Sandsend to Whitby: The Yorkshire walk which will resolve all your problems

My mum used to drag me to all the local mills, where they’d sell off surplus wools, in paper bags. They didn’t come in conventional balls, but in tangled lengths. When we go home, guess who was the one to sit in the chair for hours, while mum untangled it all by winding it around my outstretched hands.

What’s your favourite part of the county?

Whitby. Because I have so many happy memories of the place – when I was working on Heartbeat, we’d often take breaks up there, and introduce visiting actors to this beautiful part of the world, for me, all roads lead to Whitby.

We still have a friend who has a beach hut on the promenade, and it’s a ritual that we go up as a family at least once a year, and sit there and watch the mood of the sea change.

If you have any kind of a problem, take the walk from Sandsend to Whitby along the cliff top and by the time you’ve gone the distance the problem will be resolved.

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

There’s a pop-up event at the end of every month in Dewsbury, and it’s a clothes swap, in a unit of the Princess of Wales Precinct. The idea is that you bring ten items for a clothes swap, and then you can take away another ten.

It brings all sorts of people together, there’s a lot of chat, tea, biscuits, and coffee, lots of fun, and yes, there are nearly always bargains to be found. Then it’s a walk for the dog, and Andy and I might go out for a meal – we like the New Inn in Walton and the Star Inn in Sandall.

Do you have a favourite walk?

Around the Newmillerdam, with Rocko, who is a rescue English Bulldog. It’s always different – the seasons changing colours, light on the water, the birds you might see, and – of course – the Yorkshire weather.

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

I have truly little interest in sport, but it would be an immense pleasure to take Nicola Adams out, to talk about everything else but boxing. She’s an inspirational young lady, with her grit and determination.

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

The incomparable Brian Blessed. It was such fun working on Heartbeat, because often you had to meet up with the guest artists on the day before the regular team arrived, and we’d find ourselves in a bar, or having a meal, and all sorts of great stories would emerge over the evening. I remember Leslie Phillips, what a gentleman he was, and an absolute riot to chat to.

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

Dewsbury. There are fabric shops, an amazing haberdashery story, the revitalisation of the Arcade, Asian textiles in the market. Textiles, by the way, should never be bought online.

You’ve got to feel them, enjoy the colours, see them at first hand. And, of course, at the end of the year, our revitalised 1899 Arcade will re-open – 16 small shops, four larger units and eight studios for artists.

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

The City of York. All of it. Without the crowds and the cyclists and the hen and stag parties and the traffic. To wander into The Minster, stroll along the Shambles, and to sashay into Bettys and get a lovely lunch without having to queue.

What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

Just another one of my ‘hats’ is that I am a director of a food bank, so I see firsthand how generous Yorkshire folk are. Then there’s their dry sense of humour, the fact that they look after each other, and that they are unfailingly direct and honest.

When I’m working in our shop, there are plenty of husbands who come in with their wives, and the banter is glorious.

Do you have a favourite restaurant, or pub?

The Spicy Biker, in Wakefield. It’s in Cross Street, a really tiny place, but it does amazing food.

Do you have a favourite food shop?

Not a shop, but a whole market – we had the first Dewsbury Food Festival last year, and it was a tremendous success – so many trucks and stalls with delicious food from all over the world, plenty of artisan creatives. I can’t wait for it all to happen again.

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

Well, it’s still struggling, particularly on our high streets, which have been hammered by on-line shopping and anti-social behaviour in some places. But I genuinely do see the small green shoots of recovery in all sorts of ventures.

Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire?

My late mother, Sandra – who, in fact was born in Lancashire (we used to say that she was the best Yorkshire mother ever not been born here) but who came here as a babe in arms, and who devoted herself to her family, friends and community. Really talented and clever with her hands. She bought our shop, turned it into a thriving business, and was a devoted carer to my father when he needed her help.

Has Yorkshire influenced your work?

Absolutely – from my very happy times at Yorkshire Television (who made some of the best programmes in all sorts of fields, and right across the network) to now, and watching Dewsbury regain its confidence.

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

York. The history, the culture, the independent shops, all the food outlets. Something for everyone.

Woven: A celebration of innovation in textiles across Kirklees, June 1 – June 30.