Celebrating all things Yorkshire
30th July 2021 | WISH NEWS
Posted by Sara
As we look at celebrating Yorkshire Day this coming Sunday, 1st August, here are some of the great things about Gods own County you might not know.
- Yorkshire is the largest county in the UK, 11, 903 km sq, or 2.9 million acres. It is bigger than Greater London.
- It has a population of around 5.5million, around the same as the whole of Scotland.
- Our beautiful Yorkshire Dales cover 1,800 sq km of some of the best scenery the UK has to offer and are made up of no less than 40 individual dales.
- Yorkshire’s capital Leeds, is the UK’s third largest city and the biggest financial centre outside London
- Yorkshire has two National Parks: the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, covering 1,762km2 and 1436km2 respectively. Together they attract around 20.3 million visitors per year.
- Tourism in Yorkshire & Humber is worth over £9 billion, which is more than the whole tourism expenditure in Ireland or Denmark and employs around a quarter of a million people.
- The eastern border of Yorkshire is it’s 45 mile long coastline, looking out across the North Sea. It includes the popular holiday spots of Whitby, Bridlington, Robin Hood’s Bay and Scarborough. Many have been awarded the Blue Flag label for sustainability.
- Scarborough is the UKs oldest seaside resort, dating back 360 years to 1626 Elizabeth Farrow discovered an acidic spring at the base of a cliff, which gave birth to Scarborough Spa. It is now the largest holiday resort on the Yorkshire Coast.
- The Humber Bridge is the longest single-span suspension bridge in the UK at 2,220m and the second-longest in Europe.
- The A58(M) inner ring road in Leeds was the first urban motorway
- Sheffield FC is the world’s oldest and still existing football club,
- We may be known for our Yorkshire Puddings and Wensleydale cheese but there are 7 Michelin starred restaurants in Yorkshire.
- In 1967 Leeds based scientist Brian Boffrey accidentally invented Jelly Tots while trying to produce a powered jelly that set instantly when adding cold water.
- Talking of sweets, Pateley Bridge is home to the world’s oldest sweet shop which opened in 1827. It still sells all your old favourites, nostalgia in a paper bag.
- Yorkshire also has reputedly the oldest pub in Britain, The Bingley Arms in Leeds dates back over 1000 years to the days of the Vikings. And Britain’s highest pub, The Tan Inn stands at 1732 feet above sea level, located high in the Dales above Richmond.
- The Roman Empire was once governed from York, between 208-11 AD when Septimius Severus, the emperor of the time was living there. He died in 211 and is buried somewhere under the old city.
- York Minster is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Northern Europe and took 252 years to build. It has 128 stained glass windows.
- York’s ancient city walls are the longest city walls in England, at three miles long, and they enclose an area of around 263 acres. York’s Shambles is considered to be the best-preserved medieval street in Europe, although Lady Row in Goodramgate is actually older.
- Mother Shipton’s Cave and Petrifying Wall in Knaresborough is said to be the oldest registered visitor attraction in England, opening in 1630.
- Knaresborough is also home of John Metcalf or Blind Jack, born in 1717 and the first professional road builder.
- The date of Easter was fixed at Whitby Abbey in 664 AD, at the synod chaired by Abbess Hilda. The church decided that Easter was to be held on the first Sunday after the full moon, to end confusion which had led to one half of the Royal family celebrating Easter while the rest were still fasting for Lent.
- Did you know that in 1982 Harrogate hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, won by German entry Nicole.
- And finally Yorkshire is a county of world class athletes. Yorkshire's own Tom Pidcock, Bradly Sinden and Matty Lee have all won medals at the Tokyo Olympics and more predicted. Yorkshire brought home 14 medals in the 2016 Games and 12 medals in 2012.
There’s a lot to celebrate and lots more to visit and enjoy. Let us know why you love working, living and doing business in Yorkshire. Do you have a favourite place to visit?