'I moved to Yorkshire 20 years ago - and fell in love with the mysterious and beautiful Wolds'

When introducing me to Yorkshire, my to-be-husband proudly took me to a cafe in Malton and ordered me a local dish. I was surprised and a little overwhelmed when, in front of me, appeared a Yorkshire pudding shaped like a dog bowl, filled with flowing gravy, a large sausage, and some lonely green peas floating happily in it.

What is your favourite part of the county?

The Wolds. They’re secret, mysterious, beautiful. The wide views over the spacious uplands, the great skies, and the sudden deep valleys are breathtaking.

Although David Hockney has recently made them famous to those who like art, they are still almost empty of tourists, and I feel they haven't really changed for hundreds of years. A very different kind of beauty from the neighbouring Moors and the wonderful Dales.

What’s your idea of a perfect day out in Yorkshire?

It’s summer and the sun’s out. Breakfast in my garden, then a drive in the open car, directly across the dramatic North Yorkshire moors all the way to Staithes.

This unique, tiny fishing village is down such a steep hill that you have to leave your car at the top. I walk down, then around the narrow stone alleyways and secret stairways, wondering which miniature fisherman's cottage I would like to live in.

Then, I walk out on the curved harbour bar and back to have a fresh crab sandwich in the pub by the sea. I drive back to Scarborough, walk the dogs on the wide north beach, then have a long swim there and a sunbathe. Then, back to Malton for tapas and a large glass of wine at Omni.

Do you have favourite walk?

Yes, leave Fridaythorpe on the Wolds Way, and follow the signs till you get to Thixendale. It's only one-and-a-half hours, and you walk through and up and down some of the most beautiful and hilly parts of the Wolds.

They’re all unseen and untouched by any road, with curlews and larks for company. I’m afraid you have to be dropped off and picked up for this adventure.

Which Yorkshire person past or present would you like to have lunch with?

Branwell Bronte, the Bronte sisters’ wild and mysterious brother. He was a poet and artist who died, apparently from drugs and drink, at 31. But with the same DNA as three of the most brilliant women in English cultural life, how can he not have been fascinating?

Which Yorkshire screen star would you like ot havdinner with?

Judi Dench. For obvious reasons.

Name your Yorkshire hidden gem

The secret waterfall on the coast, where you can just swim. You reach it by following a long, winding track through the dark woods, and suddenly the ocean opens out in front of you. The small river falls dramatically into a pool on the beach made by its fall. Its name is Hayburn Wyke.

If you could own one things for Yorkshire for a day what would it be?

The Folkton Drums. I love mysteries. And these beautiful and mysterious objects were found in a Neolithic small child’s grave, near Scarborough, buried beneath her.

They are drum-like objects made of chalk, the local stone, and have lovely, intricately patterned carvings. No one knows for sure what they are or what they represent. The British Museum would have to loan them to me for the day. And perhaps they would reveal their secret!

What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique idenity?

The people. When I arrived here as an outsider, I was invariably asked “Do you like Yorkshire?’. If I answered, “I love it”, I was accepted unconditionally and loved forever. Any criticism, and I was an outcast forever. And the morning greeting here where I live… “You alright?”

What’s your favourite restaurant?

Partisan in York. It’s outstanding if you love good food and care about its quality and provenance. The atmosphere with art, odd antique furniture and friendly staff is special; you’ll find artists and writers there, and, of course, miraculous cakes.

Name the Yorkshire person you most admire

My husband, John Fairley. He was head of Yorkshire TV in its early glory days, doing groundbreaking documentaries, dramas, soaps and comedies. A truly creative time.

Then, for 18 years, his production company, Highflier, made all the horse racing for Channel 4. His programmes are still remembered for their excellence.

What’s your favourite food shop?

Paley’s in Malton. Genuine local fresh fruit and vegetables. Consistently friendly, helpful, and well stocked. It’s been run by the same family for more than 50 years, the Paley’s. The real thing in our age of supermarkets and packaged food.

Can I have two more in Malton? For outstanding fish, fresh from the sea daily: Malton Fisheries. And for a truly environmentally friendly shop, Scoops is in a small back street.

No packaging, just wonderful tubs of high-quality produce, all dry foods, which you scoop into brown paper bags. A role model of a shop which should be in every town.

Has Yorkshire influenced your work?

Enormously. The East Coast light and the space. And, above all, the shapes of the Wolds. Intensely beautiful curves of the enormous fields, straight lines of hedges, and sudden parabolas, as you suddenly see the small, steep, half-hidden Dales.

Who is your favourite author?

It has to be Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, both a masterpiece and quintessentially Yorkshire.

If a stranger only had time to visit one place in Yorkshire where should that be?

You can’t encapsulate Yorkshire in one place, so it has to be York. History, archaeology, architecture, the cathedral, the pubs, the food, the university. My favourite walks are along the river, right into the town centre.