Dad and daughter's video guide to Yorkshire family-friendly sport

Former radio presenter Jim Coulson and his daughter Elsa, three, are creating a video guide to Yorkshire. Catherine Scott reports.

When Jim Coulson’s wife was expecting their first child the former radio presenter felt bewildered.

“There were so many books out there on babies and parenting by so many so-called experts and most of them seemed to contradict each other, that I just felt completely bewildered,” says Jim, 37, of Burley in Wharfedale.

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“I quite quickly realised that there is no one size fits all answer when it comes to babies and people were making a lot of money suggesting that there was.

“It’s a bewildering time and as a would-be dad three years ago there wasn’t much out there for me. I remember researching prams and not really knowing what to believe.”

So Jim started to write a blog based on his experiences, even before daughter Elsa was born.

“I just wrote it as I found it and felt at the time. There are more blogs by and for dads now but at the time there really wasn’t very much, they were mostly by mums.”

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Jim called his blog the Bewildered Dad as that’s exactly how he felt.

“I just found that everything to do with babies was geared towards the mother. There was a expectation that mums did all the childcare but that just isn’t always the case these days.

“But the retailers still say things are ‘mum’s choice’ and things like that.

“I find it very disappointing and I believe they are missing a trick as a lot of dads really do a lot of the child care these days. Even if they work.

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“Gone are the days when the men didn’t get involved in anything to do with their babies and yet not everyone has moved on.”

He cites some baby and toddler groups as being difficult for some dads.

Just after Elsa was born Jim was made redundant from his job at as a local radio presenter. He now works in marketing but also keeps his hand in on local radio.

He also joined an online community called Dad Natural TV where dads made videos about their experiences.

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“It made me realise that I really wanted to do something for myself.”

As a lover of all things Yorkshire Jim decided he wanted to make a series of films highlighting the best bits of Yorkshire for families, starring of course his three-year-old daughter Elsa.

The Bewildered Family Guide to Yorkshire, is a hilarious and heart-warming YouTube series which aims to find out how family-friendly the county is.

The weekly episodes see the pair visit towns and cities across Yorkshire.

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They dig into the history of each destination, receive advice from local experts on what to look out for and unearth some bizarre and fascinating facts before uploading the results to Jim’s Bewildered Dad YouTube channel.

“Yorkshire is a fantastic place to bring up kids and I wanted to celebrate that whilst also helping out other parents who are looking for ways to keep the family entertained,” explains Jim

“The region has exciting, vibrant cities, a wealth of history and the most stunning countryside in the UK, if not the world.

“We thought this would be a fun way to pay tribute to that it was also a really great excuse to have exciting days out with my daughter.”

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So far, dad and daughter have created films about Saltaire, Ilkley, Harrogate and Bradford, Hebden Bridge and Keighley making up Series One of the guide.

“I had a free day ad I decided to take Elsa to the National Media Musuem in Bradford. Although a lot of it is aimed at children older than here she absolutely loved it.

“Now she is really excited every time I say we are going to a museum, that’s not bad for a three-year-old, although she was particularly excited when she saw an episode of Peppa Pig going to a museum.”

Jim keeps his films to four-and-a-half minutes but does his best to pack in as much information as possible.

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“Of course its not a definitive guide to a place but we wanted to give a feel and a bit of history about it for families to go and explore themselves.”

A second series is planned exploring places a bit further from the Coulsons’ home.

Although it may have to wait a while as Jim’s wife Jill is expecting baby number two in the new year.

“It’s okay to be bewildered, being a parent is a world of bewilderment.

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“I might not have any solid advice on how to soothe a teething baby at 3am but this site will hopefully entertain, amuse and/or educate you whilst you try to abate the screaming.”

Although his wife Jill, 36, is a fan of his online endeavours, she is very strict about not being in them.

Jim said: “She has a blanket ban on appearing in the videos.

“She enjoys what Elsa and I do but she very much likes that I don’t involve her much.

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“Jill looks after our daughter all the time so I think she needs the time off.

“It’s great for me though because I get to spend time with my daughter.”

So where is his favourite destination so far?

“I know I am biased but Ilkley is difficult to beat as a destination,” says Jim.

“I live down the road from Ilkley and for families there is just so much going on.

“Ilkley Moor and the Cow and Calf is one of the best places in the world as far as I am concerned.”

www.bewildereddad.com

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