Happy Yorkshire Day everyone. It’s that magical time of year when we celebrate the best things to come from the great northern county, like tea, puddings, notable citizens and general good eggs.
To celebrate, a recent poll asked 2,000 Brits to vote for who they thought was the greatest ever Yorkshireman and Yorkshirewoman.
While actors Sean Bean and Sir Patrick Stewart took second and third place respectively, travel presenter, diarist and Monty Python legend Michael Palin took the top spot as the Nation’s Greatest Ever Yorkshireman.
Halifax-born Ed Sheeran came fourth in poll, with Jeremy Clarkson rounding out the top five.
Not sure why this Yorkshireman make the top 10, deffo top 20 though:
The inimitable Dame Judi Dench was chosen by almost half of all respondents as the Greatest Ever Yorkshirewoman, followed by Jessica Ennis-Hill and the Brontë sisters.
The study was conducted by the energy supplier npower to celebrate Yorkshire Day on August 1st.
Commercial Director at npower and proud Yorkshireman, Andy Wiggans, said:
Yorkshire Day is a reason to celebrate everything brilliant about the UK’s biggest county, and there’s no shortage of legendary Yorkshire folk to pick from with a list like this.
We wanted to give the nation the chance to think about the region and how much it’s given the country – and the rest of the world.
After all, where would we be without Monty Python’s dead parrot sketch – inspired by Michael Palin’s disastrous trip to a mechanic, who refused to accept there was something wrong with his car?
The research also revealed that, when asked to think about things associated with the county, one in five people said Yorkshire pudding was the best thing to have originated from the area.
A further 14 per cent believe the ‘catseye’ reflective road stud is Yorkshire’s greatest export while one in 10 selected the creation of the world’s first commercial steam locomotive, which was built in Holbeck by engineer Matthew Murray in 1812.
It also emerged two thirds of the country have either visited Yorkshire or lived there at some point in their lives, with 34 per cent still to visit.
And a tenth of respondents loved their time there so much they’d consider making the move permanently.
This could be due to the lilting accent, which 45 per cent of Brits say they’re happy to hear.
However, one in eight Brits admit they’d struggle to locate Yorkshire on a map of the UK.
Andy added:
Whether you’ve been once, twice or lived there for years, it’s great to see how much the area has contributed to society.
We’ve generated some of the most famous names throughout history – and it’s exciting to wonder who the next will be.
The top ten Yorkshiremen:
1. Michael Palin
2. Sean Bean
3. Sir Patrick Stewart
4. Ed Sheeran
5. Jeremy Clarkson
6. Brian Blessed
7. Alan Bennett
8. The Chuckle Brothers
9. Brian Clough
10. Geoffrey Boycott
The top ten Yorkshirewomen:
1. Dame Judi Dench
2. Jess Ennis-Hill
3. The Brontë sisters
4. Dame Diana Rigg
5. Maureen Lipman
6. Kimberley Walsh
7. Penelope Wilton
8. Jodie Whittaker
9. Nicola Adams
10. Amy Johnson
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via stories@unilad.co.uk
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.