of winter of 1963 which was very cold and very snowy but actually there were a lot of days in January and February that were clear and blue. It was like an Arctic winter and you can imagine what Malham Cove, Malham Tarn and parts of Wharfedale were like. It must have been fantastic, but these days we just don't get that kind of weather, so we're actually missing out on something that was quite exciting and beautiful.
Who is the Yorkshire man or woman you most admire?
Geoff Boycott – my cricketing hero when I was young – and Fred Trueman, because I always wanted to bowl as fast as him. I wanted to be a weatherman from an early age and I always looked up to Bob Rust and watched all his forecasts. When I was at Leeds Weather Centre and he was on ITV, he helped me a lot – and he even gave me two of his old jackets. He's 6ft 3in so you can imagine how they helped. From a career point of view, probably Bob Rust, just ahead of Geoffrey and Fred.
Name your favourite Yorkshire book /author /artist /CD /performer
I'm not really into arts and culture, but I'll go for Mick Kaminski from ELO, as he lives in Leeds and they are my favourite band. He's the one who played electric violin. I don't think he's from Leeds or Yorkshire though.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
