My Yorkshire: Richard Page

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

Most of Yorkshire is stunning, however Nidderdale has to be one of my favourite areas. There is an abundance of scenic walks; great shops in Pateley Bridge (like the oldest sweet shop in Britain and two butchers that make some of the best pork pies around).

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

My perfect weekend would involve heading to the beach with the dogs and my kite surf. There are some great Facebook kite communities which allow you to link up with like-minded souls from Fraisethorpe through to Saltburn. Sunday would be a day with the family, after picking up a lamb or beef joint from Cockburn’s in Bedale.

• Do you have a favourite walk – or view?

The view from the 16th hole at Ganton on an evening, looking down towards the clubhouse is pretty special. Nidderdale is also spectacular, looking down into the dale when there is low cloud in the valley, making you feel on top of the world.

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

It probably reveals my age, but Geoffrey Boycott was my boyhood hero. I saw him make his 100th hundred at Headingley. The banter between Geoffrey and the rest of the TMS team is still great entertainment. Winding the clock forward, I have a massive amount of respect for Jessica Ennis-Hill. Not only did she deliver with the pressure of being our pin-up for the 2012 Olympics – in spades – but is looking strong for Brazil after taking time out to start a family. That is really inspiring.

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

Sean Bean. I love the rugged, all-action characters he plays. For me it started with Sharpe’s Rifles and continued in the many blockbusters he has starred in like Lord of the Rings and James Bond. If I could slip a third onto the dinner table, it would have to be Michael Parkinson; I bet he has some interesting stories to tell about the great and the not so good.

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

As Wagg HQ is based very close, I have to say the small market town of Boroughbridge. Bowes deli has a fantastic range of cakes, pies and quiches that we all often pop to for lunch. Boroughbridge still has a great range of independent stores like Clayton cobblers, Havenhands bakery, Pybus newsagent and The Fruit Basket, to name a few.

• What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

It has to be the Yorkshire people who are incredibly proud of their roots. Having travelled across the world, as either a banker or a dog food salesman, if I meet anyone from Yorkshire it becomes apparent within a couple of minutes as they love to speak about their heritage.

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

It’s great to see Yorkshire Cricket Club dominating again. As a teenager, I was surrounded by Lancastrians who spent hours ribbing me about the poor state of our county’s cricket. No longer. I admit it is an aberration, but because everyone at school was such ardent Leeds FC fans, I picked Liverpool at the age of eight. Never looked back, sort of...

• Do you have a favourite restaurant or pub?

My favourite drinking pub has to be the One Eyed Rat in Ripon. We used to live about three miles away and we could occasionally escape with our dog Dalton and walk to the pub with him for a couple of guest ales on a Sunday! If I want some lovely food I would have to choose the Wensleydale Heifer in West Witton.

• Do you have a favourite food shop?

The Farmhouse Bakery at Scampston. It’s on the way home from Ganton so I always pop in for a delicious leek pie or a moreish chocolate and peanut brownie.

• Who is the Yorkshire person you most admire?

My father, first, for starting Wagg from nothing in the face of adversity. Then going on to make a series of bold investments as we went from a blending business to an integrated pet manufacturer and now market leader. As a former student of history, William Wilberforce probably ranks at or close to the top of the pile of characters for being “bloody minded” (so Yorkshire) in the pursuit of his goal of banning slavery.

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

Market towns have worked out that to survive they need to celebrate their heritage and many are now booming with shops, restaurants and tourism. Leeds has become a proper financial hub that now stands on its own. My concern, and real hate, is litter. We don’t understand that prevention has to be the way forward. More litter bins at laybys; more litter bins in villages. Litter does, and will lead to a deterioration of a spectacularly beautiful county unless something is done to combat it.

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

I would have to suggest Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal. It is a beautiful monastery located in a deer park that creates a fabulous walk to view the scenery and a chance to see something of historical importance.

Wagg Foods is sponsoring The Yorkshire Post’s charity Christmas auction in aid of the Support Dogs charity.