Topical Tens: August 1: Yorkshire Day

Tuesday 1 August 2017

August 1: Yorkshire Day

August 1 is Yorkshire Day. This date was chosen to mark the bravery of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry at the Battle of Minden on August 1, 1759.

York Minster

The beginning of Yorkshire was the founding of the Kingdom of Jorvik by the Viking chieftain Halfdan Ragnarsson in AD875. The name "York" derives from Jórvík, the Viking name for the city. While we're talking about York, its city walls are the longest in England - three miles long and enclosing an area of about 263 acres.
Yorkshire is the biggest county in England. So big it was divided into three "Ridings", East, North and West. The word "Riding" comes from Old Norse as well - ‘thridding’, meaning ‘a third’. The West Riding alone is bigger than any other county in England. It's not surprising then, that Yorkshire holds records for a lot of "biggests". England’s biggest vale, biggest medieval cathedral, biggest abbey ruins, biggest parish church, the largest expanse of medieval glass in the world (East window of York Minster), and Britain's tallest man. His name was William Bradley (1787-1820) was born in Market Weighton, and by the age of 20, he was seven feet nine inches tall.
A bit about Yorkshire food. Yorkshire has the world’s biggest fish and chip shop and the largest Indian restaurant in the world, but it's probably best known for its pudding. The earliest reference to ‘Yorkshire pudding’ was in Hannah Glasse’s Art Of Cookery in 1747. There are strict rules for making it, including that a Yorkshire pudding should be at least four inches high. There is an ongoing campaign to get it Protected Designation of Origin status (as Cornish pasties and Champagne have). It hasn't happened yet, although Yorkshire forced Rhubarb does have Protected Designation of Origin status. At one time, the ‘Rhubarb triangle’ produced 90% of the world’s forced winter rhubarb. The Rhubarb Triangle is a small area between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell. Other iconic Yorkshire grub includes a sweet ginger cake called Parkin, Wensleydale Cheese and sweet Liquorice from Pontefract. Ginger beer and ginger ale were also created in Yorkshire.
As well as a lot of "biggests" Yorkshire has a few "oldests" too. It has Britain's oldest city - Ripon, granted a charter by King Alfred the Great in 886; the oldest inn - Bingley Arms, Bardsey dates back to 905 AD; the oldest school - St Peter’s, York founded in AD627.
Yorkshire has distinguished itself in the world of sport, too. England's oldest horse race began here in 1519 at Kiplingcotes near Market Weighton. It is still run annually today. The first race for female riders was held in Ripon in 1723 (the local MP’s wife, Mrs Aislabie was the winner); and in 1804, the first Horse race in which a female jockey raced against a male jockey took place in York. Sheffield FC was the first ever football club, formed in 1857. More recently, Yorkshire has won the county Cricket championship more often than any other county: 30 times plus once shared; and if Yorkshire had been an independent country (and there have been campaigns for just that) it would have finished twelfth on the league table in the 2012 Olympics, racking up seven Gold, two Silver and three bronze medals.
Yorkshire has a nickname - "God's Own County" or "God's Own Country"; an unofficial anthem - On Ilkla Moor Baht ‘at (“On Ilkley Moor without a hat”); and a Flag - a White Rose on a blue background, the white rose being the emblem of the English royal House of York.
Yorkshire Terriers were called Broken Haired Scotch Terriers until 1870. One of the first true Yorkshire terriers was Huddersfield Ben, a show Dog which was also in great demand as a stud dog and most pure bred show Yorkies today are probably descended from him.
Yorkshire has two national parks - the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. There are also nature reserves and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There is a species of moss in the Yorkshire Dales that grows nowhere else in the world.
In York it’s legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow, provided the Scotsman also has a bow and arrow, and it's not a Sunday.
A few famous Yorkshire people: Percy Shaw, who invented the catseyes in the road, Joseph Priestley, Frederick Delius, Guy Fawkes, Dick Turpin, Captain James Cook, William Wilberforce, David Hockney, Sean Bean, Jarvis Cocker, Jeremy Clarkson, Gareth Gates, the Bronte Sisters, Henry Moore, Alan Bennett, Barbara Cartland, J.B.Priestly, Ted Hughes, W. H. Auden and Alan Titchmarsh.