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From Shakespeare to Star Trek, Hollywood to Huddersfield, Sir Patrick Stewart’s career has been long and varied.

But now the Chancellor of Huddersfield University has a new string to his bow at the age of 73 – cow impressions!

The Mirfield-born star of stage and screen spent 10 minutes doing impersonations of cows from contrasting parts of the world including Yorkshire, West Oxfordshire and Nevada in the United States.

Sir Patrick appeared on a weekly podcast show How To Do Everything, hosted by Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag, to explain the difference between northern and southern moos.

Sir Patrick, who married jazz singer Sunny Ozell, 35, in September, showed his playful side by spending almost 10 minutes on his cow impersonations.

A caller called Rachel posed the question: “How do cows moo in a British accent?” and Sir Patrick – who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation – was bold enough to go where few other Hollywood stars would tread.

Joker Sir Patrick wasn’t thrown by the bizarre question and said: “It’s not a straightforward, simple answer.

“Unlike probably many other countries where a cow’s moo is a cow’s moo, in England we are dominated by class, by social status and by location.

“So, for example, a cow that is in a field next to my house in West Oxfordshire would moo in one kind of way and a cow in a field in the semi-industrial town I grew up in would moo in another kind of way.”

The chat then developed into Sir Patrick teaching listeners the art of mooing.

Milking his audience, Sir Patrick went on: “If I were at home in West Oxfordshire right now and I walk down my lane and I say: ‘Hi, good morning cows’ they would moo something like this (he makes a mooing sound).

“Now that’s a very conservative moo.

“You must understand I live in the constituency of David Cameron, our Prime Minister, who is a Tory and I presume these cows voted for him.

“I don’t actually vote there. I vote at another place in London.”

Still wanting to be herd, Sir Patrick went on: “If I were at home where I grew up in Yorkshire, not that there are many fields left where I grew up, but I would find one and I would find some cows, they moo like this (he moos more aggressively). Can you hear the difference?”

The presenters asked if Sir Patrick could do an impression of a Nevada cow, which was where caller Rachel was from.

Sir Patrick replied: “Well, you know, it’s very funny you should say that because my wife is also from Nevada.“So I have some experience of Nevada cattle and, if you like, I can give you my impression. It goes something like this.

“It’s much higher pitched and much more nasal, because that’s the way you people talk.“Because the cows are influenced by the way you talk and you are influenced by the cows.

”For details on how to download the podcast go to www.howtodoeverything.org