My Yorkshire: Sam Dunkley, founder of Performing Arts etc

What’s your first Yorkshire memory? Being tricked into believing that Huddersfield was beautiful by seeing it for the first time on a brilliantly sunny day. Actually it is a beautiful town, but way back in 2000, when I was thinking about going to university there, it looked absolutely stunning in the sunshine.

What’s your favourite part of the county – and why? The area around Bradford and Huddersfield. Driving around there, as I still often do, I always seem to have a smile on my face, because I am recalling so many happy times – concerts, refereeing rugby matches, and the people I met. The countryside is spectacular. I defy anyone not to go “wow!” when they are up on Baildon Moor.

What’s your idea of a perfect day, or a perfect weekend, out in Yorkshire? A trip to Whitby – but for me, it’ll be a time when the town is “out of season”, and it isn’t quite so full of tourists.

Do you have a favourite walk, or view? In and around Castle Hill in Huddersfield. There was a moment, some time ago, when I was up there, and I just felt “this is home for me”.

Which Yorkshire sportsman, past or present, would you like to take for lunch? I cannot think of anyone more blessed in yarn-telling than Dickie Bird, who (I get the impression) could probably talk the hind legs off a donkey. He’s been all over the world, he’s brilliant raconteur, and a very tenacious and spirited man.

Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, past or present, would you like to take for dinner? I remember a concert at a Beverley Summer School, not so long ago, when I was aware of a bit of a kerfuffle going on behind me. Initially, it was a wee bit annoying, but then I turned, and I realised that here in the audience were ten close relatives and friends of one of the girls who was on stage and singing for them. They clearly hadn’t realised what a vocal talent she had. She has since decided to go on and to study musical performance. So my dinner date would be all those who haven’t yet been “discovered”.

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

Pocklington Arts Centre. A small venue with a huge reputation.

If you could choose somewhere, or some object, from or in Yorkshire to own for a day, what would it be?

Leeds Grand Theatre, where I have had the pleasure of working on several occasions, and which is a fabulous space. I’d get as many people from around the region as I could possibly cram in, and we’d sing, and play music and just enjoy the unique atmosphere.

What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

You get eye-contact from the people you meet, and folk say “thank you” to the bus drivers. It’s the friendliest place that I have ever been.

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

I get over to see Carnegie play pretty regularly, but there is nothing better than watching some good cricket at Headingley on a day when the sun is shining and all you have to do is to idle the day away.

Do you have a favourite restaurant, or pub?

The Shibden Mill near Halifax takes quite a lot of beating, and is well worth a visit, a really first rate “foodie” pub.

Do you have a favourite food shop?

Molly Sharp’s Cheese Shop in Selby (near the post office) is unbeatable.

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

The M62 has got worse. It’s OK when it is flowing, but when (as happens too often) it isn’t, you may as well be sitting in a car

park. The cross rail services are a joke at the moment, too. But on the plus side, we have so many world-class arts companies across all the disciplines, from Phoenix Dance and Northern Ballet to Opera North and all the theatre companies.

If you had to change one thing in, or about Yorkshire, what would that be?

It’s the way that there doesn’t seem to be any connectivity between rail and bus services, and the way that the latter are getting whittled away down to almost nothing in the rural areas.

Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire? Kate Hardcastle, who I am pleased to call a friend. She’s a retail expert, full of sound advice, an entrepreneur, and advisor and a mentor to many.

Has Yorkshire influenced your work?

Immeasurably. It has so often informed me in surprising ways. We were doing a project for schoolchildren in Halifax not so long ago, and the idea was that local history was going to be woven into the performance – the feedback was electric, and the information that the kids unearthed was mind-boggling.

Name your favourite Yorkshire book/author/artist/CD/performer? For sheer generosity of soul, and because he is a lovely, very talented man, it has to be Ian McMillan. I was once involved in a making a piece where he had written the lyrics, and I suggested to him, very tentatively, that we might just slightly change one word for another. Anyone else might have gone into meltdown but he just said “If it makes it better, and it makes it work, do whatever you like”. That’s the sort of bloke he is.

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

York. So much in one space. The river, the Minster, the Shambles, the pubs, the people. Never fails to impress me.