Yorkshire City Facts

Seven major cities of Yorkshire

Bradford

Bradford: Population: 528,155 (2014)
Nickname: ‘Wool City’
Motto: “Progress-Industry-Humanity”
City status: 1897
Sports: Bradford City, Bradford Bulls RLFT
Major attractions: National Media Museum, Curry Capital of Britain, UNESCO City of Film in 2009.
Facts about Bradford

Leeds

Population: 766,399 (2014)
Nickname: “Loiner” or Leodensian – Latin for person from Leeds
Motto: “Pro rege et lege” “For king and the law”
City status: 1893
GDP: £51 bn
Leeds railways station, 2nd busiest outside London
Sports: Leeds United, Leeds Rhinos (RLFC), Headingley – home of Yorkshire CC
Major attractions: Shopping centres – Trinity Leeds, Kirkgate Market, Briggate
Parks: Roundhay, Temple Newsam
Interesting fact about Leeds. Leeds attracts more annual visitors than traditional holiday destinations including Brighton and Torquay.
Facts about Leeds

Kingston Upon Hull

Photo: Andi Campbell Jones

Population: 257,710 (mid-2014 est.).
People from Hull are called “Hullensians”
City status: 1897
Sports: Hull City (AFC), Hull Kingston Rovers (RL), and Hull FC (RL)
Famous People: William Wilberforce (who helped end slave trade), Amy Johnson pioneering female pilot. Arthur Rank who founded Rank film organisation.
Interesting fact about Hull. In 1642 Charles I was refused permission to enter the city, providing first spark for the civil war, leading to the siege of the Hull.

Sheffield

Population: 563,749 (mid-2014 est.)
Nickname: City of steel
City status: 1893
Motto: “Deo Adjuvante Labor Proficit” “With God’s help our labour is successful”
GVA £9.2 billion in 2007
Famed for stainless steel and cutlery
Sheffield FC – world’s first football club (1857). Current clubs – Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United
Crucible Theatre in Sheffield home to Snooker World Championship
Interesting fact about Sheffield The Sheffield Rules was a code of football used between 1857 and 1877. They had a big influence on Football association rules, which later finally codified the game
Facts about Sheffield

Ripon

Ripon photo David Bramhall

Population: 16,702
Traditions: Ripon Hornblower: Every day at 9:00pm the horn is blown at the four corners of the obelisk in Ripon Market
Parts of Ripon Cathedral built as early as 672AD
In 886 AD, King Alfred the Great may have gave Ripon its original Royal Charter.
One of few English cities without own railway station.
Nearby attractions: Ripon Racecourse, Lightwater Valley, Fountains Abbey.
Interesting fact: In 715, the city was called Hrypis which translates as “place of the tribe called Hrype”.

Wakefield

photo Tim Green

Population: 76,886 in 2001
Nickname: “Merrie City” (Middle Ages)
Wakefield Royalist stronghold in Civil War. Battle of Wakefield – one of first in civil war
Location: Near River Calder made it important trading town for wool
Coal mines around Wakefield closed in 1980s
Wakefield Cathedral, has the tallest spire in Yorkshire at 247 feet (75 m)
Two railway stations – Wakefield Kirkgate and Wakefield Westage.
Town has 95-arch railway viaduct built 1860s on Leeds to Doncaster line. Used 800,000,000 bricks to build.
Interesting Fact: Wakefield is the capital of the West Yorkshire rhubarb triangle
Interesting facts about Wakefield

York

Population: 204,439 (2014)
Rivers: Foss and Ouss
Motto: ‘Let the Banner of York Fly High’
Former Roman then Old Viking stronghold (known as Jorvik)
Diocese of York responsible for much of north England Church of England
Famous industries: Railways, Rowntrees (confectionary)
Attractions: National Railway Museum, historic walls, Yorkshire Museum.
Interesting fact: Roman Emperor Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor by his troops at York in AD 306.

Cities in Yorkshire (historic boundaries)

Bradford
Leeds
Kingston-Upon Hull
Sheffield
Ripon
York
Wakefield

Other major towns in Yorkshire

Halifax, Huddersfield, Middlesbrough, Ilkley, Keighley, Otley, Pontefract, Bingley, Castleford, Skipton, Harrogate, Scarborough, Whitby, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham.