DAN’S THE MAN

From striding across a golf course to strolling in the park with the dog … he’s a top walker. Carolyn Nicoll caught up with Sheffield resident Dan Walker to chat all things Yorkshire, life in lockdown, post-pandemic plans and some truly remarkable people.

I love living in Sheffield and the fact that it feels both big and small at the same time. It has the friendliness of a village

with the clout of a big city. My first Yorkshire holiday with my family was when I was 4 years old and I vaguely recollect visiting Sheffield’s Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet. In the mid-1990s I returned to Sheffield as a student and from the first minute I arrived I absolutely loved it, making some wonderful lifelong friends too. My wife - who is actually from the city - and I have lived in Liverpool, Manchester and London but we both always wanted to get back to Sheffield. I’ve never not been proud of being a Yorkshireman.

There is so much to do in Yorkshire. History, culture, sport and the great outdoors are

everywhere you look. Friends regularly travel up from London to stay with us and we have come nowhere near to exhausting the places we can go. It’s great visiting new venues, attractions and locations, there really is so much to discover. Plus there are so many fantastic golf courses In Yorkshire that could keep you going for years.

We enjoy taking the kids all over the county and stayed on a campsite near Scarborough last year and had a great time at

Flamborough. My wife’s family always have an annual trip to Whitby for fish & chips and we used to have friends who lived in Reeth so New Year there was always fun. One of my best mates lives in Thirsk and we’ve had lovely trips to places like Fountain’s Abbey and Castle Howard, and a day in the Yorkshire Dales is never wasted. Of course, living in Sheffield, the Peak District National Park is on our doorstep and as a family we regularly spend many hours walking and taking the kids on fantastic trails, marvelling at the magnificent landscape and breathtaking views, plus there are lots of outdoor pursuits to get involved with in a spectacular setting. Damflask Reservoir is a particular favourite for a walk and a pub lunch.

I think the coronavirus crisis has affected us all and I’m very thankful that I’ve still been able to work throughout the

pandemic. I presented Football Focus from our spare bedroom for 10 weeks during lockdown. The situation had a much bigger impact on our kids though. They are so happy to be back at school now. The virus also proved to me that my A in GCSE maths must have been a fluke because I was a mess when it came to algebra during homeschooling. (laughs)

I was really looking forward to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo but of course, that has been put off until next year because of

COVID-19. There was an incredibly exciting show planned for me to present which would have been so much fun. I was also meant to be filming a documentary looking at South Africa - 10 years on from the World Cup.

Aside from listening to fake crowd noise, the hardest part has been seeing friends and family struggling with the situation and to not be able to see or

hug people. I think we have all really missed church as a family too. It has reminded me of how important that is. It was also tough to cancel my charity golf day. We have raised thousands of pounds for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital over the last few years and we had to cancel that event which was scheduled to take place in September at Hallamshire Golf Club, but hopefully it’ll return in 2021.

There have been positive times during the last few months though and in lockdown, including spending time with family, which has been amazing.

I have also been able to write a book - which I don’t think I would have been able to do otherwise.

My new book, Remarkable

People, is out now. I was asked to write an autobiography but I was far more interested in writing about other people. I felt it was important to shine a light on some of those who have had a big impact on me over the years. All of them have been through a lot but still manage to make a huge positive impression on the people around them. I hope people enjoy reading it. There is a chapter all about Tony Foulds (Welcome

“I WAS ASKED TO WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY BUT I WAS FAR MORE INTERESTED IN WRITING ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE”

to Yorkshire’s Pride of Yorkshire award winner in 2019) and the flypast. It takes you through our first meeting in Endcliffe Park, Sheffield and how it all came about in the space of just a few short weeks. I still get asked about the flypast all the time, wherever I go, and I think it’s still lovely that so many people came to watch it live in Sheffield and millions saw it on TV.

A typical day for me is getting up at 3.11am to go to

work at BBC Breakfast. I do some filming on different programmes, go to the gym or for a run and walk Winnie, our cockapoo. I occasionally hit a few golf balls. Take the kids to an after-school club. Read, watch the news and prepare for BBC Breakfast. Eat cake and go to bed.

The BBC Breakfast team are so fantastic to work with and to be a part of. They work incredibly hard to make the programme as good as it can be every day - seven days a

week. It’s been great to cover some of the uplifting stories in amongst all the gloom this year. The not so best bits remain the time on the alarm clock when it goes off in the morning. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.

My favourite things to do are playing football with my kids. The two youngest have just got into it this year

and really enjoy having a kick about. I am a bit of a golf obsessive and would like to get down to a scratch handicap. I love being on the golf course without my phone. It’s a great place to relax.

Playing golf in the (Welcome to Yorkshire in partnership with SGH Sporting Events) Ian Woosnam

Senior Golf Classic at Ilkley Golf Club was brilliant. It was the first time I had played at Ilkley and it really is a wonderful course. The welcome was so warm and I was only a couple over before I walloped one into the River Wharfe. I would love to go back and play it again.

When life is back to normal I’m looking forward to hearing the roar of the crowd at a football match.

We can’t wait to have people around again and are looking forward to going on holiday, plus enjoying time out for birthday meals with friends. Professionally, I’m looking forward to not talking about coronavirus every morning and I’m thinking about writing another book.

Remarkable People by Dan Walker is published by Headline priced £20.00

IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I HAD PLAYED AT ILKLEY AND IT REALLY IS A WONDERFUL COURSE