Tykes across the county were dusting off their flat caps and sprucing up their white roses to celebrate Yorkshire Day today with traditional food, brass band music and a special pin stripe suit.

Keith Madeley is a man with his fingers in many different Yorkshire pies.

In addition to his roles as chairman of the Yorkshire Society, business development consultant for Yorkshire Investment Group and Yorkshire Ambassador for British Urban Regeneration Association, he is known as Mr Yorkshire and even has his own website, www.mryorkshire.com.

Mr Madeley's suit is Yorkshire through and through, as along the pin stripe, in very small print, is written the word Yorkshire.

The suit is a true product of Yorkshire, it was designed in Bradford, woven in Keighley, finished in Huddersfield and tailored in Leeds.

Today Mr Madeley was speaking at this year's official Yorkshire Day celebrations, held in Hull - the city associated with William Wilberforce and the bi-centenary of the abolition of the slave trade.

"Yorkshire is a county and a country, it's bigger that a third of the European states. Years ago I spent some time working in London, and even back then, the pace of life was so quick. Things are more laid back up here in Yorkshire.

"Everyone who comes to the county always says how friendly people are. People have more time for other people in Yorkshire" he said.

Across the district the celebrations were starting in Ilkley with Chris Richards, Ilkley's town crier, hollering the official Yorkshire Day declaration at the traditional time of 11.24am.

This was being followed by a rousing rendition of On Ilkla Moor Bah't at and music by the Clifton Silver Band and the fun continued at the Clarke Foley Centre with a tea dance.

Tourist information centres in Bradford, Haworth and Ilkley had tasters of Yorkshire food and invited people to come in and sample some Yorkshire produce and take part in a quiz to win a Taylor's tea hamper.

Bradford-based tailors Greenwoods have been stocking up on their cloth caps. Manager Stan Roy said: "We sell lots of flat caps. We have always had the 40-plus customer, but recently they have become more popular with younger audiences, especially students.

"It is a traditional northern fashion item, so we also sell a lot of them to Japanese and American tourists."

Bradford Bulls players took time off from training to celebrate Yorkshire Day in style, by learning how to cook the perfect Yorkshire pudding.

Sam Burgess and Keal Carlile took a trip to Cue Gardens in Bradford, to learn from chef Danny Longstaff what makes a good Yorkshire pudding.

The players helped by adding a secret ingredient to the batter to help the puddings rise, a drop of Tetley's bitter, the official beer of the Bradford Bulls.

Mr Longstaff said: "The fluid part of a Yorkshire pudding is usually milk, however this can be fully substituted with Tetley's or just partly according to taste."

In Haworth the friends of the Brontë Parsonage Museum were celebrating the day with tea and cakes on the lawn.

And Pam Howorth and members of the Haworth Traders' Association sold the county's famous white roses to raise money for Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Writer Chris Firth, who has contributed to the book North Yorkshire One Nine, has written a poem about the white rose.

The book has been short listed for Yorkshire book of the year The third annual Tea on the Square staged by Keighley Town Council coincided with the town's Yorkshire Day celebrations, where music was provided by the Peter Stuart Band.

In Cross Hills, the festivities were centred on St Peter's Church, with a bouncy castle, Punch and Judy, face painting, balloon and a magic show.

Council leader Councillor Kris Hopkins said: "Yorkshire Day is important to me but first of all today is my daughter's birthday so it is a very happy day.

"There are issues about northern identity which are important. The struggle between the House of Lancaster and the House of York is still being played out but it has now moved to the point where it is banter across a cricket pitch.

"Yorkshire Day is a day to celebrate who we are."

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford Council's executive member for environment and culture, said: "Yorkshire Day highlights what a great county we live, work and play in and gives everyone the chance to celebrate."

l Mr Roy said the first three people to bring a copy of today's Telegraph & Argus into Greenwoods shop in Godwin Street, Bradford, would be given a free flat cap.

e-mail: ali.davies @bradford.newsquest.co.uk