Melvin Burgess

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

Where I live – Hebden Bridge. It’s a lively little place – always something going on, especially in the summer. I love walking down into the town, only five or ten minutes from my house, into the busy square. There’s good rail links to Leeds and Manchester – but at the same time, I can walk out the other way and be in the woods, or by the river, or on the moors, in a matter of minutes. Love it!

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

My favourite activity is walking. I go walking locally a great deal – there are countless walks right on my doorstep. So my perfect day out is walking with my partner and some friends. Fried breakfast first (Maskill’s butcher does the best bacon in the world) Then a long walk taking in the river, moor and woods. Back home and out for a meal. Perfect.

Do you have a favourite walk, or view?

There are so many round here. My favorite keeps changing. At the moment, I like to walk along the little road that goes up behind the Co-op, at Horsehold. It takes me along a bridle way, up into the fields below the moors and around a farm, with Stoodley Pike on the hill above. There are loads of birds around that farm. I’ve seen wheatear, reed bunting, curlew – all sorts. Then back above the town through some beautiful mature beech woods. The views over Hebden on the way back are stunning.

Which Yorkshire stage or screen star (past or present) would you like to take for lunch?

Charles Laughton for the only film he directed, Night of the Hunter. It was lambasted in the press and failed, but it is a truly wonderful film – it still sends shivers down my spine when I watch it. It crashed so badly he never directed again and I’d like to tell him to keep at it. Then there might be some more to watch…

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

Golden Meadow. It’s on a walk near by to me, and I know it sounds odd, but it’s the most picturesque field you ever saw!

What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

That’s a tricky one. Yorkshire’s so big, and has so many very different regions, it’s almost a country. I could say the people – but they vary so much, as does the scenery and the towns .. perhaps that’s it; the sheer variety you get makes it different from any other county.

How do you immerse yourself in Yorkshire’s cultural life?

I’m involved in the arts, so it’s mainly through festivals and theatre. I attend the local Hebden Bridge Arts festival, the local shops. I support local publisher Blue Moose whenever possible. I do like to keep it local if possible.

Do you have a favourite restaurant or pub?

The pub would have to be the Old Bridge Inn at Ripponden – I’m a real ale fan, and they keep a very good pint there. There’s a sort of timeless atmosphere too that’s very appealing. I adore fish, so I think my favourite restaurant would have to be Livebait in Wharf Street, Leeds.

How do you think Yorkshire has changed in the time you’ve known it?

The whole country has changed a great deal. As always, some changes are good, some bad. I think people in general are more kind these days, I really do – when I was a child it was considered perfectly normal to hit children, for example, and there was a general attitude that pain and unhappiness were somehow good for you, which is not so prevalent now. I’m also a fan of multiculturalism – other cultures add so much to ours, and again, people are much more open to that these days. On the other hand, the world is a much more stressful place to live in now. But I think the character of Yorkshire is still much the same as when I first visited over 30 years ago.

Who is the Yorkshire man or woman you most admire?

John Harrison, the clockmaker who took on the scientific establishment, beat them hands down and set the standard for scientific accuracy ever since.

How has Yorkshire influenced your work?

It’s hard to quantify, but it’s in my bones now. Yorkshire and the North West have been a part of my life ever since I started writing. I was born in the south, but when I go back it’s like visiting a foreign country.

Name your favourite Yorkshire author?

Emily Brontë. The first half of the 19th century was a fascinating period – the beginning of the modern era, really. I love Wuthering Heights – I’d love to have a conversation with her.

What are you currently working on?

My new book is based on interviews I had with young people who had been excluded from school. You read the statistics about these young people and they seem to be such losers. I remember when I was a kid thinking how they were rough, dangerous kids – the sort of people no-one wanted you to mix with or have anything to do with. But the real story is very different.I found what I think I always suspected. So many of those kids aren’t losers at all – they are real, one hundred per cent modern heroes. It’s often the way things are at home, they have priorities other than school.

* Melvin Burgess’s book Kill all Enemies has just been published .