John Ellis
Author John Ellis’s novels feature the detective Jim Oldroyd, and the stories are set in Yorkshire. The latest is The Nidderdale Murders. John and his wife Jackie live in Leeds and they have two grown-up children.
What’s your first Yorkshire memory? My dad was a motor mechanic, so a run out in a car on a Sunday was a regular event. I was the only child, so it was just the three of us. One of the favourite places to end up was Ilkley – not so far from the family home in Huddersfield – and Ilkley always seemed to have so much fresh air. I can vividly recall being at the cricket ground in Ilkley, and watching a primus stove boiling some water for a picnic cuppa – the sound of it completely fascinated me.
What’s your favourite part of the county – and why? Wharfedale. It was DH Lawrence who described the countryside around where he grew up on the borders of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire as “the landscape of my heart”, and that’s very much the same for me in Wharfedale. I love Grassington, but I’m careful about when we go there, because it is a magnet for so many visitors – and I’m guessing that there will now be many more, since it features as the backdrop to the new series of All Creatures Great and Small.
What’s your idea of a perfect day, or a perfect weekend, out in Yorkshire? Just being out somewhere, drinking in the scenery – the rivers, the fells, the panoramic views, and (hopefully) a nice pub serving decent food at the end of the stroll.
Do you have a favourite walk, or view? It’s a round trip that we occasionally do from Clapham, past the cave and then up to the summit of Ingleborough, and back along the limestone pavement. It’s about 12 or so miles, and it’s a sheer joy every step of the way.
Which Yorkshire sportsman, past or present, would you like to take for lunch? Fred Trueman. Oddly enough, I am not a cricketing fanatic, but Trueman was one of the greats – a remarkable player, a gloriously idiosyncratic broadcaster, and also an author. How many of the younger generation of today know anything about him, I wonder?
Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, past or present, would you like to take for dinner? Sir Patrick Stewart, who was brought up just around the corner from me, in Mirfield, and he has a remarkable talent.
If you had to name your Yorkshire ‘hidden gem’, what would it be? Hackfall Woods on the very edge of the Dales, with well over 100 acres of outstanding woodland, waterfalls and streams – it’s got the lot. It all looks so very natural, but in fact it’s a landscape created and shaped by man. It’s all down to one person, John Aislabie, who bought the land back in 1731, and who then put in grottos, a fountain, and all sorts of follies that keep on surprising you as you walk around. It’s just stunningly beautiful, at any time of year.
If you could choose somewhere, or some object, from or in Yorkshire to own for a day, what would it be? York Minster. It truly is one of the great church buildings of the world. There are so many unique treasures under that one roof. It takes my breath away every time I see it.
What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity? Three main things – the extraordinary variation in the landscape, the people who live here, and our language and dialects.
Do you have a favourite restaurant, or pub? You can’t do better than the Craven Arms in Appletreewick – great food and beers, roaring log fires, and a beautiful old cruck barn in the grounds behind.
Do you have a favourite food shop?