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?
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