David Balderstone: My Yorkshire

What’s your first Yorkshire memory?

I’d have been little more than a toddler, maybe about four, and I remember a family outing up to Bolton Abbey, and going across the river by the stepping stones. I’m guessing that someone may have been holding my hand, and it may well have been my older brother, Chris? I was born and raised in Huddersfield, and dad was in the textile business, making mungo and shoddy. There’s a pair of words that have all but vanished from the language these days. We’d motor up in his Morris 8, and have a picnic.

What’s your favourite part of the county – and why?

The Yorkshire Dales, for the beauty and the tranquillity – and yes, for the dry-stone walls. I’m always having a look at them, how they were constructed. It’s always thought that it must have been a very solitary profession, but that is very far from the case. At one point, when the land enclosures were going on, there were hundreds upon hundreds of men up there, building dwelling places for them to stay in, and then building the walls along boundary lines. The oldest were built by monks from the monastic foundations and maybe our ancestors built them before that. Looking at a wall, believe it or not, you can see the social fabric and the social history of Britain unfolding.

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

My wife, Liz, and I are both very keen golfers, so we’d pack our clubs and an overnight bag, and we’d book a round at the wonderful Ganton Golf Club, near Scarborough, if you don’t know it. And then we’d have a stay at The Coach and Horses, in Snainton, which is a lovely little local. More golf on the Sunday and then a leisurely drive back home.

Do you have a favourite walk – or view?

We used to go up to Malham Tarn a lot with our daughters – Sarah is 42, Charlotte is 39, and Harriet is 37, and we’d amble around very happily in that area, which brings back some happy memories. There’s no space here to go into details, but one of the girls and her husband were caught up in that dreadful Boxing Day tsunami of a few years back, and for many hours we didn’t have a clue if they were dead or alive. But, thank God, they both got out of it, with only cuts and bruises and the clothes they stood up in. It was a life-changing time for me, and one of the reasons why I took up dry-stone walling as my full-time job. I was just tired of the daily grind, wanted to do something new, and realised that life was just too short.

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

Brian Robinson, the cyclist, who is now an amazing 80 years young and still very much in the saddle. He was a member of the famous Huddersfield Road Club. I knew him as a teenager, when he was an inspiration to me. Born in Huddersfield, he was the first Briton to take part in the Tour de France, and the first to win a Tour stage. But what I like about Brian is that he’s also a man who looks to the future. I admire him greatly.

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

Another Huddersfield lad, James Mason, who was a firm favourite of my mother. He went from Huddersfield to Hollywood and yet never lost his roots.

If you had to name your Yorkshire hidden gem, what would it be?

Cragg Vale, a tiny village off the A58 up in the Calder Valley. It has a lovely pub called the Hinchcliffe Arms, which is named after the family who live up at the Hall, and that’s a remarkable building in itself, late Tudor in the main, I think. The church is lovely, too. I’ve done a couple of jobs up there and it truly is an idyllic spot, very secluded.

What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

The variety that we have here that no other county seems to have – the bleakness of the Pennine tops, the lushness of the Wolds and the Vale of York, and then that long stretch of amazing coast. And all the dry-stone walls, obviously!

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

I’ve been a golfer ever since I gave up my cycling, and I was introduced to it by my late brother, Chris, who some of your readers might remember as one of those rare players who managed to appear professionally on both the cricket and the football pitches. In fact, there was one time (documented in the Guinness Book of Records) where he was playing for Leicestershire during the day, got in his car, went and played for Doncaster Rovers in the evening, and then went back the following morning to complete a century! Not bad, eh?

Do you have a favourite restaurant, or pub?

The Olive Branch at Marsden in Huddersfield, which used to be solely a pub, but which now does marvellous food.

Do you have a favourite food shop?

We’re lucky enough to be quite close to Hinchliffe’s Farm Shop, and Liz is a regular there. We both admired so much the way that, when they had a disastrous fire, they picked themselves up, said “Let’s get on with it” and within days it was business as usual, even if it was in a marquee. That’s Yorkshire grit for you and their meat and vegetables are wonderful.

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

It’s so much cleaner and a lot greener than it was, of course. But I do mourn the passing of our superlative textile trade. And think of all the apprenticeships that have been lost. A terrible pity, that. An apprenticeship was your way into a job, and to earning your living. I really do feel so unhappy for youngsters today who just can’t get trained in anything…

Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire?

Sir Richard Sykes, who is the chairman of GlaxoSmithKline and a former Rector of Imperial College in London. Another Huddersfield lad, he is a biochemist, and a great businessman. I heard him on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs a while back and he sounded so fascinating, and he had good strong opinions backed up by sound reasoning. His choice of music wasn’t that bad, either.

Has Yorkshire influenced your work?

Pretty much. These days I love being out in the open air – especially when the better weather comes – and I love looking at the fine houses we have around us and thinking about their histories. I do appreciate good buildings.

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

I love the sound of brass bands, especially the local ones, so I’d have to take a CD of them to my own desert island. But I also admire and enjoy two gents who are also stone wallers, called John Cocking and Bill Noble, who take Yorkshire folksong and stories all over the UK. They are wonderful and very entertaining men.

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

I know so many people choose this place, but as a man who works with stone, it has to be York Minster. To think it the Minster was built by masons alone – no architects were involved. What vision.