Category Archives: Yorkshire Facts – Interesting and Unusual

Information and facts about Yorkshire Towns and Cities that are worth a visit (and aren’t they all)

10 Leeds City Centre Photos

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Leeds
New for old and vice versa – even as we speak new buildings are reflecting the changes on Boar Lane with the new shopping centre.

leeds

Leeds Station is one of the UK’s biggest and busiest train stations. Leeds now  has only one major train station and  over 18 platforms. It has recently been refurbished to increase capacity and you know it was needed when you see the streams of weekend clubbers arriving for a night out.

leeds

Victoria Arcade. The posher part of Yorkshire

leeds

Who would have thought – Harvey Nicholls in Yorkshire. Doing well, despite the economic downturn

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Interesting Facts About The White Rose of Yorkshire

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Rose

White Rose of Yorkshire.

The white rose of Yorkshire is the symbol for the House of York. From the fourteenth century it has also been the symbol for Yorkshire.

The use of the White Rose of Yorkshire goes back to Edmund of Langley in the fourteenth century, the first Duke of York and the ruling Plantangenets

The symbolism of the white rose is said to relate to the Virgin Mary, who was known as the Mystical rose of heaven. White is a common colour for purity in religious ceremonies.

During the wars of the Roses (Lancashire vs Yorkshire), the forces of Yorkshire fought the Lancastrians who had a Red rose as an emblem. (Why do all Lancastrians have red noses? Because when god was handing noses out they thought he said roses, so they asked for a big red one!)

The War of the roses was ended when King of England Henry VII united the warring factions and symbolically created the Tudor rose.

At the Battle of Minden 1st August 1759, Yorkshire troops from a Yorkshire battalion were able to pluck white roses from close to the Battlefield in tribute to their fallen comrades. Ever since Yorkshire day has been celebrated on August 1st.

whiterose

The white rose has been or is still used by many different causes as well:

During the Second World War, German students who resisted Hitler’s Nazi Regime founded the White Rose league – a movement seeking to overthrow Hitler and his party.

The White Rose Universities is the group of Leeds, York and Sheffield universities.

White Rose business Awards for 2013 opens for application in March. It is managed by ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’.
White rose shopping centre is owned and managed by Land Securities and may feature hidden away in many Yorkshireman’s pension investments in some form.

The White Rose credit union operates out of Wakefield the capital city of Yorkshire.

Dewsbury – Facts Interesting and Unusual

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Tripe market

Dewsbury Markets

Wednesday and Saturday General Markets in Dewsbury are still the largest and most renowned  market in Yorkshire.

The open market boasts over 300 stalls and the permanent Victorian Market hall has a further 36. Amongst these permanent stalls is the famous ‘Tripe Shop’ shown above.

On Fridays there is a Second-Hand Market with an array of goods and around 100 stalls each week, a bargain hunter’s paradise.

‘If you love browsing and hunting out valuables then what better way to spend your Sunday morning than at the Car ‘Bootless’ Sale, 7.30am to 12.30pm? For sellers stall prices are £12.30 each and you can set-up at 7am on any available stall

Dewsbury Minster

Minsters In Yorkshire

Dewsbury is one of 4 minsters in Yorkshire. We all know York Minster and probably Beverley but Howden and Dewsbury Minsters were unknown to me.
Dewsbury Minster dates back to Anglo-Saxon times.The Christian Community has met to worship on the site of the minster since AD 627.
Now the Minster includes or is largely a heritage centre for the presentation of Anglo-Saxon sculpture and notable crosses.
There is a newly created pilgrimage chapel to St Paulinus.
Minsters differ from Cathedrals in that they are basically a monastery church or local collegiate church.
The minster houses “Black Tom”, a bell which is rung each Christmas Eve. There is one toll for each year since Christ’s birth, and this is known locally as the “Devil’s Knell”.

Dewsbury models

History of Dewsbury.

The population of Dewsbury in the Heavy Woolen District of Yorkshire is around 55,000.
Dewsbury has been an important trading area for centuries. The river Calder, canal links and the railway all helped.
There was a cloth market in Dewsbury from the 14th century. During the industrial revolution wool, cloth and textile engineering were  major industries.
Large immigration took place from the Indian Sub-continent when people arrived to work in the textile industry. Their influence is now very significant in the area. Aishah Azmi a local school teaching assistant gained notoriety in 2006 by refusing to remove her full-face veil in the classroom.
Dewsbury Museum is located within the mansion house in Crow Nest Park.
Fourteen buses are stored in a small building in Ravensthorpe, near Dewsbury as part of Dewsbury Bus Museum’s collection.
Tradition records that Robin Hood is buried in the 12 century Cistertian convent that is now part of Kirklees Park.
Bed manufacture is the main industry as textiles have dramatically reduced.

Arcade

Crime Shouldn’t Pay

  • Karen Matthews shocked the country when she came up with the plot to use one of her children in a fake kidnapping to claim reward money.With Paul Drake, aka Michael Donovan, she was found guilty on charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and perverting the course of justice and both were given eight-year prison sentences.
  • Mohammad Sidique Khan lived in Lees Holm Dewsbury and became a suicide bomber when in July 2005 with 3 others he detonated bombs on three London Underground trains and one bus killing 55 people and injuring over 700.
  • Several children aged 12- 15 were arrested in 2008 on suspicion of the murder of Amar Aslam. Amar was beaten so savagely that his body was initially unidentifiable.
  • On 2 January 1981 Peter Sutcliffe, then calling himself Peter Williams was arrested before being transferring to Dewsbury. A knife was discovered in the toilets at the police station and eventually Sutcliffe confessed he was ‘The Ripper’.
  • Not in the same league but Baroness Warsi has not been the sole of rectitude. First parliamentary expenses and then business dealings were questioned and the issues rumble on.


    • Related
    Victims of the Yorkshire Ripper
    Times online
    Bus Museum

Sheffield City of Murderers?

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The Chinese Laundry Murder of 1922.

Sing Lee had carried on a laundry business living above the shop at 231 Crookes, Sheffield in 1922. Lee Doon entered his employment only a few days earlier (don’t you just love these Chinese names). Lily Siddall a young employee left the two men together at the laundry but the following day she found Lee Doon alone and he told her that Sing Lee had gone back to China. Later Sing Lee’s body was found in a trunk in the cellar under a heap of coke and stones.
Lee Doon’s story was that Sing Lee had suggested smoking opium or taking morphine but he was found guilty of murder at Leeds assizes and despite an appeal he was hanged at Armley in 1923.

Book Cover

Murder and Mayhem in Sheffield by Geoffrey Howse covers the Sheffield outrages and many other murders.

The Sheffield Outrages

The Sheffield Outrages of the 1860′s included a failed plot to murder some of Sheffield’s officials, take control of the Town Hall and set fire to the homes of prominent citizens. Watch out Nick Clegg.
In 1886 trade unionists in Sheffield were accused of using arson and murder to intimidate non-unionists.
The image of trade unions was also damaged by the revelation that William Broadhead, secretary of the Grinders Union, had paid £20 to a man to murder an employer. The leaders of the Trade Union Congress claimed that these incidents were just the work of a few individuals and that the best way to improve industrial relations was to remove the legal constraints upon the status and funds of unions. The resulting Royal Commission on Trade Unions did not include any trade unionists as appointees and only a minority report saved the day when Gladstonee eventually passed the 1871 Trade Union act.

The William Smedleys

Two different Sheffield murderers bore the same name, William Smedley. They were both hanged for their murderous crimes committed in 1875 and 1947 respectively.
The 1947 Smedley was found guilty of the murder of 27-year-old prostitute Edith Simmonite whom he claimed had given him VD (venereal disease).
In 1875 Elizabeth Firth was the common-law wife of widower William Smedley. Poverty, booze and requited love led to Smedley loosing it pulling a razor blade and slitting Elizabeth’s throat.

Other Murders Reported and Amplified by Geoffrey Howse
The notorious Sheffield Gang Wars of the 1920′s.
The fascinating case of one of Britain’s most notorious cat burglar and murderers, Charlie Peace. Executed 1879 but still remembered in novels and literature.
The gruesome Shelf Street Hatchet Murder of 1881.
The Woodhouse Murder of 1893

Other Murders Reported and Amplified in Style by Chris Hobbs
MURDER AT WHITE CROFT SHEFFIELD – 10th JULY 1884
THREE DIE IN PUBLIC HOUSE SHOOTING New Years Day 1960.
Christmas 1923 Inspector Hughes was told “I want you to go to 20 Lister Road. I believe I have done Jack Clark in with a hatchet which I have thrown away.” Hughes found a dying man on his own doorstep dressed only in his trousers and shirt. The wife of the murdered man was standing on the stairs. She said ” Jack Eastwood has done that. I don’t know what he has done it for” Read more

North Yorkshire Flora & Rare Plants of Teesdale

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Viola rupestris_3

Upper Teesdale lies in four counties Cumberland, Westmorland, Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire.
On Widdybank Fell there are two plants not found anywhere else in Britain. The rock violet or Teesdale violet, Viola rupestris and Sandwort or Minuartia stricta.
On the Yorkshire side of the divide we have many rare plants and flowers. Mickle Fell contains examples of my Alpine favourites the Gentian verna although this photo is from Europe look out for the blue flowers.
Spring Gentian (Gentiana verna) Frühlings-Enzian
On nearby Cronkley Fell is home to mountain forget-me-nots another blue mountain flower – it must be in the Yorkshire water. Perhaps it is more to do with the underlying limestone rock outcrops where Drays octopetala and rock roses Helianthemum canum thrive.
A UK exclusive is Yorkshire Milkwort that is a plant only found on the fell and in Wharfedale.
High Force has a thicket of Juniper and many rare Hawkweeds and botanically interesting Ladies’ Mantles.

Flower Lovers Wild Selection From Teesdale

Treasures of the dale are to be found in the meadows of North Yorkshire.
Look out for the Globe flower Trollius europaeus with its bold yellow flowers.
Dark purple marsh orchids, shrubby Potentillas and mountain Pansies would not look out of place in most gardens.
I will leave the Parsley fern and horse-tails out of my garden but in the wild dale they hold botanic interest.

Trollius europaeus

“Wild Flowers of Yorkshire” by Howard Beck is a guide to the wild flowers most likely to be found in our county together with more details on some of the rarer species.
Book Cover

Credits
Viola rupestris_3 by amadej2008 CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Spring Gentian (Gentiana verna) Frühlings-Enzian by Werner Witte CC BY-NC 2.0
Trollius europaeus by Nick Turland CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ‘shot in Austria but growing in Yorkshire ed.’

York’s Unusual Cold War Bunker Museum

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York Cold War Nuclear Bunker

At the height of the cold war the Royal Observer Corp No 20 opened it’s bunker in Acomb York. In 1961 it was the a time of concern and international political unrest with serious fears about the Russian intentions.
The fear of nuclear attack was exacerbated by the Cuban Missile crisis in 1962. From the 1960′s until the 1990′s it was the job of the Royal Observer Corp working with the Home Office to monitor, gather data and report on any nuclear activity via a series of bunkers and remote monitoring stations.

Telephone operators desks

The bunker is located under several feet of soil and was designed to withstand all but a direct hit by a thermo-nuclear device. It was capable of housing 60 staff of both men and women and was linked to over 40 smaller 3 person cold war stations around Yorkshire.
The facilities include services such as canteen, ablutions, dormitories and a telephone exchange but TV and radio connection to the outside world was not allowed. The operations room, decontamination rooms, aerosol filter chambers are displayed along with an ejector room to pump away sewage and maintain a positive air-pressure.

The York bunker was ‘stood down’ in September 1991 and closed six months later. It has since been restored and opened as a modern and successful museum piece by English Heritage.
There is a tour by knowledgeable guides who add to the atmosphere and the film show that complements your visit.

Cold War Quotes

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Winston Churchill (5th March 1946)
“The Cold War isn’t thawing; it is burning with a deadly heat. Communism isn’t sleeping; it is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting.” Richard M Nixon
“With the development of increasingly terrifying weapons of mass destruction, every individual faces the ever-present possibility of annihilation should the conflict enter the phase of total war.” National Security Council 1950
“It shall be the policy of this nation, to regard any nuclear missile, launched from Cuba on any state in the western hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union” John F Kennedy October 22 1962.

Book Cover

Books on Underground Structures of the Cold War are available from Amazon

Photo Credits
York Cold War Nuclear Bunker by Ulleskelf CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Telephone operators desks by IanVisits CC BY-NC 2.0

Dent, Dentdale and Cowgill near Sedburgh

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Dent

Dent Village and Dentdale

‘The Dent Fault cuts across the valley close to the village of Gawthrop, marking a geological boundary between the carbonferous limestone of Deepdale and the Craven Dales to the south and the older Silurian and Ordovician rocks of the Howgill Fells to the north.’
In modern times tourists and the Dalesway pass along the valley towards Dent and onward to Sedbergh. I am not sure Adam Sedgwick, dents world famous geologist, would approve of all the changes that have come to Dentdale but he would be proud that his legacy and geological knowledge is still celebrated.
Dent is also famous since the 18th century for its knitters who used local wool to produce garments and socks during the first world war.
Get the full Dent story on a visit to Dent Heritage Centre.

Dent Railway

From Dent the valley winds its way through Cowgill, on its way to Dent station which is a surprising 4.5 miles from the village. In fact the station is much nearer Cowgill.
Dent is the highest railway station in Britain, at over 1100 feet above sea level. Dent station is a stop on the famous Carlisle to Settle Railway where you can still catch a steam train on special excursions.
The line crosses the huge viaducts at Arten Gill, Ribblehead viaduct and Dent Head.

Settle and dent

Cowgill and Around

Cowgill and particularly The Sportsmans Inn was a favourite watering hole for our family when the children were young. I was able to drink and the kids could dabble and fall in the Cowgill rivulet. The Sportsmans Inn now advertises itself as ‘a family owned chain of one’.

Nearby is St John the Evangelist church enroute to the railway station for Dent which serves all the villages around. The church has connections to Adam Sedgwick, the father of modern geology, who came from a local family of Vicars. Cambridge University still maintains a museum in his name the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Science but the monument most people will know is the vaguely pyramidal stone on the cobble streets of Dent engraved Adam Sedgwick 1785- 1873.
Returning to the tribulations of the Cowgill Chapel there is an account by Adam Sedgwick of Orthological skulduggery (scanned in by Google) entitled ‘A Memorial by the Trustees of Cowgill Chapel By Adam Sedgwick, Cowgill Chapel (Yorkshire) 1868. The curate of the new church attempted to change the name of the local hamlet from Kirthwaite to Kirkthwaite without informing the trustees of which Adam Sedgwick was one. Since the Sedgwick family were already bemoaning the change of name of Coegill to Cowgill they put up a robust fight resulting in an ecclesiastical court battle. From the foundation stone laying in 1837 until the final protest in 1866 the story hints at empire building and parochial politics that could still be relevant today. With added appendices about Climate History and Dialects of Dent it makes a fascinating read to see what exercised the bright minds of the time.
Cowgill was the home of the Dent Marble mill, where fossilised limestone was quarried, cut, dressed and polished, to make luxury fireplaces and memorials.

Book Cover
Click on the travel guide image or this link for a book from Amazon Sedbergh, Garsdale and Dent: Peeps at the Past History and Present Condition of Some Picturesque Yorkshire Dales (1910)

Welcome to Saltaire – BD18

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Aire I saw elba

As a UNESCO World Heritage site a visit to Saltaire is a must. This is due to the present amenities and  Saltaire’s extremely interesting past. Set alongside the river Aire from which it gets part of its name Saltaire also has the Leeds Liverpool canal running through it’s heart.

  1. Sir Titus Salt, a Victorian mill owner, built  Saltaire as a model town and endowed it with many employee friendly features. Workers cottages  built and named after Salt family members, Alma,  Ada, Mary, Constance , Helen,  Fanny, Grace Streets are now occupied by West Yorkshire commuters. I guess the  names seemed modern  in the 19th century. Sir Titus built his mill on the river Aire to clean the Alpaca wool he imported from Peru.
  2. The former mill now houses a small museum, retail emporium, art gallery, 3 eating establishments and workspace.
  3. Shipley glen tramway is just across the river and canal bridges and runs up to picturesque Shipley Glen. Even if the tram is not running the glen is a good place to take children with rocks to climb, woods to explore, Brackenhall Countryside Centre to visit and a tea house.
  4. Roberts Park is squeezed between the river and the canal and has 2 cricket pitches  to deposit balls into either waterway.
  5. “1853 Gallery” which houses a collection of the works of the famous local artist David Hockney.
  6. Victoria hall and exhibition   premises hold a range of events. the Antiques Road Show was fillemed here last month..
  7. The United Reform round church based on Italian architecture and built by Titus Salt in 1859. His mausoleum is situated below the lead dome with sunbursts in round arches.
  8. The old tramsheds are now a restaurant and entertainment venue but it is easy to see where the old Trolley buses stopped when they reached their Saltaire destination. Another licensed and thus irreverent location is called Don’t Tell Titus.
  9. Walks include paths on the ‘Dalesway Bradford Link’  that lead up to Dick Hudsons and over Ilkley moor to the official start.
  10. Salts Walks is a demonstration of the local enterprise culture which keeps the community spirit live and thriving. See Saltaire Festival 2010. and Saltaire Arts Trail

Blooming Wetherby Interesting and Unusual Facts

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Wetherby is a small market town with a Royal Charter to hold a market since 1240 AD.
It has a big riverside frontage on the Wharfe which provides visitors with interesting riverside walks, picnic areas and a free car park.
Wetherby styles itself ‘Blooming Wetherby England’s Floral Town’.

Cog and Fish 2

The Wetherby Railway Path not surprisingly runs through Wetherby (that is more than the trains do since Dr Beeching took out his axe). Now starting in Spofforth it follows the old railway track through Kirk Deighton and the railway triangle to the town centre where it is joined by the West Yorkshire Cycle Route. By now it has been named The Harland Way after the late Lions Club president. Then it has been extended to Walton Gate and Thorp Arch Estate.

Sustrans invest in Cycle paths but this route is suitable for walkers, riders and horses. It will eventually be extended to Tadcaster and York whilst the West Yorkshire cycle route heads off south.

Wetherby ... willow bull.

Interesting and Unusual History of Wetherby

  1. From 1318 to 1319 the North of England suffered many raids from the Scots. After the battle of Bannockburn Wetherby was burned and many people taken and killed. It is said that Scott Lane is so named because it ran with blood.’
  2. At nearby Bramham Moor one of the first battles in the Wars of the Roses took place in 1408.
  3. During the World War II Tockwith airfield was renamed ‘Marston Moor Airfield’ to avoid confusion with Topcliffe Airfield. Clark Gable was stationed here. Part of the airfield is now used as a driver training centre and the old control tower is used as the offices but bits of the runways can still be seen.
  4. The bridge on the Old Great North Road is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II listed structure. As a result of its situation a large number of coaching inns, now pubs, were established in Wetherby.

Wetherby parade ring.

Interesting and Unusual History of Wetherby

  1. Over the sticks Wetherby racecourse is Yorkshire’s premier National Hunt venue and home to some of the best races in the National Hunt Calendar. It boasts some of the best facilities in the North of England and has a fantastic atmosphere to rival any sporting occasion.
  2. The town centre is full of interesting small shops selling a wide variety of goods. Mary Portas would be pleased that there are not too many multi-nationals to force the locals into homogeneous shopping.
  3. Near by Thorp Arch Retail Park is notable as it is set in semi-underground bunkers. The British library has a large storage facility in Thorpe Arch
  4. Tadcaster and Boston Spa lie to the south-east; other villages nearby renown for executive housing include Sicklinghall and Kirkby Overblow, and Linton.
  5. Under Wetherby Attractions on the Wetherby website there are no attractions except for a list of other Yorkshire towns and villages
  6. We of course are mightily attracted to the Wetherby Whaler the home of a chain of fish and chip shops par excellence

Wetherby ... Y709 HRN TRANSDEV in Harrogate bus.
Do not drink and drive around here.

Photo credits
Cog and Fish 2 by Tim Green aka atoach CC BY 2.0
Wetherby … willow bull. by BazzaDaRambler and Wetherby … Y709 HRN TRANSDEV in Harrogate bus. by BazzaDaRambler CC BY 2.0
Wetherby parade ring. by biltho CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Wetherby Bridge 1 by Tim Green aka atoach CC BY 2.0

Wetherby Bridge 1

Middleham Facts Interesting and Unusual

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Middleham has 5 airports and two major ports less than 90 miles away. It is nearer Manchester than Hull but less than 20 miles from Darlington or Ripon. So that puts Middleham on the map or almost.
Middleham is in tranquil Wensleydale on the river Ure.

Middleham

Middleham Castle English Heritage

Middleham castle is known for being the home of Richard III until he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The origins of Middleham castle go back to 1086 and ‘Alan The Red’, a nephew of William the Conqueror, who built the first castle in this Wensleydale beauty spot.
Under Kings Henry and the 16th century Tudors the castle was left to fall into disrepair. Despite some intervening refurbishment in 1646 Parliament ordered some walls be destroyed leaving the castle the shell it is today.

View from the top of Middleham Castle

Other Interesting Facts

Trooper Middleham the latest recruit to the Royal Household Cavalry is a horse named appropriately after this horse breeding and training village.
The Forbidden Corner is a local tourist attraction that claims to be ‘The Strangest Place in the World’. Discover for your self by going past Pinkers Pond on the Coverham lane.
As a home for 12+ horseracing trainers Middleham includes Mark Johnston has trained at least one hundred winners on the flat for each of the last 14 years. It is a record unsurpassed in the history of the British turf and makes Johnston the most consistent horse racing trainer in Britain.
Legend has it that Alkelda was a Christian Saxon princess who was murdered by two Danish women in 800AD and buried in what is now St Mary & St Alkeldas Church. Bones dating to the right era were discovered and reburied when the church was undergoing repairs.

Middleham Castle

The flag is showing the logo of English Heritage that now look after the Castle.
Jervaulx abbey is a local attraction and you can also visit Rivaux, Fountains and Coverham on Abbey tours.
Middleham is a great dales village well worth a weekend visit. Our Badminton club trip stayed at the Richard III hotel which was really just a good pub.
The gallops can be very cold in winter and that may be a reason why Middleham trains such hardy horses.
full gallop

Photo Credits
Middleham by lisabatty CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
View from the top of Middleham Castle by lisabatty CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Middleham Castle by rofanator CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ‘Got up really early today and went for a drive with the intention of ending up at Rievaulx Abbey. I went via Middleham to see the impressive castle and it was well worth the detour, even though it was a couple of hours before the gates opened but I still got a great view from the outside.’
full gallop by scpgt CC BY-NC-ND 2.0