Introductions
Street art has grown in popularity in our towns and cities in recent years with Banksy the most famous proponent of this art form. We meet a group of female artists in Sheffield who, though their styles are different, are leaving their colourful mark on the city.
the Trans Pennine Trail, as well, which is shared by everyone from walkers to cyclists, and runners to pram-pushers.
Which Yorkshire sportsperson, past or present, would you like to take for lunch? When I was privileged to be chief nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Jessica Ennis-Hill used to give us so much help and encouragement in so many ways – nothing was too much trouble for her when it came to fundraising activities. She is such a serene, calm lady, never a self-publicist, and a truly beautiful person.
Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, or past or present, would you like to take for dinner? This is going to be a dinner party, I warn you! I was a great admirer of the late Emma Chambers, who was a fine actress, and taken from us at far too young an age. Then there’s Katherine Kelly, our very own Barnsley lass, and actors Mark Addy and Hugo Speer, plus Sally Wainwright. What an evening of pure gold this one would be.
If you had to name your Yorkshire ‘hidden gem’, what would it be? The English Institute of Sport, in Sheffield, which does so much good work for athletes of all disciplines and abilities, from boxing to table-tennis and fencing to volleyball.
The work that it does ought to get far better recognition.
What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity? It’s that proximity to the great outdoors that all our urban areas have. But even better than that, there’s a genuine warmth from the people themselves.
Do you have a favourite restaurant, or pub? There are three, and they are all beautifully local for us. There’s Beatson House Restaurant in Cawthorne and, just over the way, the Spencer Arms (named after the family who used to have the Cannon Hall Estate) and then in Barnsley
itself, just near the Town Hall, there’s Romanos. Each is run by lovely people, with excellent food, and welcoming and friendly atmospheres.
Do you have a favourite food shop? Let’s stay in Cawthorne for Hilary’s Village Store, run by the eponymous Hilary and Andrew – and the village Post Office, which is in the hands of Sandra and Chris. Both are so important to the community, and they’ve done remarkable work in the trying times that we are experiencing.
How do you think that Yorkshire has changed, for better or for worse, in the time that you’ve known it? Overall, for the better, in that we are embracing diversity in all walks of life, and there has been an incredible amount of visionary regeneration in so many communities. Take Barnsley, for an example – they have transformed the market area beyond all belief.
Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire? My grandparents, and my late parents, who gave me a work ethic and I hope a sense of respect for both others, and myself. They also told me to be kind, and I’ve tried to follow their example.
Has Yorkshire influenced your work? Absolutely and completely. I’ve had a wonderful career and met so many very different people from all walks of life.
Name your favourite Yorkshire book/author/artist/CD/ performer.?There’s that wonderful painter Ashley Jackson (we are so lucky to own a few of his brilliant works) and also the author Millie Johnson, who has given me so many hours of reading pleasure. I met her the other day, and to my shame I forgot to tell her how much I liked her novels – well, here it is now, in print.
If a stranger to Yorkshire only had time to visit one place, it would be? We’d be off to Cannon
Hall, to see what a busy and very special place it is, and then over to Wentworth Woodhouse, where the mammoth task of restoration is under way. Their efforts are quite fantastic. I’d encourage them to read the superb book about the place, Black Diamonds, which is really a real-life Downton Abbey story. Actually, come to think of it, what a superb movie or TV series it would make, if someone like Sally Wainwright wrote the script.
Now there’s an idea.