Yorkshire is the largest county in England – a country within a county.
Everything you’ve heard about Yorkshire is right: the good food; the self-reliant people; the warm hospitality: it’s all true.
Yorkshire has a fabulous range of scenery, from the high Pennines to the flat lands of the Humber Estuary. I can’t choose a favourite – every place has its own unique charm. High on the Pennines in the Yorkshire Dales, you’re on top of the world, with nothing but the cry of a curlew and the cotton grass blowing in the wind. Down in the Dale, you’ll find cathedral-like ancient woodlands and flowery riverside meadows. Groups of lichen-encrusted stone cottages cluster together for warmth, looking more as if they have grown out of the ground, rather than been built by the hand of man.
The North York Moors are a sea of purple heather, dissected with green, sheltered and benign little dales. Sparkling becks froth over the stones in their race to the sea.
The Wolds are one of Yorkshire’s best-kept secrets: soft sweeps of chalk, covered in sheep and grain. Walk here, and you’ll feel a million miles from anywhere, with only the heads of barley swishing round your knees, covered in a sweep of deep blue sky.
On the coast, a string of fishing villages clings to the northern cliffs running from Saltburn to Scarborough. To the south, wide wide sandy beaches run into Spurn Head, a shifting spit of sand at the mouth of the Humber Estuary.
On Spurn, you could be walking on water: this land belongs to the wind and the birds.
Although boasting fine countryside, Yorkshire also has great cities. York, for centuries the second-most important city in the country, has its wonderful Minster. Unlike many British cities, the area around the Minster has not been redeveloped in the 20th century, so the Minster can still be appreciated in its Mediaeval setting.
Leeds is a major financial centre, bristling with shiny new buildings and fashionable shops. Harrogate combines the best of both worlds: Victorian charm with a modern international conference centre.
The market towns offer superb shopping. Why shop in chains that are the same everywhere when you can get exactly what you need in the comfort of a little market town? All Yorkshire’s market towns abound in specialist local businesses, that work hard to supply exactly what customers want. Each town is a pleasure to visit, with its own beautiful character, and everywhere has good tea shops when you’re ready for a break.
People have visited Yorkshire ever since the ice sheets retreated around 10,000 years ago, when hunter-gatherers sheltered in the limestone caves. By the Bronze Age, a sophisticated and organised society was farming on Moors, and trading across the sea with European neighbours.
Things have continued pretty much the same ever since, despite a variety of invaders. Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans have all left their mark, contributing to Yorkshire as it is today.
The county is divided into three Ridings, with York at their heart. In 1974, local Government re-organisation created new administrative boundaries that did not tally with the ancient Ridings. This resulted in the formation of the Yorkshire Ridings Society, dedicated to maintaining the integrity of Yorkshire.