PROUD Bradford man, Jim Coulson, is on a mission to find the most family-friendly towns and cities across Yorkshire.
Jim, who is from Burley in Wharfedale, is documenting his travels on his blog and YouTube channel under the pseudonym Bewildered Dad.
He has visited a number of places during his travels, creating video family guides for Otley, Wakefield and Knaresborough to name a few.
While his current videos are designed to save the parents of the world and give them ideas for days out in the week, that wasn’t always the intention of the blog.
He said: “I started a parenting blog when I was expecting my first child, Elsa.
“We were reading a lot of parenting books and we realized that you can’t really take them as gospel.
“They all say completely different things with wildly varied things about what is the right thing to do.”
Since then, it transformed into a Yorkshire blog and a place for Jim to talk about his passion and love for the county.
He added: “I’ve always wanted to write about my love of Yorkshire but never had the place to do it.
“Now I make videos, mess around and go and visit as much of Yorkshire as I can.”
Jim’s children also play a big part in his videos.
(Instagram/@bewildereddad)
Elsa, 7 and Seth, 5, explore the Yorkshire towns with their Dad- and also take part in some of the more theatrical scenes of the video.
Jim said: “They enjoy having that time to explore the county with me and have inherited my ‘show off’ gene.
“They love watching themselves back- it’s nice to have those memories.
“When they’re teenagers they will probably hate it but hopefully when they are adults they will be grateful for the videos.”
The most family friendly Yorkshire towns and cities
Jim said he started his travel guide segment to visit new places and also to take part in activities that some people might not think about exploring.
He said: “Some parents might be in the same position as me and think- what can we do and where can we go in our local area?”
According to his videos, Jim is yet to encounter a Yorkshire town and city that isn’t family friendly.
He said: “I think one of the big takeaways from making these videos is that there is family friendly stuff everywhere if you look for it.
“I always struggle to cut down the videos, I’m never filling for time.”
However, one of the family’s favourite Yorkshire locations to visit was Halifax.
He said “It’s a great destination and I particularly liked the wide open space of the Piece Hall.
(Photo: Halifax Piece Hall
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Chris Allen - geograph.org.uk/p/6615377)
“I’d like to go back and do a new version of the video now my boy is older.”
Mr Coulson also enjoyed exploring Bradford and said there is plenty to do with the family.
He said: “Bradford has big parks and so many great museums like the Science and Media Museum and the Industrial Museum. “
(Facebook/@bewildereddad)
One of his most viewed videos on his YouTube channel is the Bewildered Family Guide to Keighley.
He said: “People in this area might be down about where they live and think there isn’t much to do in Keighley.
“But there’s a surprising amount of things to do in the area”
In the video, Jim and the editor of Northern Life magazine talk about some of the best family-friendly attractions such as Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and Cliff Castle.
And where are some of West Yorkshire’s hidden gem cities, towns and villages.
Jim insists there is one right outside his door.
“I’ve never done a video about my where I live, which is Burley in Wharfedale- but it is a hidden gem spot,” he explained.
“There are a range of cafes and the play area is getting bigger and bigger.
“There are some real beauty spots and you can go for walks nearby the River Wharfe.”
“However, make sure you don’t all come at once or the queue to get a coffee will get too long,” he joked.
Once lockdown ends, Jim plans to explore and document even more areas of Yorkshire and hopes to focus more on eastern areas of the region.
Where would you like him to visit next?
If you want to keep up to date with Jim’s videos make sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel.
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