Arriving by bus, tears and warm pies in Barnsley: The story of Harry Gration's last ever Look North

Harry Gration choked up with emotion as he said a final goodbye to BBC Look North viewers on Wednesday evening.
Harry arrives at the BBC Look North studios aboard a Harrogate Bus Company double decker that has been named after himHarry arrives at the BBC Look North studios aboard a Harrogate Bus Company double decker that has been named after him
Harry arrives at the BBC Look North studios aboard a Harrogate Bus Company double decker that has been named after him

The BBC veteran arrived for his last day at the Look North studios in Leeds aboard a Harrogate Bus Company double decker that has been named after him. The bus will operate on the 36 route between Leeds and Harrogate, which Harry has already recorded on-board announcements for.

Harry eschewed his regular spot on the studio sofa to open the programme live from Barnsley, which is about to enter Tier 3 restrictions, and paid tribute to a town he has 'loved' since first reporting from there in 1981. He then interviewed Sheffield City Region mayor Dan Jarvis on air. A member of staff from the nearby Pieminister even handed a grateful Harry a free bag of warm pies and wine during his broadcast.

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Read more: Harry Gration - why I decided to step down from Look North
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A montage was then shown of Harry covering some of the biggest stories of his career, including the Hillsborough disaster, the Great Heck rail crash, the Bradford race riots, the Beeston bombers' involvement in the 7/7 attacks, the murder of Jo Cox MP and his visit to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan.

Asked what he most enjoyed about his time on the Look North beat, the 69-year old replied: "I love to get a good reaction from people. I love Yorkshire so much, and I love straight talking."

Phil Bodmer then narrated a segment about Harry's sports reporting career - he became BBC Radio Leeds sports editor in 1978 and also presented Final Score.

Illustrious names including former Leeds United manager Howard Wilkinson and cricket umpire Dickie Bird appeared by video link to pay tribute.

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There were also video appearances from BBC News presenter Huw Edwards, who described himself as 'a minnow compared to a legend like you, Harry', and his Look North co-presenter Keeley Donovan, who is on maternity leave. Donovan touchingly revealed that Harry was one of the first people she told about her pregnancy with daughter Scout, and that he had cried at the news.

Look North producers received thousands of messages from viewers whose lives Harry had touched, and Paul Hudson read out one of the most poignant while a tearful Harry looked on.

"You came into our living room every night and made us feel like we were friends."

One feels those words will have been echoed by many people watching across Yorkshire tonight.

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