Our Great Yorkshire Life

Peter Wright visits a donkey sanctuary, where Donald and Alf, two rescued donkeys, are hopefully about to be rehomed if they can pass Peter's health check. Adam and Moira Domican-Gough from Ingleton share their experiences of living off-grid. In Horsforth, Leeds-born chef Matt Healy is on the cusp of realising his lifelong dream of opening his own restaurant in the town where he grew up.

Farmers Rob and Dave Nicholson are set to enjoy a day away from Cannon Hall Farm, they've planned a day of fossil hunting with amateur palaeontologist Brian Foster on Yorkshire's Jurassic coastline for their brother Richard. Plus, journalist Christa Ackroyd travels to Halifax in West Yorkshire to find out more about the life of the town's most famous heroine Anne Lister.

Florist Sarah Richardson is charged with arranging a showcase display at Newby Hall in North Yorkshire, the chosen venue for this year's prestigious Harrogate Autumn Flower Show. Bellmen and women from across the North of England gather in Knaresborough for the annual town crier competition, and Christa Ackroyd meets horse trainer Brian Smart, before visiting the St Leger Festival in Doncaster.

Semi-retired Yorkshire vet Peter Wright and wife Lin meet potter Rachel Whitfield, who uses natural products found in the wild to augment her glazes and create pottery with a distinct Yorkshire twist. At the Bolton Estate, head gamekeeper Ian Sleightholme sets out to complete a controlled burning, a traditional practice that encourages new shoots that feed birds and livestock.

Yorkshire Vet Julian Norton continues his exploration of his home county when he meets up with Three Peaks Park Ranger Ian Colledge as they head up Whernside, the highest mountain in Yorkshire. Ian and his team help maintain miles of paths and stone walls that weave up and through the National Park. Today, Julian gets hands-on as they race to rebuild a stile on the Cumbria boundary.

Journalist Christa Ackroyd investigates the life and mysterious death of Louis Le Prince, the ‘father of cinematography'. The Frenchman moved to Leeds in 1866 and, in 1888, produced what are thought to be the very first moving pictures ever recorded. But Le Prince disappeared in unusual circumstances not long after and his pioneering work has since been almost airbrushed from the history books.

In Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, luxury cat hotel managers Jo and Phil Ounsley have a special day planned for three VIP guests, Brian, Boo and Kate. Their holidaying owners are Las Vegas fanatics, so the team are pulling out the stops to put on a fitting themed night at the hotel that includes Moghito cocktails – non-alcoholic milk, cat nip and liver blends – and a banquet of sea bass, prawns and salmon, all with a glorious Vegas backdrop.

And three miles from the centre of Leeds, a local community project brings the taste of countryside to the suburbs. The Kirkstall Valley Farm, run mainly by volunteers, provides seasonal veg to a growing number of locals. Today the pressure is on retired printer Keith Hodgson (or Tractor Keith, as he's known). Recent wet weather has put back their potato harvest but 40 veg boxes need to be sorted for customers who are about to collect their produce.

Emmerdale actor Dean Andrews takes Lancastrian co-star pal Liam Fox to the Dales to find out how the world-famous Wensleydale cheese is made. Trevor Sharples, proud custodian of Dales cheesemaking, invites them behind the scenes where methods first introduced to Wensleydale by 12th-century French Cistercian monks are still used. And then, trained chef Dean cooks up some cheesy treats for Foxy from his own family cookbook.

In West Yorkshire, Richard Bradley and Cheryl Rhodes have a big day ahead. They're launching a new venture that is as Yorkshire as it gets: from their barge Dutch Lady they are rolling out their British tweed flat cap products to the public before embarking on a mission to design and produce their own bespoke tweed that will inspire a new range of designs. Will 18 months of hard work pay off?

There's a big day ahead for a unique sporting team in West Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Football Team, part of the World Unity Football Alliance, is preparing for their first match in over two years against Kashmir FA. It's a huge game for the players recruited from semi-professional teams around the county, and manager Ryan Farrell and captain Patrick McGuire have their eyes set firmly on the coveted trophy.

And four miles from Ripon in North Yorkshire, it's the final day of the season at Newby Hall, a grade 1-listed building set in 25 acres of garden. The house is closed to the public for the winter but before then the team have a final day extravaganza that involves miniature railway rides and the hotly contested apple throwing championships over the River Ure.

Barnsley farmers Rob and Dave Nicholson head to Halifax to find out more about their mum's side of the family. They start at Dean Clough Mill where their mum Cynthia started work as a 15 year old before heading to the Shibden estate – a place grandma Olive took them for days out as kids. It's their first trip back in 40 years. They also look inside the home of celebrated diarist Anne Lister, aka Gentleman Jack, and visit the kitchen their great grandmother Eliza worked in as a cook in the 1900s.

In South Yorkshire, an ambitious restoration project is nearing completion on the unique monument Keppel's Column. The 35-metre-high folly, commissioned in 1773, has been inaccessible to the public for decades but as Rotherham council's Lisa Haworth is about to find out, that's all about to change.

At the Humber lifeboat station on Spurn Point in East Yorkshire, it's a big day for Sean ‘Chez' Cheston. He's training to be a coxswain and his seafaring skills are about to be tested to the max as he leads a ‘man overboard' exercise under the watchful eye of station coxswain Joe Pieniak. If Chez passes today's test, he could be leading a real rescue in a few weeks' time.

And in Horsforth, six miles from Leeds, things are buzzing for local chef Matt Healy. His newly opened restaurant is going from strength to strength, and he's now looking to extend his menu and add new desserts that are grounded in Yorkshire heritage. Matt heads to a rhubarb farm in Rothwell which is in the centre of Yorkshire's famous rhubarb triangle where fifth generation farmer, Lindsay Hulme, shows Matt the dark art of forced rhubarb production before Matt serves up rhubarb treats to Lindsay back at the restaurant.

Emmerdale's Dean Andrews takes co-star pal and Lancastrian Liam Fox to York to investigate the city's illustrious Roman past. In the York Museum gardens, they meet archaeologist Kurt Hunter-Mann who has spent 4 years excavating a second century fortress tower before they meet head curator Andrew Morrison who shows them the remains of the Roman Empire's most legendary character – a gladiator. Finally, Kurt takes them to the basement of a pub where they are shown one of the city's greatest archaeological finds – a bath house – uncovered by builders nearly a century ago.

In Malton, proud locals are now proclaiming their town to be the gastro capital of Yorkshire. In recent years many artisan producers have set up shop, one of whom is trail blazing Florian Poirot who has been wowing the foodies with his award-winning pastries for three years. Florian's speciality is macaron, a sweet delicacy first created in Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century. Today, Florian is about to throw out the rule book with a brand-new savoury macaron but will Malton's tastebuds be ready for it?

At Newby Hall, the grounds of the stately home are about to be the setting for a spectacular contest full of fizz, bang and pyrotechnic wallop. It's the 19th National Firework Champions competition and representing Yorkshire are Andy Pittam and Mark Johnson who will be leading the Pontefract-based Blaze fireworks team.

And at his 200 acre farm in Southowram, Halifax, twenty-five-year-old farmer Stephen Short needs to prioritise his young livestock today. It's lambing season for his prize Hampshire Down flock. The vigilant farmer needs to keep a watchful eye across his three lambing sheds as the last two days have seen 12 lambs born and more and more ewes are due to lamb at any moment.

Yorkshire Vet Peter Wright is helping out wife Lin in the kitchen as they prepare to serve up Sunday lunch for his visiting brother David and his wife Denise. Then Peter and Lin visit Malton, the market town that locals proudly proclaim to be the gastro capital of Yorkshire. They meet up with craft brewer Howard Kinder and help him create a beer with Yorkshire puddings.

On the east coast, we catch up with fifth generation fisherman Will Jenkinson. In summer and spring Will spends most days at sea but in the colder months when crabs and lobsters are hibernating, Will and crew carry out important repair work in their warehouse. At home we meet Will's family and discover if there will be a sixth generation of Jenkinson's fishing off the coast of Scarborough in coming years.

In Southowram, West Yorkshire twenty-five-year-old farmer Stephen Short is enjoying the fruits of his hard labour. His flock of 200 sheep has been bolstered by 150 new lambs and in his calving sheds, there are 18 new calves. But his focus today is with new sheep dog pup Whin, she's a bit of a loose cannon and Stephen needs to train her up if she is to become a fully-fledged member of his workforce.

And in the Yorkshire Dales, off-grid living Adam and Moira Domican-Gough are making progress at Crina Bottom, a remote 17th century farmhouse tucked away in a corner of the Dales near the village of Ingleton. Today, they are putting the finishing touches to their tea and cake kiosk that they hope will tempt in passing tourists and they are preparing for a VIP guest as 105-year-old Margaret drops into Crina Bottom, which was her mother's childhood home in the 1890s.

In Dewsbury, Jo Ounsley, husband Phil and concierge Sally are preparing for the first-time visit of Bengal Romeo, whose owner is jetting off to the Maldives to celebrate her birthday. The team are working hard to make sure Romeo will be pampered during his stay and are also entertaining regular visitor Lola whose owners are heading off for an east coast break. Jo, Phil and Sally are decking out Lola's room with a coastal theme and they've shipped in fresh fish from Whitby as an à la carte treat.

In Wakefield, model railway enthusiast Simon George is putting the finishing touches to his 200-foot-long replica of a 1.5 mile stretch of real track he remembers from his childhood in the 1980s. The detail in Simon's work is jaw-dropping, with over 100,000 individual components, all created from diligent research and personal memories. Once complete, Simon plans to break down his model and transport it for a display in Wakefield centre but moving this huge, fragile railway could easily hit the buffers.

Journalist Christa Ackroyd visits the Wentworth Woodhouse stately home near Rotherham, which is twice as wide as Buckingham Palace and is the largest single house ever built for a private family in the whole of Europe. With an amazing 365 rooms and five miles of corridors this 1730s stately home had fallen into disrepair but it's now undergoing a complete restoration by a team led by facilities manager Julie Readman and Dame Julie Kenny.

And the village of Crakehall is the location for a feisty competition when Jonathan Firby's team take on local rival Dickie Broach in a game of Quoits. The traditional northern game was popular among the Yorkshire mining communities in the 1880s and is now enjoining a resurgence.