My Yorkshire: Daniel Kennedy, Source Marketing
Daniel Kennedy is a director of Source Marketing – a Leeds-based PR and social media agency.
Where do you live/where are you from?
I live in Steeton. The where I’m from is a bit more convoluted – I was born in Newcastle; grew up in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides; went to university in Edinburgh; lived in Australia for a couple of years; and now have two boys who are half Yorkshire half Australian; and a wife who is fast becoming as Yorkshire as she is Australian. Needless to say the accents in our house are more than a little mixed up.
What is your favourite place to visit in Yorkshire and why?
I’ve called Yorkshire home since the late 90s and could spend hours boring you with all of my favourite places, but if I’m going to pick one it would have to be Runswick Bay. It really is the perfect picture postcard location, and it carries special meaning for me as my wife and I had our wedding reception at the Cliffemount Hotel back in 2006.
What is still on your “to do” list in the region?
For a number of years I picked up a flyer for the Oxfam Trailtrekker challenge while ambling from Leeds station to our Park Square office in the morning. And for exactly the same number of years I read it, thought “this year, definitely”, put it in my coat pocket and promptly forgot about it. Sadly, Oxfam’s trail now treks elsewhere, meaning 100km of pain are off the agenda once and for all. So instead, I’m going for the three peaks. With the whole family. Kids included. And before you laugh. The four of us (and an ageing Aussie father-in-law) made it up and back down Scafell Pike on my birthday last year.
What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever had in Yorkshire?
I’m tempted to say anything from a fish and chip shop anywhere in Yorkshire after 7.30pm, but as everyone knows, 7pm is the witching hour for chippies, so that’s just pure fantasy. Instead I’m going to say the Christmas meal I had at The Woolpack in Esholt last year. Yes, the original Emmerdale one. Which just so happens to be run by the son of the man sat opposite me – and no, Peter Downey didn’t pay me to say that.
What is your most Yorkshire trait?
Demanding payment for naming The Woolpack in Esholt as the location of my most memorable meal has to rank pretty highly amongst an alarmingly long list of Yorkshire traits that have my Lancastrian dad gasping in horror.
Favourite piece of trivia about the region.
The Scots may well be able to lay claim to inventing virtually everything, but they will never take our toilets. Thomas Crapper was born in Thorne.
What is your favourite cultural icon to come out of Yorkshire?
I’m currently very taken by the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle, which is boldly advertised at Leeds Station. This isn’t because of any serious artistic interest, but because unlike any other triangle I’ve ever come across, it boasts four points – and if that’s not Yorkshire at its iconic best, what is?
Worst experience or thing about Yorkshire?
My worst experience came shortly after moving from Edinburgh in 1997. Having grown up as an Englishman in Scotland I was well used to being referred to as an English b*****d by friends, foes and teachers during any heated conversation. But on my first Friday night out in Leeds someone attempted to barge past me at a bar and when I didn’t move proceeded to call me a Scottish b*****d. I’d never been so offended.
What is one thing you’d steal from Lancashire (or other UK regions) if you could?
I’ll whisper this just in case it offends any regulars at Elland Road, but I reckon a midnight, cross-Pennines raid with a van big enough to fit Jose Mourhino and his entire squad wouldn’t go amiss.
