My town: Russell Davidson

The wide-open spaces, clean air and stunning flower displays. The Stray is unique: I’ve travelled widely and can’t think of any other town with a 200-acre manicured lawn running through the middle of it. The Valley Gardens are very special for me: I remember my dad taking me there when I was very small, and now my kids enjoy the play areas and other attractions too. That sense of history repeating itself adds to the nostalgia and makes Harrogate my true home.

What would be your perfect day?

I live about a mile from the town centre, so give me a sunny day in April when the crocuses are still out and the cherry blossom is starting. The best things are simple, so I’d pick a slow walk with the family into town, then lunch at one of Harrogate’s smart cafés followed by a long meander through the pine woods up to Harlow Carr Gardens. There is lots to entertain the kids there, and by the time we got back to the house, I’d hope the slow roast I’d put in the AGA before we left would be reaching perfection (if not, then I’ll get the usual lecture from the missus....)

Do you have a favourite walk or view?

The view high over the Nidd Gorge at Knaresborough: the river, woods, viaduct and historic buildings are breathtaking. It’s easy to forget that what is now a suburb of Harrogate is so much older. The view from Betty’s café over Montpellier Gardens also takes some beating. There must be few eateries in the world with an outlook like that.

If you had to name a ‘hidden gem’ in your town, what would it be?

Beardmore Dobson, an old-fashioned ironmongers operating out of some single-storey huts in a little-known street called Back Cheltenham Mount. They’ve been there for around 80 years, and you can still get everything, from a ladder to a matching hinge or bolt. The cheeky chappies behind the counter are a good-hearted lot and serve everyone, from local tradesmen to little old ladies enquiring whether a nail or a screw is needed. The counter area is freezing in winter, so take your coat.

Do you have a favourite pub or restaurant?

Catwalk Café and Van Zeller, both in Harrogate’s Montpellier Quarter. The former serves good, honest, delicious food in a homely setting (Ray’s soups and coffee and Moira’s baking are divine). For more formal dining, visit the young Tom Van Zeller – a genius chef. In London, he’d be in the top 20 restaurant reviews but at three times the price.

What do you think makes Harrogate special?

Harrogate’s elegant, cosmopolitan society, combined with the greenery, fresh air and forthrightness of a rural Yorkshire town. Many of Harrogate’s population have (as I did) worked in London or overseas, and tourism, plus the conference and festival trades, bring in thousands of foreign visitors. So you never feel isolated from events in the capital or abroad, meaning Harrogate does not have the “small town” mentality of other places. Yet you still get that wonderful Yorkshire accent and humorous bluntness from so many of the inhabitants. And, of course, the parks, schools and hospital are great: how many other places offer such marvellous public amenities?

If you were hosting a dinner party, which three other guests would you invite (from your town) and why?

Well, two couples would be ideal: so, firstly, I’d invite my wife, Jacqueline, a talented interior designer with whom I can still laugh after 23 years of marriage; then (if he were still alive) Samson Fox, one of this town’s famous 19th-century benefactors: founder of London’s Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Hall in Harrogate. The other lady would be someone else who has done a lot for Harrogate – Caroline Bayliss. In my view, she was our most elegant 20th-century mayor and sufficiently self-assured to order Samson Fox to take his long Victorian beard out of his dinner.

What is your pet hate about the town?

The Exchange Building, on Station Parade. A supposedly forward-thinking Harrogate Council of the 1960s mistakenly thought progress was high-rise and allowed this hideous tower block to be built. It dominates and ruins our otherwise elegant townscape. A former council officer I know is of the view that the only way of getting rid of this building is to hold a raffle throughout the district, the proceeds being used to buy the place and the prize being the privilege of pushing the demolition plunger.

What are your priorities?

First up has to be my wife and kids. I’m lucky enough to have a lovely home and family. which are my rock. Next comes my legal practice, Davidson Large LLP. I work with some great people and I like my clients: some are real characters – I enjoy representing tough, intelligent, straight-talking businesspeople with whom you can also have a laugh. Then there’s the charity work I do. I believe that if you’re lucky to have health and a nice house and family, then it’s your duty to give something back. Sadly, a lot of Harrogate’s charity work is done by relatively few: too many comfortably-off people are quick to complain, but how many of them are prepared to get off their backsides and help?

What would your ideal holiday be?

My wife is half-Chilean so we regularly visit South America. But although Chile’s food and climate are great, give me a skiing holiday with tons of snow any time. You can’t beat that feeling of well-being when accelerating down a mountain on a crystal-clear day with fresh powder on the ground and your favourite iPod music blasting in your ears.

What was the book/film/play/concert/CD you have most enjoyed recently?

Henry Mayhew’s London Labour & the London Poor, a journalist’s account of London’s backstreets in the 1850s. Anyone who worries about the Government’s budget cuts should read that, wake up and see how far Britain has come. I also enjoy Elizabeth David’s cookery books. The King’s Speech was the last film I saw: very good, but the “luvvies” really go over the top in their reviews, don’t you think? I’ve recently dug out my CD of Erik Satie’s haunting Gymnopédies.

Who or what makes you laugh?

I love British slapstick comedy. The kids adore the old Norman Wisdom films and Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean. Give me dry wit, too, but I’m not into sarcastic humour: sarcasm often goes over my head, and, by its nature, I think it patronises or denigrates the target.

How would you sum yourself up in a single sentence?

Someone who loves beauty, harmony and people, but who can’t stand fools, and who, unfortunately, on occasion, gives rather more leeway than certain of them deserve.

How would you describe yourself in a single sentence?

Optimistic, cheerful, generous, romantic and kind: and I find it easier to be all of these things when I get my own way.

What is your favourite charity?

The Royal Hall Restoration Trust (which I currently chair). Harrogate’s 1903 Royal Hall is the last “Kursaal” in the United Kingdom and has hosted scores of famous performers through the years: Lily Langtree; Fritz Kreisler and the Beatles to name but three. Only a few years ago, it was in danger of demolition after decades of neglect. Thanks largely to the determination of my predecessor, Lilian Mina, who, sadly, died before the restoration was completed, this magnificent Edwardian building has been saved for the community and restored to its former glory in an £11m project led by the Restoration Trust in conjunction with the local council and Heritage Lottery Fund.