AN ECCENTRIC Youtuber who was once described by a viewer as 'Lucy Worsley But Not As Posh' has visited Saltaire to film the latest instalment of her ongoing Yorkshire history series.
Locals might have seen Catherine Warr, an avid history fan and Peace Studies graduate at the University of Bradford, dressed in 19th century attire as she gave a fast-paced and "funky" brief history of the village.
After starting her channel, Yorkshire's Hidden History, in 2018, it's grown into a community of almost 2,000 followers - putting the facts straight on Yorkshire's history in an accessible format.
The 21-year-old first found a love of history when her parents took her to the region's museums and historic castles as a child.
As she grew up she began reading her mother's large collection of vintage and limited edition local history books.
After she joined a historical reenactment group, it meant she started collecting different costumes and accessories which went hand in hand with her videos.
From top hats to 1940s pilot gear, she has it all.
Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus, Catherine said: "I just loved history as a kid. I always loved it really. It wasn't until college that I got the idea to make videos about it.
"Luckily when you've got the internet there's a lot of stuff there because we can cross reference. I'm also lucky my parents happen to have a lot of books about Yorkshire but it's quite difficult sometimes just to make sure that something is correct. So you're always taking a risk in some ways, especially when it's niche local history."
When asked about how she comes up with ideas for the history channel, she explained two ways that inspiration finds her.
"The vast majority of Yorkshire battles, there's lots of them so I just tick them off one by one but others inspiration just comes out of the blue. Sometimes it just appears to me out of the ether.
"I've got a connection with Yorkshire.
"In local history, a lot of it is just Twitter accounts or blogs and although it's interesting to write about it you can tell the same passion as listening to someone talk.
"Like most people my age, Horrible Histories was a big gateway into history. It was fun, it was accessible, it was easy to understand. I want everyone to watch it, you don't have to have studied history. There's always a touch of humour as well.
"I'm showing that actually it's for everyone. As someone who's very working class and I talk with quite a broad accent, I'm trying to change the narrative that presenting documentaries is for the institutional historians."
Some of Catherine's most popular videos showing off Bradford's history include her most recent exploration of Saltaire, Titus Salt's model village, a brief guide to the Bradford Bull's and the Siege of Bradford, or the Battle of the Steeple.
Just two of Catherine's favourite places in the district include The Peace Museum, where she volunteered for a short time, and Bradford Cathedral, which was built on a site used for Christian worship since the 8th century.
Her videos, inspired by Bolton's Fred Dibnah, have proved popular with people across the globe with Catherine being watched on phone screen's in Canada, America, and across Europe.
From those who left their hometown in their youth to longtime residents who knew nothing about their area's history, Catherine has opened up the eyes of hundreds of people to not only hidden history elsewhere in Yorkshire, but Bradford's too.
You can find Catherine's videos on Youtube by searching for 'Yorkshire's Hidden History'.
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