'The most exciting thing in the world' - My first memory of Yorkshire has never left me

A lot of our holidays were spent in North Yorkshire – we lived near Alnwick in Northumberland, and it was a fairly easy drive down. The event that I’ve always remembered was riding the miniature railway at Newby Hall, which to me, as a boy of about four years old, was the most exciting thing in the world.

What’s your favourite part of the county?

The West of Sheffield, with its river, like the Rivelin and the Porter – a great area for walking from the city into wild and beautiful countryside. You pass things like the Sheffield Wheel, which is really the very start of the industrial revolution in these parts.

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

Breakfast at the first-rate Partisan on Micklegate in York, up the Ouse to Clifton to watch some cricket, back down to the station and a train to Sheffield, over to Hallam FC at Sandygate, and then back into the city centre to catch a show at the Crucible. Yes, it can be done – I have.

Do you have a favourite walk/view?

Anywhere around Farndale and Low Mill, in the North York Moors National Park, with a stop for a pint at the 16th century Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge, where you can enjoy your drink as you look down into Rosedale. Our sons love that walk as well, they are proper Yorkshiremen, and they love the countryside.

Which Yorkshire sportsperson, past or present, would you like to take for lunch?

The three I’ll have seated at the table are Jessica Ennis-Hill, Adil Rashid, and Kevin Keegan. What do they all have in common? Resilience, dedication, and natural flair. And they are all inspirational people.

Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, or past or present, would you like to take for dinner?

Another trio, please – Dame Judi Dench, Dame Penelope Wilton, and Peter O’Toole. Respectively, from Yorks, Scarborough, and Leeds, which covers the county quite nicely.

What’s your Yorkshire ‘hidden gem’?

Lady Spring Wood, in Sheffield, a beautiful oasis of ancient woodland near Dore, which, it is said, used to be part of the boundary of the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. There are some trees which curve perfectly into the landscape.

If you could own one thing in Yorkshire for a day, what would it be?

Spout House, up in Bilsdale, a beautiful and historic building in itself, but the area around it is lovely as well. It’s a perfect place for a picnic, and there’s a cricket pitch there which is on a slope.

What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

There are a lot of stereotypical words that are used, like ‘brusque,’ but I feel that it ought to be ‘determination.’ Yorkshire is the place where we get things done, there a sense of humour, and the people are so welcoming.

Do you follow sport in the county, and if so, what?

I’d be telling a fib if I didn’t acknowledge that Newcastle is my “ancestral” team. But Sheffield is the home of football. One of the reception rooms at the Crucible is called “The Adelphi,” because the theatre is built on the site of what was once The Adelphi Hotel, in which three major sports teams were originally founded – Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Sheffield Wednesday, and the Sheffield Football Association.

And the boys and I are supporters of Hallam FC, who play at Sandygate, the world’s oldest dedicated football ground. We also used to support York City, which has, shall we say, experienced its fair share of ups and downs.

Do you have a favourite restaurant, or pub?

The Birch Hall Inn, in Beckhole, near Whitby. And The Sheffield Tap, at the station and adjacent to Platform one, is a little gem. Worth missing a train for.

Do you have a favourite food shop?

Bragganzi’s, on Abbeydale Road, a fantastic sandwich shop with all kinds of delicious food. We never fail to stop there when we are on our way to a match.

How do you think that Yorkshire has changed, for better or for worse, in the time that you’ve known it?

It is finally firmly on the cultural map, and rightly celebrating its diversity. The City of Culture events in Hull the other year, and currently in Bradford, really made, and are making, a mark.

Then there are productions such as our own Standing at the Sky’s Edge, there were doubts that it might make any sense in London at the National. It was a major hit, and it gave us much more confidence. On the downside, transportation in the county is still a mammoth problem.

Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire?

Sir Michael Palin. I loved his travel programmes when I was growing up, he has such a spirit of adventure, and never seems to tire of new experiences. Then there’s that impish smile, tied in with his mission to explain.

Has Yorkshire influenced your work?

Absolutely. York Theatre Royal was a great experience – in the evening I’d leave the building, and there was that great Minster across the road, only yards away, and I’d think “what have I done to deserve this?” and now Sheffield is a wonderful challenge, presenting all kinds of entertainment to the public across three platforms. I love the people here, our audiences.

Name your favourite Yorkshire book/author/artist/CD/performer.

The teacher, writer, and cartographer J L Carr, who wrote the now rather overlooked A Month in the Country, among his other books was A Dictionary of Extra-ordinary English Cricketers. And for music, The Artic Monkeys, who changed the music scene forever.

If a stranger to Yorkshire only had time to visit one place, it would be?

The Lyceum Theatre, and particularly, at panto time. That show is always at the top of its game, in one of the most beautiful venues in Britian, built by that great architect, Sprague.