Portal:Yorkshire

The Yorkshire Portal

Yorkshire (/ˈjɔːrkʃər, -ʃɪər/ YORK-shər, -⁠sheer) is an area of Northern England which was historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after the city of York.

The south-west of Yorkshire includes the cities of Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Doncaster and Wakefield. The north and east of the county includes the southern part of the Teesside conurbation; the port city of Hull is located in the south-east. York is positioned near the centre of the county. Yorkshire has a coastline on the North Sea. The North York Moors occupy the north-east of the county, and the centre contains the Vale of Mowbray and the Vale of York. The west contains part of the Pennines, which includes the Yorkshire Dales. (Full article...)

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York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence.

The city was founded by the pre-Roman Brythonic people and named Eborakon meaning "place of the yew trees", and later called Eboracum in 71 AD by the Romans who made it the capital of their Province of Britannia Inferior. At the end of Roman rule in 415 AD the settlement was taken over by the Angles and the city was renamed Eoforwic. It served as the capital of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria. When the Vikings captured the city in 866 AD they renamed it Jórvík and it became the capital of a wider kingdom of the same name covering much of Northern England. After the Norman Conquest, the name "York", which was first used in the 13th century, gradually evolved. In the Middle Ages York grew as a major wool trading centre and the ecclesiastical capital of the northern province of England. The Province of York is still one of the two Church of England ecclesiastical provinces, alongside that of Canterbury.

York's location on the River Ouse, in the centre of the Vale of York and half way between the capitals of London and Edinburgh means that it has long had a significant position in the nation's transport system. The 19th century saw York, under the influence of George Hudson, become an important hub of the railway network and a manufacturing centre. In recent decades the economy of York has moved from being dominated by its confectionery and railway-related industries to one that provides services. The University of York and health services have become major employers. Tourism also boosts the local economy because the city offers a wealth of historic attractions, of which York Minster is the most prominent, and a variety of cultural activities. York Racecourse and Kit Kat Crescent, the home of York City F.C., are the most prominent sporting venues in the city and the River Ouse provides opportunities for both sporting and leisure pursuits. (read more . . . )

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Credit: Mark S Jobling

Gaping Gill on Ingleborough Hill is, at 105 metre deep, one of the deepest potholes in the Yorkshire Dales, and one of many entrances to the Gaping Gill cave system. (read more . . . )

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Saint Edwin (alternately Eadwine or Æduini) (c. 586–12 October 632/633) was the King of Deira and Bernicia - which would later become known as Northumbria - from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and in 627 was baptised in York; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.

Edwin was the son of Ælle king of Deira. His sister Acha was married to Æthelfrith, king of neighbouring Bernicia. An otherwise unknown sibling fathered Hereric, who in turn fathered Abbess Hilda of Whitby and Hereswith, wife to king Anna of East Anglia's brother Æthelric. With the death of Æthelfrith, and of the powerful Æthelberht of Kent the same year, Raedwald and his client Edwin were well placed to dominate England, and indeed Raedwald did so until his death a decade later. Edwin annexed the minor British kingdom of Elmet following a campaign in either 616 or 626. Elmet had probably been subject to Mercia and then to Edwin. The much larger kingdom of Lindsey appears to have been taken over c. 625, after the death of king Raedwald. (read more . . . )

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A stone church in a graveyard seen from the southwest, with a prominent battlemented tower and the body of the church and porch stretching behind it — St John the Baptist's Church, Stanwick, North Yorkshire

The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968. The legally defined object of the Trust is "the preservation, in the interests of the nation and the Church of England, of churches and parts of churches of historic and archaeological interest or architectural quality vested in the Fund ... together with their contents so vested".

The Trust cares for over 350 churches. The charity is financed partly by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Church Commissioners, but grants from those bodies were frozen in 2001, since when additional funding has come from other sources, including the general public. During the 2016-2017 period, the Trust's income was £9,184,283 and expenditures totaled £9,189,061; 92% of the latter was spent on front line projects. During that year it had 64 employees, and received the support of up to 2,000 volunteers. The charity is run by a board of trustees, who delegate the day-to-day management to a chief executive and his senior management team. (Full article...)

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Selected Did You Know . . .

... that the production process for Swaledale cheese (pictured) includes soaking the cheese wheel in 85% brine for 24 hours?
...that there are six preserved tramcars of the Sheffield Tramway at the National Tramway Museum?
... that Cleckheaton railway station was stolen in August 1971?
... that Curtis Woodhouse was a professional boxer while still playing professional?

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The following are images from various Yorkshire-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Long Sword dancers (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 2Roman wall and the west corner tower of the fort at York, with medieval additions (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 3Depiction of Edwin of Northumbria from Sledmere (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 4Richmond castle walls and towers seen from the Keep (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 5Harold Wagstaff – Prince of the Centres. (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 6Jarvis Cocker, singer for Pulp (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 7Sean Bean's Yorkshire accent is highly recognised and is utilised on many of his castings including Game of Thrones Stark accent. (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 8Thornborough Henge (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 9Helmsley Castle was destroyed at the end of the Civil War (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 10Brazilian legend Pelé (left) in Sheffield in November 2017, marking the 150th anniversary of the world's oldest football club, Sheffield F.C. (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 11Yorkshire is often described as "God's own county/country" due to its beautiful landscape and unspoiled countryside (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 12A flat cap associated with the stereotypical Yorkshireman (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 13A medieval representation of Saint Olaf (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 14Water-powered, belt-driven machinery, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Sheffield. (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 15Yorkshire puddings, served as part of a traditional Sunday roast. (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 16Fountains abbey from the west (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 17The Humble Petition of The Gentry and Commons of the County of York, presented to His Majestie at York, 22 April 1642 : and His Majesties message sent to the Parliament, 24 April 1642 : concerning Sir John Hothams Refusall to give His Majestie entrance into Hull. Printed at London, 1642 (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 18Mr Pack dressed in traditional Yorkshire attire takes his horse, Danny, for a turn of the field in front of the crowd at Otley Show. (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 19Herbert Sutcliffe, batsman. (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 20Roman Britain (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 21The 19th-century interior of Marshall's flax mill, Holbeck, Leeds (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 22The Brontë sisters (from Culture of Yorkshire)
Image 23A prehistoric settlement on Harkerside Moor in Swaledale. (from History of Yorkshire)
Image 24The Rudston Monolith, almost 26ft high, close to Rudston Parish Church of all Saints (from History of Yorkshire)