My sporadic claim to be a Yorkshireman is usually viewed as being mildly tenuous, on the grounds that Kingston-upon-Hull is only historically a Yorkshire city. I counter by explaining that when I was born, it really was in the East Riding, the nonsense that was Humberside only staggering along a good while later, but frankly all that’s by the by: I’m a Yorkshireman, and there’s now’t you can do about it.
It’s with some pleasure, therefore, that I discover – via a circuitous route commencing at the erudite Mr. Coates‘ blog – that one famous son of the city was John Venn, of the Diagram. Most excellent. I have to wonder, however, why we never covered him on Local Heroes. He invented a cricket bowling machine? I feel a demo coming on…
(new word – humbercide – the killing off of stupid, soulless administrative regions)
Hull is in Yorkshire. Anyone who has ever lived within 40 miles of the Humber knows this with a knowledge as ancient as Boadica.
Anyway, yes – I’m sure you can mix Venn and cricket in a suitably amusing way.