There is something a little different about my 10th article in the series: six of the best of Yorkshire… This time I look at half-a-dozen great reasons for loving what Yorkshire has to offer residents and visitors. As usual, I range right across our broad acres and around the Ridings. No matter how long you spend exploring Yorkshire, you’ll never reach its end or run out of reasons for loving it.
So, my six of the best reasons for loving Yorkshire are:
- Incredibly varied landscapes
- Delicious food and drink
- Eight great cities
- Stunning walking routes
- Outstanding museums and galleries
- Highly distinctive people
Incredibly varied landscapes – always something new to discover
Our dales, moors, wolds and coast make for an exceptional variety of landscapes, I’d say unmatched by any other English county. Two of them are National Parks, all are a delight for walkers, artists, poets and photographers, or just the curious traveller. I doubt anybody has visited every dale, beach, moor or wold, there is always something new to discover in the landscape, such as a hidden waterfall at Flamborough or chalk springs bubbling from the ground at Elmswell near Driffield.
Delicious food and drink
A day out in Yorkshire is incomplete without sampling local fare. Of course, taste in food and drink is a personal thing but few would deny Yorkshire has much to offer almost every palate. Personal favourites include Wensleydale cheese, huge batter puddings with onion gravy, Yorkshire Square Ale, Henderson’s relish, Sam Smith’s organic cider, Betty’s fat rascals, Bradford curry, Botham’s bread and Yorkshire Gold tea. All those in a picnic hamper above Sutton Bank and I’m in paradise. A day out in Yorkshire is incomplete without sampling the local fare.
Eight great cities – out of the 55 English cities
I wonder how many people can name all our cities? Yorkshire has eight of the 55 English cities, no other county can match that. I’ll mention all of them in this paragraph, each has much to enjoy.
Our most recent is Doncaster with its magnificent Victorian market and Minster. Just to the north lies Wakefield, with its rare medieval bridge chapel and the innovative Hepworth Gallery just along the Calder. Sheffield and Leeds always seem to share a ‘friendly’ rivalry, both have much to be proud of, including their football teams. York is quite simply the finest historic city in Britain, with few better anywhere in the world, I’ve visited hundreds of times and always find something new to appreciate.
Heading east, Hull is under-appreciated, its old town and thriving marina area are a joy to stroll round. Our smallest, but perfectly formed, Ripon, is a charming, historic and quintessentially English place. Finally, culturally diverse Bradford, where you will find stunning Victorian buildings, notably the beautiful Waterstones bookshop in the old Wool Exchange and the tastiest curries; my favourites are to be had at the Karachi Cafe.
Did you get all eight?
Stunning walking routes
Yorkshire has every type of walk from city strolls to multi-day treks. I’ve been joyfully wandering the thousands of miles of Yorkshire public footpaths for almost 50 years. We have every type of walk, strolls around historic cities such as the unique walls of York to long treks like the 81-mile Wolds Way from Hessle to Filey.
The Dales are especially appealing to walkers: for me it’s a favoured land of beautiful rivers, like the Wharfe and stunning waterfalls, such as the succession of beauties in Buckden Gill. The moors offer sweeping views, especially attractive when the heather is in bloom, whilst our coast can be walked in its entirety from the Humber to the Tees. For me only walking takes you to the very heart and soul of Yorkshire.
Outstanding museums and galleries
All our bigger towns and cities have museums and art galleries worth visiting and the county is full of hidden gems. Some of my favourites include Keighley’s Cliffe Castle with its fabulous collection of Victorian stained glass, the gloriously old-fashioned Pannett in Whitby, Ferens art gallery in Hull, with a most eclectic collection, and Cartwright Hall gallery in Bradford’s beautiful Lister Park, which houses a permanent David Hockney exhibition.
Highly distinctive people – Plain speaking, honesty and decency
Despite all the above, Yorkshire would be nothing without its people, both the remarkable individuals who helped shape a county and a nation and the collective character, defined by plain speaking, honesty and decency – and that praise comes from one raised on the dark side, i.e. Lancashire!
The Yorkshire men and women I most admire include Alan Bennett, JB Priestley, the Brontës, Harold Wilson and Kit Calvert. A special mention to a lady who has given her name to the striking modern pedestrian bridge in the centre of Hull; the Murdoch Connection is a worthy tribute to one of the first female GPs in the country, Dr Mary Murdoch. She is a fitting note on which to end, pioneering, progressive, brave and independent – Yorkshire in a nutshell
You will each have your own reasons for loving Yorkshire, please do share them on Bluesky. This summer has been magnificent for being outdoors in Yorkshire. I’ll conclude by sharing the pleasure of seeing a double rainbow above Scarborough’s North Bay. What’s not to love about that?
