Look North presenter Harry Gration celebrates 50 years of the programme by sharing his greatest memory, which is about Huddersfield.

There have been over 13,000 regular editions of Look North since we started in 1968 and I have presented very nearly 9,000 of those programmes!

People often ask me what the best ever moment of my 40 years in broadcasting has been.

I can say easily that Huddersfield Town’s promotion at Wembley last year is at the top of that list. It was a joy to share it with the club and those wonderful fans. Will anyone ever forget the face of Dean Hoyle as those penalties were taken? This to me is what makes my job so privileged. We live in the greatest county and we are surrounded by the best folk in the world, characters on every street.

Huddersfield Town celebrate winning the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

I have so many other memories over the years. Look North’s first ever broadcast came courtesy of Emley Moor, before I started on the programme of course! I wonder how many of your readers remember that the transmitter collapsed in March 1969 and provided the Examiner with some of its most memorable pictures. Indeed the sound of the 1,200 foot mast crashing to the ground could be heard for miles around.

Emley Moor Mast collapse

That leads me nicely on to one of my fondest memories of another scream … that of my co-presenter Amy Garcia. This was the precursor to the Tour de France’s Grand Depart when for Sport Relief in 2014 we cycled the 250 mile Tour de Yorkshire route on a tandem. Our climb up to Holme Moss in snow, 60mph winds and rain had Amy screaming: “This is worse than childbirth!” Fortunately, I will never know but she is a drama queen.

BBC Look North presenters, Harry Gration and Amy Garcia begin the Holme Moss ascent.

What that adventure did though was make us realise that for the actual Tour that location would be a favourite spot to see the world’s best cyclists. For me, it provided the perfect example of how the people of Huddersfield gave all of the media one of the most memorable sporting pictures of this century. No exaggeration. Some people say that 100 million people worldwide saw the greatest advert ever for this part of the world.

I have loved every minute of my 40 years at Look North and hope there are a few more years to come.

BBC Look North celebrates 50 years on March 25, 2018.