Charlotte Conboy
Charlotte Conboy is head of the pictures department at family-run auctioneers Tennants. Sheffield-born and bred, Charlotte is married to Chris, and they have one daughter and two stepchildren.
What’s your first Yorkshire memory? Being taken as a family – with my brother Simon and my sister Lucinda – to the pantomime at the Sheffield Lyceum, which (back then) always seemed to star the irrepressible Bobby Knutt. We must have been quite a handful to control, and believe me, we entered into the spirit of the show completely. It was such a magical, fun and no-holds-barred experience.
What’s your favourite part of the county – and why? Anywhere in North Yorkshire because it really does have something for everyone – beautiful landscapes, little villages, the Dales, the Moors National Park, the coastline, the lot.
What’s your idea of a perfect day, or a perfect weekend, out in Yorkshire? It’s a combination of three things – a visit to a good gallery for an exhibition, a long walk in the fresh air and a hearty lunch in a good pub somewhere. We all loved the Leonardo drawings exhibition at the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield, which was beautifully curated and fascinating to see.
Do you have a favourite walk, or view? The beach at Sandsend and, in complete contrast, Middleham Gallops, close to Leyburn. The former because of the vista you get of Whitby and the abbey, and all the little rivers and streams trickling from the rocks – and the latter because it’s a great place to go for a run, with the bonus of stunning views and wonderful flora and fauna.
Which Yorkshire sportsman, past or present, would you like to take for lunch? Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, because of her dedication and sacrifice to achieve her goals – and the fact that she, too, hails from the fair city of Sheffield.
Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, past or present, would you like to take for dinner? Someone else from Sheffield, and it is the incomparable
Sir Michael Palin, born just down the road from me, and who manages to combine so many talents in one human being.
If you had to name your Yorkshire ‘hidden gem’, what would it be? We’re back at Sandsend, with its infinite variety of rock pools for youngsters to explore as the tide recedes.
If you could choose somewhere, or some object, from or in Yorkshire to own for a day, what would it be? It’s a painting in Sheffield’s Graves Art Gallery, which I first saw as a youngster. It’s by Gwen John, and it’s a very simple, but very beautiful view of her own space when she was painting in France, and it’s called A Corner of the Artist’s Room in Paris .She shows a chair, just bathed in warm light, but the composition and the colours are so lovingly done.
What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity? The variety of two things – firstly, the landscape, and secondly, the people who inhabit it.
Do you have a favourite restaurant, or pub? We have a few, but top of our list has to be the Blue Lion in East Witton. If you were asked to sum up what a “traditional Yorkshire pub” would be like, then this is it. It’s at the centre of a lovely little village, it has a beamed interior, roaring log fires in winter, friendly staff and excellent food.
Do you have a favourite food shop? Campbell’s in Leyburn. Who would ever have thought that this unassuming store would offer so many delights when you enter through the front door? The very first time I went in I was just rooted to the spot, because I couldn’t believe my eyes at the variety of things on offer. The word “emporium” was invented to describe Campbell’s – it’s a cook’s paradise on earth.
How do you think that Yorkshire has changed, for better or for
worse, in the time that you’ve known it? Far less industry these days, lots more technology. And also more variety and diversity.
If you had to change one thing in, or about Yorkshire, what would that be? I would love to be among the first to set up the Yorkshire Pudding Board, to campaign for protected status for this exceptional traditional delicacy. If Cornish pasties are given the accolade, why not our own culinary delight?
Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire? Dame Barbara Hepworth. Wakefield-born, and at a time when women doing anything in what was very firmly a man’s world was quite exceptional. But to succeed as an artist and a sculptor was completely remarkable. She must have encountered so many patronising difficulties, but she surmounted them all and she left us with a sublime legacy. I always have an image of this tiny little person defying a huge block of granite with a single chisel.
Has Yorkshire influenced your work? Absolutely, and right from that defining moment in the Graves Gallery and the Gwen John painting. Its influence is not so much the county itself, as the creative people who have worked here.
Name your favourite Yorkshire book/author/artist/CD/ performer.?The music legend that is Joe Cocker. My dad has a fund of stories of going to see this rock genius when he was still playing gigs in small pubs in Sheffield, and when we hear him say “Ah, that night in the Mucky Duck, after I’d bunked off school early…” we all know what’s coming.
If a stranger to Yorkshire only had time to visit one place, it would be? It’s got to be York. Just because there’s something to engage every visitor, whether it be the National Railway Museum, the Minster, a walk on the City walls, or exploring the Shambles. Not to mention the galleries, like the Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower. How could you ever possibly be bored in
York?
■ The next Traditional Pictures sale at Tennants in Leyburn (with a Fine Arts sale on the same day) is on March 20. Email enquiry@ tennants-ltd.co.uk
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