My Yorkshire: Jonathan Oxley, managing partner of Lupton Fawcett

Jonathan Oxley is the managing partner of Lupton Fawcett, the law firm with offices in Leeds, Sheffield and York.

Where do you live/where are you from?
My family is from Dewsbury. There are a lot of them from previous generations on a big obelisk in Dewsbury cemetery. My dad was in the Army so we moved around a lot and I went to board at Ashville College in Harrogate. I now live just outside Knaresborough.

What is your favourite place to visit in Yorkshire and why?
I love being out on my bike on the North York Moors. There’s great scenery with some good hills and not much traffic.

What is still on your “to do” list in the region?
Whitby Abbey by moonlight should probably be on any Yorkshire bucket list. I’m also getting a growing urge to cycle from our Sheffield office to our York office.

What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever had in Yorkshire?

Dropping in to see my Aunt who always makes me lunch or tea. She’s the last of her generation in my family and seeing her always brings back lots of good memories.

What is your most Yorkshire trait?

I suspect that sighing with relief when you get on the train at Kings Cross is a common Yorkshire trait. I lived in London for a while and enjoy visiting but am always happy to be heading back to Yorkshire.

Favourite piece of trivia about the region?
That Laurence Sterne’s (author of 18th century novel Tristram Shandy) bones reinterred in Coxwold in the 1960s may not be his.

What is your favourite cultural icon to come out of Yorkshire?

Without doubt Geoffrey Boycott. My Dad took me to see him make a century at Lords in the days before we worked out I was short sighted. Didn’t see a lot of detail but it was memorable occasion!

First experience of Yorkshire (for non-Yorkshire folk).

Probably at and around the Bronte Parsonage at Haworth. Almost everyone will have read Wuthering Heights and you can’t fully appreciate it unless you’ve been there.

What has been your worst experience, or what is the worst thing about Yorkshire?

Our inability to move forward quickly with an agreed devolution strategy for the region is very frustrating and is costing the region dearly.

What is one thing you’d steal from Lancashire (or other UK regions) if you could?

See above; it would be great to have a Metro mayor (or several) like Manchester.

What is the most overrated thing about Yorkshire?
We are a fairly critical tribe, so I don’t think much gets overrated by us!