What do you think?
Rate this book
Neither Nowt Nor Summat
Ian McMillan has lived all his life in Darfield, a village near Barnsley. He counts himself a proud Yorkshireman and he knows that his affection for his home has shaped him in more ways than he understands. So Ian embarks on a journey in search of Yorkshire past, present and imaginary, to try to find out what lies at the heart. From Elsecar Old Colliery to York Minster, via Ilkley, Hull and Jesus Not Horsbury, Ian tries to answer important questions is Yorkshire the most competitive county? What is Yorkshire Time and how long is 'in a bit'?
354 pages, Hardcover
First published June 25, 2015
7 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Ian McMillan
71 books18 followersIan McMillan is a British poet, journalist, playwright and broadcaster who has continued to live in Darfield.
McMillan graduated from North Staffordshire Polytechnic in 1978. He started performing on the live poetry circuit in the 1970s. He has had several volumes of poetry published for both adults and children. He is an enthusiastic advocate of poetry. In addition he has had journalism published in Q magazine, Mojo magazine and writes a weekly column in his home town's local newspaper, The Barnsley Chronicle''. He has the unique honour of being the first poet in residence to a football club, his hometown Barnsley FC.
His play Sister Josephine Kicks the Habit, based on the work of fellow Yorkshireman Jake Thackray premiered in 2005.
McMillan graduated from North Staffordshire Polytechnic in 1978. He started performing on the live poetry circuit in the 1970s. He has had several volumes of poetry published for both adults and children. He is an enthusiastic advocate of poetry. In addition he has had journalism published in Q magazine, Mojo magazine and writes a weekly column in his home town's local newspaper, The Barnsley Chronicle''. He has the unique honour of being the first poet in residence to a football club, his hometown Barnsley FC.
His play Sister Josephine Kicks the Habit, based on the work of fellow Yorkshireman Jake Thackray premiered in 2005.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 31, 2016
I've been lucky enough to live in Yorkshire for nearly half my life - I count myself very fortunate . But perhaps this is a book more for people who don't live in the county, maybe they would get more out of it than I did.
McMillan lives in South Yorkshire and the book is very much centred in this area. I live in North Yorkshire and he seemed keen to dismiss this part as the 'posh' or 'tourist' area without giving much thought to all the many thousands who are neither posh nor tourists and live and work here.
McMillan lives in South Yorkshire and the book is very much centred in this area. I live in North Yorkshire and he seemed keen to dismiss this part as the 'posh' or 'tourist' area without giving much thought to all the many thousands who are neither posh nor tourists and live and work here.
June 20, 2015
The 'Bard of Barnsley', Ian McMillan attempts to find the essence of what it is to be 'Yorkshire'. Although 'Not Yorkshire Enough', in his own words, McMillan has carved a career as a poet and writer with a distinctive Yorkshire voice. Travelling the length and breadth of the County McMillan explores the influences on his own life and work and reflects on how they link to this idea of being 'Yorkshire'. A proud and independent people, the people of Yorkshire are far more than beer, flat caps, avarice and yorkshire pudding.
In fact, this book is 'Not Yorkshire Enough'! McMillan is a South Yorkshire man and therefore the majority of the book focuses on South Yorkshire, specifically the Barnsley area. Even as a native of West Yorkshire who has worked in South Yorkshire in the past, I can see the differences in dialect, habits etc. Therefore I almost read this book as though a 'foreigner' from outside God's Own Country. Having said that McMillan is an amusing writer who easily gets sidetracked and has a wry sense of the absurd. I didn't dislike the book but it didn't exactly do what it said it would!
In fact, this book is 'Not Yorkshire Enough'! McMillan is a South Yorkshire man and therefore the majority of the book focuses on South Yorkshire, specifically the Barnsley area. Even as a native of West Yorkshire who has worked in South Yorkshire in the past, I can see the differences in dialect, habits etc. Therefore I almost read this book as though a 'foreigner' from outside God's Own Country. Having said that McMillan is an amusing writer who easily gets sidetracked and has a wry sense of the absurd. I didn't dislike the book but it didn't exactly do what it said it would!
September 3, 2015
This is a witty rumination on what being from Yorkshire means. He travels around the county but never, mentally at least, strays far from his own patch. I chuckled many times, and that's enough of a recommendation.
November 12, 2017
A most enjoyable read as Ian McMillan seeks to define what being from Yorkshire means. Ian travels the length and breadth of the county meeting many characters, the book is both humorous and thought provoking.
July 16, 2016
This book wanders. This book meanders, as the poet goes on a search for Yorkshire and what makes it what it is. He looks for the epic in the seemingly trivial and often is in danger of the delivering a trivial epic. There are certainly long stretches of the book that show no evidence of the editorial blue pencil. At times it is difficult to distinguish McMillan's search for meaning with that of his fictional Yorkshire neighbour, John Shuttleworth. Except McMillan is a storyteller and Shuttleworth a story; and Shuttleworth often that bit more believable. McMillan is certainly guilty of making up a lot of his anecdotes (so it seems to me) or liberally refining them to suit his purpose. The body language of his prose as much of a giveaway as a Yorkshire batsman taking a close interest in the crowd after the ball snicks his bat on the way to the wicketkeeper's gloves and the umpire's finger stays down.
When he stops waffling he is suddenly very good indeed. And very funny. If you go and see him perform he'll delight you, make you laugh, a lot. I've seen him several times and will go again. And he makes you laugh here when he hits the nail on the head. When he stops trying too hard to be "The Bard of Barnsley". When he stops embroidering his prose with rich homely similes or dropping in a fancy poetic term (about every seventeen pages) to prove his bona fides.
To point out the many contradictions in the text is to point out what is meant. Yorkshire is a contradiction. It's the ugliest county and the most beautiful. It isn't posh but has some of the most unbearable snobs on God's earth. It's got local hairdressers where you can have your arse bored off by the same conversation every time you pop in for light trim. A place where you can confuse ordinary people for characters and characters for ordinary people. And it's true and honest. But what would I know? I'm a Lancastrian.
I like his search for a perfect pork pie. I like his search, with poet Steve Ely (a very different type of poet; stronger, grittier, more complex and with something that truly captures what it is to be Yorkshire) for the poet Ted Hughes. I'll be off to Roche Abbey very soon to sit by Laughton Pool and read his poem Pike in the likely knowledge that I am at the very spot where it was inspired. I like the parts of the book where he tells the story of his journey simply and without the cap and bells of poetic device or rambling anecdote. And I like these parts of the book enough to overlook the parts of the journey when you want to shout "Are we nearly there yet?" or "Gerron wi' it!" It's like being in Yorkshire. Lots of grit and grot but when you look up, a glorious old mill or a castle on top of a hill and the sun coming out from behind a cloud.
I'm not sure that extended prose is McMillan's strong point but he has an undoubted love of words which is infectious. He's charmed and entertained audiences for 35 years without ever saying a great deal. And that is a strength. Some might say he's got away wi' it. Managed to have a good life without ever having to get a proper job. He doesn't like being called a professional Yorkshireman but he wears the badge with pride. I kept thinking the book "were going on a bit" but now I've finished it I'm beginning to miss it. Pinning down what makes it good (and it is good) isn't easy. Like Yorkshire.
When he stops waffling he is suddenly very good indeed. And very funny. If you go and see him perform he'll delight you, make you laugh, a lot. I've seen him several times and will go again. And he makes you laugh here when he hits the nail on the head. When he stops trying too hard to be "The Bard of Barnsley". When he stops embroidering his prose with rich homely similes or dropping in a fancy poetic term (about every seventeen pages) to prove his bona fides.
To point out the many contradictions in the text is to point out what is meant. Yorkshire is a contradiction. It's the ugliest county and the most beautiful. It isn't posh but has some of the most unbearable snobs on God's earth. It's got local hairdressers where you can have your arse bored off by the same conversation every time you pop in for light trim. A place where you can confuse ordinary people for characters and characters for ordinary people. And it's true and honest. But what would I know? I'm a Lancastrian.
I like his search for a perfect pork pie. I like his search, with poet Steve Ely (a very different type of poet; stronger, grittier, more complex and with something that truly captures what it is to be Yorkshire) for the poet Ted Hughes. I'll be off to Roche Abbey very soon to sit by Laughton Pool and read his poem Pike in the likely knowledge that I am at the very spot where it was inspired. I like the parts of the book where he tells the story of his journey simply and without the cap and bells of poetic device or rambling anecdote. And I like these parts of the book enough to overlook the parts of the journey when you want to shout "Are we nearly there yet?" or "Gerron wi' it!" It's like being in Yorkshire. Lots of grit and grot but when you look up, a glorious old mill or a castle on top of a hill and the sun coming out from behind a cloud.
I'm not sure that extended prose is McMillan's strong point but he has an undoubted love of words which is infectious. He's charmed and entertained audiences for 35 years without ever saying a great deal. And that is a strength. Some might say he's got away wi' it. Managed to have a good life without ever having to get a proper job. He doesn't like being called a professional Yorkshireman but he wears the badge with pride. I kept thinking the book "were going on a bit" but now I've finished it I'm beginning to miss it. Pinning down what makes it good (and it is good) isn't easy. Like Yorkshire.
October 29, 2017
Some would say this book might have benefited from some ruthless editing. I think they would be misunderstanding the vital serendipitous rhapsody of rambling that's at the heart of this book. They wouldn't say it if they were from the Dearne Valley, like me. They wouldn't say it if they always lived on Barnsley time, wherever in the world they found themselves. Perhaps they'd say it - hold the clapper on Darfield church clock- because they're NYE - "not Yorkshire enough." A cracking read, Ian!
January 6, 2021
A good tour through my home county, however it is largely centred on South Yorkshire, there is very little mention on West, North and East, other than a trip to Hull for Easy Yorkshire, and a brief trip to the tourist bits of North Yorkshire, which is what he bases his opinion of North Yorks on. Maybe it should be In search of the meaning of South Yorkshire?
August 20, 2025
Subtitled In search of the meaning of Yorkshire, Neither Nowt Nor Summat is a journey through ‘Gods Own County’, accompanied by the Bard of Barnsley, Ian McMillan. If you’re from Yorkshire, you’ll most likely be familiar with Ian’s poetry and views of Yorkshire. If they need a Yorkshireman on Look North, Calendar or any local news programme, then he’ll be wheeled out to give his views.
Ian is Yorkshire through and through, like Dickie Bird or Harry Gration, his views on the county are legendary. He seems to effortlessly write poetry for any occasion, at the drop of a hat (or is that drop of t’at?) Here he pushes aside the poetic lines, relying on prose to tell his journey through the county. Ian’s from Barnsley and it’s from his home time in Darfield he starts his journey to discover if he’s Yorkshire enough. Having a mixed heritage, a father from Scotland and a mother from Barnsley, he reckons he’s not Yorkshire enough.
Travelling around the county from west to east, south to north, he sees Yorkshire through new eyes. Mixed in with this essential Yorkshire travelogue, are autobiographical experiences told in his uncompromising style. His observations are at all times funny. He breathes life into the story so much you even begin to read with that Yorkshire accent.
From pork pies to giant floating Yorkshire pudding boats, it’s a new take on the county of my birth. I recognise events in the book, titter at the observations and nod sagely at his conclusions. It makes me see the county through fresh eyes. It shows how divided we are, yet all together in being Yorkshire. To paraphrase a saying ‘we’re all Wednesday Yorkshire, aren’t we?
This is a brilliant read. You feel the cloth caps and whippets as you read on, see how the county was shaped and laugh at Ian’s experiences. If Ian isn’t Yorkshire enough, then none of us are.
February 17, 2020
Subtitled In search of the meaning of Yorkshire, Neither Nowt Nor Summat is a journey through ‘Gods Own County’, accompanied by the Bard of Barnsley, Ian McMillan. If you’re from Yorkshire, you’ll most likely be familiar with Ian’s poetry and views of Yorkshire. If they need a Yorkshireman on Look North, Calendar or any local news programme, then he’ll be wheeled out to give his views.
Ian is Yorkshire through and through, like Dickie Bird or Harry Gration, his views on the county are legendary. He seems to effortlessly write poetry for any occasion, at the drop of a hat (or is that drop of t’at?) Here he pushes aside the poetic lines, relying on prose to tell his journey through the county. Ian’s from Barnsley and it’s from his home time in Darfield he starts his journey to discover if he’s Yorkshire enough. Having a mixed heritage, a father from Scotland and a mother from Barnsley, he reckons he’s not Yorkshire enough.
Travelling around the county from west to east, south to north, he sees Yorkshire through new eyes. Mixed in with this essential Yorkshire travelogue, are autobiographical experiences told in his uncompromising style. His observations are at all times funny. He breathes life into the story so much you even begin to read with that Yorkshire accent.
From pork pies to giant floating Yorkshire pudding boats, it’s a new take on the county of my birth. I recognise events in the book, titter at the observations and nod sagely at his conclusions. It makes me see the county through fresh eyes. It shows how divided we are, yet all together in being Yorkshire. To paraphrase a saying ‘we’re all Wednesday Yorkshire, aren’t we?
This is a brilliant read. You feel the cloth caps and whippets as you read on, see how the county was shaped and laugh at Ian’s experiences. If Ian isn’t Yorkshire enough, then none of us are.
September 15, 2022
I bought this expecting a fairly bog-standard travelogue, where he'd go around the sights of Yorkshire, making witty observations. Actually, it's probably more about the author himself than about Yorkshire, and that's not really a bad thing.
The author seems to be a bit self aware, and knows that's he's a bit poncy for a Yorkshire lad, but he does it anyway. I felt like could kind of relate.
I'd be interested to hear what non Yorkshire folk make of it, whether lots of it basically goes over their heads.
I wouldn't call it laugh out loud funny but I frequently did a wry smile and looked into the distance for five seconds. It's a well-layered book, constantly referencing itself in clever ways.
The author seems to be a bit self aware, and knows that's he's a bit poncy for a Yorkshire lad, but he does it anyway. I felt like could kind of relate.
I'd be interested to hear what non Yorkshire folk make of it, whether lots of it basically goes over their heads.
I wouldn't call it laugh out loud funny but I frequently did a wry smile and looked into the distance for five seconds. It's a well-layered book, constantly referencing itself in clever ways.
July 27, 2019
After watching dales and lakes on TV,I started reading this book.unbeknownst to me I had got the narrators voice in my head,it wasn't till a couple of chapters in I realised he had wrote the book.an interesting travelogue of Yorkshire accompanied by his dry wit and sideways view on the world he would have made a lovely accompaniment to last of the summer wine crew.
May 24, 2017
That wa' orreight.
December 23, 2018
One of my favourite broadcasters (although he doesn't appear so high on my list of poets) making wry observations of Yorkshire and his place in it.
July 16, 2022
A marvellous travelogue from a masterful guide.
November 18, 2025
Really good if you have lovely memories of the places mentioned in the book
January 21, 2022
Ian McMillan's exploration of what Yorkshire is spending much of that time in the Dearne Valley. Darfield is Ian's birth place and he still lives there, much of the book talks about the village and surrounding areas, as well as venturing further afield. Along the way je looks at the perfect Yorkshire Pudding and visits Ilkley Moor minus his hat. Entertaining read especially if you're from Yorkshire and even more so if you're familiar with the places he talks about.
July 1, 2015
Neither Nowt nor Summat is Ian McMillan's look at what it means to be from Yorkshire, or more precisely what is Yorkshireness. The book is his response to his personal fear, that despite being born in Yorkshire, to a Yorkshire mother, having a Scottish father muddy's the water making him NYE or Not Yorkshire Enough.
The book is a mixture of travelogue and anecdotes taken from his personal life. While there might be a heartfelt need to prove his Yorkshire credentials, it is also a lighthearted look at the history, culture and stereotypes that typify Yorkshire.
As someone born in God's own County myself, (thankfully long before non sensical Government tinkering would have meant I was doomed to have Humberside on my birth certificate) I enjoyed this book. Incidentally I've always thought I was a Hullensian not Hullonian, so you might want to check that out before a return visit to 'Ull. For me it was part trip down memory lane, remembering words and phrases that are lost when one becomes exiled and part education knowing where they came from in the first place. It was lovely revisiting well known places and visiting some that were new. It was full of Yorkshireisms that make you remember that you can indeed take the man/woman out of Yorkshire but you'll never take Yorkshire out of the man/woman. Of course it displayed examples of the old stereotypes, but stereotypes inevitably contain a nugget of truth. Although personally I feel the notion that we are tight is one promoted by people wi' more money than sense or spendthrifts!
Whether it is possible to define Yorkshireness, I'm not sure - we're a complex breed, but this book gives it a good go. From characteristics, beliefs, language and outlook. Despite the size of the County, the differences between town and country, industrialised locales and rural, there is an integral core that any Yorkshireman/woman would recognise in another and this book attempts to show that.
This is a book for any self respecting Yorkshire person to enjoy, as it confirms our own credentials. It is also a good book for any non Yorkshire person, to introduce them to some of the delights of Yorkshire and to help them understand why we are so proud of our Yorkshireness.
I received an ARC via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
September 29, 2016
I'd've read this book anyway, but I selected it for my Book Café's tricky theme of the month: a character or author who makes you go "Wow" I kind of knew the book itself would probably not do that... but the fact remains that despite being a Barnsley resident for only the first 31 days of my life and not much exposed to Barnsley accents during the rest... when Ian McMillan speaks there is a "Wow" which goes straight to the centre of my being, that says "Home"
Ideally therefore, I would have gone for the audiobook version but that wasn't going to work out. And I enjoyed the book and it is very much Ian McMillan. It's a load of waffle... kalling, as he might put it....and I enjoyed it, and laughed and smiled and occasionally stabbed lightly in the heart. Although you think he is all over the place with it, he does know what he is doing and where he is going and he gets back where he's come from in all kinds of ways. Much of the warm feeling is the resonance of place names, so it may all seem to have come too easily, but that's his skill.
There's a lot about being jobbing poet - a jobbing poet who takes his grandson to school and still lives in the same village. It's an unwieldy thing - very much centred on his own home, on South Yorkshire and whilst he makes forays to other parts of the county you can tell he doesn't get quite enough out of it nor do them justice.
Ideally therefore, I would have gone for the audiobook version but that wasn't going to work out. And I enjoyed the book and it is very much Ian McMillan. It's a load of waffle... kalling, as he might put it....and I enjoyed it, and laughed and smiled and occasionally stabbed lightly in the heart. Although you think he is all over the place with it, he does know what he is doing and where he is going and he gets back where he's come from in all kinds of ways. Much of the warm feeling is the resonance of place names, so it may all seem to have come too easily, but that's his skill.
There's a lot about being jobbing poet - a jobbing poet who takes his grandson to school and still lives in the same village. It's an unwieldy thing - very much centred on his own home, on South Yorkshire and whilst he makes forays to other parts of the county you can tell he doesn't get quite enough out of it nor do them justice.
July 2, 2016
Ian McMillan is a poet and it really shows. I absolutely love travel writing and when I find something that's this beautifully written I find it a huge shame to finish it.
So this is a trip around Yorkshire, which is a wonderous county, trying to discover the essence of the place. What it is that makes Yorkshire so special? To be honest I think that McMillan finally comes to the conclusion that you can't actually put your finger on it. Yorkshire is what it is (fantastic) and that's all there is to it.
But to get to that point we travel from Barnsley to Doncaster to Sheffield to York to Scarborough and beyond. Alongside historical snippets there are snippets of McMillan's life and experiences around the county. And as Yorkshire is fairly indescribable so is this book. You'll have to read, and enjoy, it for yourself. I really really think you should.
Plus, it mentions Henderson's Relish. Which is brilliant.
So this is a trip around Yorkshire, which is a wonderous county, trying to discover the essence of the place. What it is that makes Yorkshire so special? To be honest I think that McMillan finally comes to the conclusion that you can't actually put your finger on it. Yorkshire is what it is (fantastic) and that's all there is to it.
But to get to that point we travel from Barnsley to Doncaster to Sheffield to York to Scarborough and beyond. Alongside historical snippets there are snippets of McMillan's life and experiences around the county. And as Yorkshire is fairly indescribable so is this book. You'll have to read, and enjoy, it for yourself. I really really think you should.
Plus, it mentions Henderson's Relish. Which is brilliant.
November 18, 2016
As McMillan states this book is not so much about Yorkshire, but about the author and poet and his relationship with the County.
McMillan’s experiences are shared with a myriad cast of characters who we see through the eyes of the Bard of Barnsley. Perhaps my roots shine through as I giggled and chortled my way around a region that is larger than, richer than and has more people than several European countries, certainly my other half did not see the funny side of
“Because there were two fours in the number I surmised that I was on the forty-fourth floor.”
Given the recent news that regional accent (and dialects) are dying out, this book can stand as a eulogy to a language that evokes a people who are strong and dour, or generous and community driven – perhaps all four. McMillan provides a range of personal anecdotes and historic fact in a loose, but compelling, structure that carries us on a personal journey to become “Yorkshire Enough”.
McMillan’s experiences are shared with a myriad cast of characters who we see through the eyes of the Bard of Barnsley. Perhaps my roots shine through as I giggled and chortled my way around a region that is larger than, richer than and has more people than several European countries, certainly my other half did not see the funny side of
“Because there were two fours in the number I surmised that I was on the forty-fourth floor.”
Given the recent news that regional accent (and dialects) are dying out, this book can stand as a eulogy to a language that evokes a people who are strong and dour, or generous and community driven – perhaps all four. McMillan provides a range of personal anecdotes and historic fact in a loose, but compelling, structure that carries us on a personal journey to become “Yorkshire Enough”.
February 20, 2016
Required reading
By turns poignant and very funny Ian McMillan casts a tender and affectionate pen over the character and essence of Yorkshire and its people. If you are looking for an explanation of Yorkshireness, there is none to be found; its a bit like Jazz - if you have to have it explained, you'll never understand what it is.
By turns poignant and very funny Ian McMillan casts a tender and affectionate pen over the character and essence of Yorkshire and its people. If you are looking for an explanation of Yorkshireness, there is none to be found; its a bit like Jazz - if you have to have it explained, you'll never understand what it is.
July 15, 2015
3.5 stars
Seems to speak more of the Yorkshire of 'old' rather than modern Yorkshire - it is very much a reminiscence of the author about places in Yorkshire rather than true 'Yorkshireness'. Still, a quite nice look into this region of England and the way its people process life
Seems to speak more of the Yorkshire of 'old' rather than modern Yorkshire - it is very much a reminiscence of the author about places in Yorkshire rather than true 'Yorkshireness'. Still, a quite nice look into this region of England and the way its people process life
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews