My Yorkshire: Chris Oldroyd, managing director of Inprotec

Chris Oldroyd is managing director of Normanton-based engineering firm Inprotec.

Where do you live/where are you from?

I live in Holmfirth and have done for the past 12 years. I was brought up in Cleckheaton and then Brighouse where I went to high school. I went to University in Newcastle, but settled back down in Allerton Bywater near Castleford before moving to Holmfirth.

What is your favourite place to visit in Yorkshire and why?

Yorkshire is the richest place on earth for wonderful places to visit. I love walking the dog around Newmillerdam woods, I love the Train Museum in York, but my favourite place is the John Smiths Stadium in Huddersfield on a rare day when Town score a goal. They don’t even have to win. Just score a goal.

What is still on your “to do” list in the region?

I have lived in Holmfirth for 12 years, and every day the Last of the Summer Wine tour bus stops outside of my house for 10 minutes to tell tourists something fascinating about the show. I want to get on that bus and find out what they are being told! Perhaps there is some relevance of my street to that program.

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

I think we are blessed with some great dining experiences in Yorkshire. Fantastic produce and some amazing chefs. I had a fantastic tasting menu at Anthony’s at the Leeds Corn Exchange before it sadly closed. But…the best meal I have had in Yorkshire has been made for me by my wife Lucy who would be a Michelin chef if she had chosen that as a career.

What is your most Yorkshire trait?

Like all Yorkshiremen I like to look after money and don’t like talking too much. Keep my council.

Favourite piece of trivia about the region.

Last of the Summer Wine was the longest ever running sitcom at 37 years. It may have been cheesy, but it was gentle and regardless of your sense of humour it was hard not to laugh.

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

Harold Wilson – we need another Yorkshire PM right now to sort out the mess we have got ourselves into. No mincing of words or actions.

Worst experience or thing about Yorkshire?

I think small Yorkshire towns and ex-mining communities have suffered dreadfully from neglect over the last decade. It is a downward spiral with boarded up shopfronts, gambling shops, chicken shops, pound-shops. Some mill towns have pulled themselves out of the mire, and spa towns such as Harrogate and Ilkley have thrived – but the poor old pit towns are much more numerous and need a big boost.

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

I think Manchester is a very self-confident city, and properly believes in itself so will get outside investment in its future. Yorkshire needs to be much better at promoting itself, its virtues and bring outside investment into the region on a scale which it has never done before.

What is the most overrated thing about Yorkshire?

Parkin. Yuck.