Yorkshire and the Humber Totally Explained

Everything about Yorkshire And The Humber totally explained

Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine government office regions of England. It covers most of the historic county of Yorkshire, along with the part of northern Lincolnshire that was, from 1974 to 1996, within the former shire county of Humberside.The population in 2005 was 5,142,400.

Yorkshire and the Humber

Geographical context

See Topographical areas of Yorkshire and Geology of Yorkshire In the Yorkshire and Humberside region there's a very close relationship between the major topographical areas and the underlying geology. The Pennine chain of hills in the west is of Carboniferous origin. The central vale is Permo-Triassic. The North York Moors in the north-east of the county are Jurassic in age while the Yorkshire Wolds and Lincolnshire Wolds to the south east are Cretaceous chalk uplands. The region is drained by several rivers. In Western and central Yorkshire the many rivers empty their waters into the River Ouse which reaches the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. The most northerly of the rivers in the Ouse system is the Swale, which drains Swaledale before passing through Richmond and meandering across the Vale of Mowbray. Next, draining Wensleydale, is the River Ure, which joins the Swale east of Boroughbridge. The River Nidd rises on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and flows along Nidderdale before reaching the Vale of York.
   The Ouse is the name given to the river after its confluence with the Ure at Ouse Gill Beck. The River Wharfe, which drains Wharfedale, joins the Ouse upstream of Cawood. The Rivers Aire and Calder are more southerly contributors to the River Ouse and the most southerly Yorkshire tributary is the River Don, which flows northwards to join the main river at Goole. In the far north of the county the River Tees flows eastwards through Teesdale and empties its waters into the North Sea downstream of Middlesbrough. The smaller River Esk flows from west to east at the northern foot of the North York Moors to reach the sea at Whitby.
   The River Derwent rises on the North York Moors, flows south then westwards through the Vale of Pickering then turns south again to drain the eastern part of the Vale of York. It empties into the River Ouse at Barmby on the Marsh. To the east of the Yorkshire Wolds the River Hull flows southwards to join the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. The western Pennines are served by the River Ribble which drains westwards into the Irish Sea close to Lytham St Anne's.
   The highest point of the region is Whernside, in the Yorkshire Dales, at 737 metres. The largest freshwater lake is Hornsea Mere in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
   This region of England generally has cool summers and relatively mild winters with the upland areas of the North York Moors and the Pennines experiencing the coolest weather and the Vale of York the warmest. Weather conditions vary from day to day as well as from season to season. The latitude of the area means that it's influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts, bringing with them unsettled and windy weather, particularly in winter. Between depressions there are often small mobile anticyclones that bring periods of fair weather. In winter anticyclones bring cold dry weather. In summer the anticyclones tend to bring dry settled conditions which can lead to drought. For its latitude this area is mild in winter and cooler in summer due to the influence of the Gulf Stream in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Air temperature varies on a daily and seasonal basis. The temperature is usually lower at night and January is the coldest time of the year and July is usually the warmest month.

Local government

The official region consists of the following subdivisions:

Ceremonial county	County/ unitary	Districts
South Yorkshire *		1. Sheffield, 2. Rotherham, 3. Barnsley, 4. Doncaster
West Yorkshire *		5. Wakefield, 6. Kirklees, 7. Calderdale, 8. Bradford, 9. Leeds
North Yorkshire (part only)	10. North Yorkshire †	a.) Selby, b.) Harrogate, c.) Craven, d.) Richmondshire, e.) Hambleton, f.) Ryedale, g.) Scarborough
North Yorkshire (part only)	11. York U.A.
East Riding of Yorkshire	12. East Riding of Yorkshire U.A.
East Riding of Yorkshire	13. Kingston upon Hull U.A.
Lincolnshire (part only)	14. North Lincolnshire U.A.
Lincolnshire (part only)	15. North East Lincolnshire U.A.

Key: shire county = † | metropolitan county = *
It was originally called Yorkshire and Humberside, and defined as North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside. Since then, Humberside has been abolished, and the councils of West and South Yorkshire abolished. The older form of the name is still occasionally seen.

Regional assembly

The Yorkshire and Humber Assembly is a partnership of all local authorities in the region and representatives of various economic, social and environmental sectors.The full Assembly normally meets three times a year, normally in February, June and October.

The full Assembly is responsible for providing regional leadership, agreeing regional strategic priorities, directing the development of the Integrated Regional Framework and endorsing key regional strategies. Membership comprises all 22 local authorities in this region, plus 15 Social, Economic and Environmental partners, and the National Parks for planning purposes

Yorkshire is one of the two regions (along with the North West) that were expected to have a referendum about the establishment of an elected regional assembly. When the North East region of England rejected having an elected regional assembly in a referendum, the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced that he wouldn't move orders for other referenda before the relevant provisions expired in June, 2005. The Yorkshire and Humberside Assembly is based in Wakefield.

European Parliament

The European constituency is con-terminal with the English region.

Election results 2004

Demographics

Population, Density and Settlements

Region/County	Population	Population Density	Largest town/city	Largest metropolitan area
Yorkshire and the Humber	5,142,400	328/km²	Leeds (747,939)	West Yorkshire Urban Area (1,499,465)
West Yorkshire	2,118,600	1,004/km²	Leeds (747,939)	West Yorkshire Urban Area (1,499,465)
South Yorkshire	1,292,900	833/km²	Sheffield (525,800)	Sheffield Urban Area (640,720)
East Riding of Yorkshire	587,100	137/km²	Kingston upon Hull (256,200)	Kingston upon Hull Urban Area (301,416)
North Yorkshire	1,061,300	123/km²	York (184,900)	York (184,900)
North Lincolnshire	159,000	188/km²	Scunthorpe (72,660)	Scunthorpe (72,660)
North East Lincolnshire	158,900	828/km²	Grimsby (87,574)	Grimsby/Cleethorpes (138,842)

Transport

Road

Regionwide The M62 motorway is Yorkshire's main east-west thoroughfare, and north-south routes are the M1 and the A1, with only the A1 continuing further north. The other main north south road in the region is the A19.

Air

Airports in the region are Leeds Bradford International Airport at Yeadon, Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield near Doncaster and Humberside Airport near Brigg in North Lincolnshire. Durham Tees Valley Airport serves the northernmost areas of the region, and there are day and night direct rail connections from the region to Manchester Airport.

Rail

The central hubs of the rail network in the region are Leeds and York, with the East Coast Main Line and CrossCountryrail links serving both. The Midland Main Line finishes at Sheffield, with a less regular service to Leeds, operated by East Midlands Trains. East-west routes are the North TransPennine to Manchester, and South TransPennine through Doncaster.

Sea

Hull has ferries to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam.

Economy

Yorkshire Forward is the Regional Development Agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy, where some 270,000 businesses contribute to an economy worth in excess of £80 billion. With over 5 million people living in the region it ranks alongside some small countries including Ireland, Greece, Norway and Singapore. Yorkshire in the past has been synonymous with mining. Many pits closed in the 1990s, with only a few in the Pontefract area left. The NUM was very Yorkshire-dominated. Coal still plays a part in the economy - there are three large power stations along the Aire Valley, with Drax being the second largest in Europe with 3945MW of capacity.
Leeds is now a centre of financial services companies, with Direct Line and First Direct based there, as well as ASDA, Northern Foods, and the Green Flag roadside recovery firm (in Farsley). The Waddington board game company was founded in Leeds, as was the Burton tailoring company (the Burton Group became the Arcadia Group). Morrisons is based in Bradford, as well as Club 18-30 and the Grattan catalogue retailer. Nestlé in the UK are based in York, with operations in Halifax. The Halifax bank (former Building Society) is in Halifax. Sheffield is known for its steel industry, which has declined in recent years. Scunthorpe is where steel is smelted by Corus. Grimsby is home of (what is left of) Britain's fishing industry, and has many frozen food factories. There are two large oil refineries at Immingham, and a BP chemical works at Saltend in Hull. Smith & Nephew and Reckitt Benckiser medical and household products companies originated in Hull, and still have large factories there. There are many RAF bases in North Yorkshire, close to the A1. McCain is in Scarborough.

Education

See List of schools in Yorkshire and the Humber Schools are mostly comprehensive, with some grammar schools in North Yorkshire, Calderdale and Kirklees. The schools in Hull perform the worst in the UK at GCSE. Also at GCSE, schools in Barnsley, Bradford, Doncaster and North-East Lincolnshire have low-achieving results with Barnsley the worst of these. All four of these areas coincidentally have an above-average teenage pregnancy problem. For the metropolitan areas, Calderdale and Wakefield perform the best, although slightly under the UK average. North Yorkshire performs the best at GCSE in the region, and with the East Riding of Yorkshire and York have results above the UK average. At A-level Hull, North Lincolnshire, Kirklees and North Yorkshire perform quite well with Kirklees being the best by a large margin, and with Wakefield have results above the UK average. The excellent Kirklees result is due to Greenhead College in Huddersfield. The districts of South Yorkshire perform the least in the area at A level, and all of these districts achieve similar results, much lower than those in the former districts of Humberside. Hull and northern Lincolnshire have a wide socio-economic diversity - many under-achieving pupils at 16 but with high performers at A-level. Such areas are suited to selective education. Effectively in these two areas, selection is taking place - at 16.

Secondary Education

Top twenty state schools in Yorkshire and the Humber (2007 A level results)

1. Ermysted's Grammar School (1088)

2. Greenhead College

3. Fulford School

4. Skipton Girls' High School

5. Crossley Heath Grammar School

6. Ripon Grammar School

7. Heckmondwike Grammar School

8. Huntington School

9. Malton School

10. Harrogate Grammar School

11. St. Aidan's & St. John Fisher Associated Sixth Form

12. Ilkley Grammar School

13. The McAuley School

14. The Hayfield School

15. Roundhay School

16. Penistone Grammar School

17. All Saints Catholic High School, Sheffield

18. Notre Dame High School (Sheffield)

19. Bingley Grammar School

20. Wath Comprehensive School (870)

Universities

See List of universities in Yorkshire and the Humber

Local media

Local BBC television comes from Leeds and Hull. Yorkshire Television is on Kirkstall Road in the west of Leeds, which broadcasts Calendar.

BBC Radios Leeds, York, Humberside and Sheffield.

Local commercial stations include The Pulse of West Yorkshire (Bradford), Dearne FM (Barnsley), Trax FM (Doncaster), Compass FM (Grimsby), Ridings FM (Wakefield), Rother FM, 96.3 Radio Aire (Leeds), Galaxy Yorkshire, Minster FM (York), Yorkshire Coast Radio (Scarborough), Fresh Radio (Skipton), Real Radio (Tingley), Home 107.9 (Huddersfield), 97.2 Stray FM (Harrogate), Viking FM (Hull) and Hallam FM (Sheffield).

Local newspapers are the Yorkshire Evening Post, Yorkshire Post, Bradford Telegraph and Argus, The Press (York), Scarborough Evening News, Sheffield Star, Hull Daily Mail, Scunthorpe Telegraph, Wakefield Express, Huddersfield Examiner and Evening Courier.

Yorkshire and Humberside are very supportive in their approach to theatre and performance festivals and hold regional championships for young performers every 2 years. The championship is sectioned in Dance, Music and Speech & Drama. The most recent championship was held on Saturday 8th September, at St Margaret's Church Hall, Horsforth in Leeds. 16 year-old Nuthana Prathivadi, of Halifax, took the Dance Champion title; Helen Wilson, of Harrogate, titled Music Champion and with 17-year old Lee Peart, of Cleethorpes, winning the Speech & Drama championship.

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