Saturday 1 August 2015

Happy Yorkshire Day!!

Happy Yorkshire Day 
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The 1st of August is Yorkshire Day. The day to celebrate the largest county in England.
Although administrative borders were re-jigged in 1974, the old historic county borders were never changed. This has caused some confusion about the current names of counties and where their borders lie. Some people may think this is of no significance, after all where you live is still where you live whatever name it is given. However, it is still an issue that causes strong feelings. I know that my neighbours over the current administrative border, an area most people would consider to now be outside of Yorkshire, will be celebrating Yorkshire Day with gusto.

And it is not just those few villages who believe they are still in Yorkshire, The Association of British Counties completely agrees with them.

Yorkshire was originally divided into three Ridings, West, North and East, whose borders all met at York, the County Town. The word 'Ridings' comes from the old Viking word 'thridding' meaning 'third'. Likewise, the city name 'York' is derived from an old Viking word, 'Jorvik'. You can find out more about the traditional county of Yorkshire at County-Wise, where they also have a map showing the administrative boundaries compared to the historic boundaries. It doesn't look like much of a difference, but it could've been all important in the days when you had to be born in Yorkshire to be able to play cricket for them ;)

Being a Yorkshire lass born and bred, I can tell you that it's a fabulous place to live with a varied landscape. In just a few hours you can travel across bleak moors, over steep hills into the flat area around York and onto the coast with its cliffs, rock pools and sandy beaches. You will pass through quaint villages of stone-built cottages surrounded by fields bounded by drystone walls, as well as the massive urban areas developed during the industrial revolution.


It's a place well worth visiting. If it's too far for you to travel in real life, the Picture Book Explorers~Oscar, cat-about-town unit is a perfect way to introduce the region to your children, using a beautifully illustrated picture book written by the famous vet, James Herriot. It's packed full of activities to keep your young ones learning and loving it :)

Happy Exploring!