Why I Love Yorkshire and Why You Should Too

Why I Love Yorkshire and Why You Should Too

27th February 2018 Yorkshire 6
Why I Love Yorkshire

I should probably begin by admitting that I am not from Yorkshire. I was born in Scunthorpe which, despite what some sections of the media who have never bothered to use Google Maps would have you believe, is in North Lincolnshire, not the White Rose county.

With that in mind, you may wonder why I make a point of stating that I am a “Yorkshire content writer, radio presenter and video maker” on the front page of my website. Read on to find my reasoning.

Yorkshire Credentials

I have lived in the West Yorkshire village of Burley-in-Wharfedale for the last nine years and, you could argue that people who CHOOSE to live in Yorkshire are more committed to the county than those who were lucky enough to have been born there. I’m not going to argue that though, because that would be foolish.

However, with that nine-year stretch, three years in Leeds, another three in Hull and a couple in Doncaster, it’s pushing half my life that I’ve lived in what Welcome to Yorkshire claims to be

England’s biggest and most magnificent county

I have also helped create two brand new Yorkshire people, so that must surely push me over the line.

Why We Chose Yorkshire

I loved living in Leeds when I was a student and was always keen on the idea of moving back to the area. By the time I had the chance, I was about to turn 30 and so was looking for somewhere with access to Leeds, but with more of a relaxed atmosphere, plenty of hills and fields, and a general acceptance of old man cardigans.

We’d visited Burley on a number of occasions in the year before I found work vaguely close by, as my wife was a bridesmaid for a friend who lived in the village, and we knew that was where we wanted to live. We moved in and haven’t regretted it once.

It is absolutely stunning round where we live. We’re a couple of minutes’ drive from one of Yorkshire’s most iconic landmarks, the Cow and Calf:


We’re also less than twenty minutes from the majesty of the Yorkshire Dales, but there is staggering scenery all over the county. Here’s some shots from a trip we took this week to Hebden Bridge:

Yorkshire History and Culture

Although a lot of Yorkshire is absolutely gorgeous, there’s much more to the county than that. I love history and this is an area dripping in it. From Viking and Roman finds, the assortment of castles and abbeys in the full range of states of repair, and sprawling stately homes, to the remnants of the wool, steel and coal industries, you can take in the whole story of how Britain developed without having to cross the county border. It’s a place where you can learn about how history affected the very richest and very poorest in society and I find it fascinating.

Whether it’s the tales passed down through the fishing communities in Hull or the textile workers of the Calder Valley, Yorkshire is the place to come to learn about social history and to find out how towns and cities rolled with the punches of waning industries to rebrand and reinvent themselves.

Hull has recently enjoyed a year as City of Culture, whilst Sheffield and Leeds consistently find themselves in the lists of the most vibrant places in the country. There are internationally renowned facilities like the magnificent National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, Eureka! the children’s museum in Halifax and the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, as well as a host of well-respected art galleries and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saltaire.

Salt’s Mill, Saltaire.

A post shared by Jim (@jimcoulson1979) on


My Yorkshire Projects

I’ve long wanted to channel my love of Yorkshire into something creative. To spread the word about a county that, admittedly, doesn’t need much of an excuse to extol its own virtues. Here are a couple of Yorkshire-based projects I’ve been working on:

Bewildered Family Guide to Yorkshire

My parenting blog Bewildered Dad has taken a bit of a backseat recently, mainly because I’m too busy parenting when I’m not working! However, the Bewildered Family Guide to Yorkshire is still running. It’s a series of videos featuring the kids and me visiting different towns and cities across Yorkshire and showcasing the family-friendly activities they have to offer. There are some new episodes in production at the moment and they will go up on the site soon.

Here are the videos we have made so far:

ThisisIlkley.com

ThisisIlkley.com is my hyperlocal site, based around the area in which I live. It’s a mixture of local information, details of forthcoming events, and fun, observational posts about the Ilkley area, like this blog about rude place names.

As with Bewildered Dad, it’s not updated as regularly as I’d like, but I do enjoy talking about how great it is where I live.

Yorkshire Businesses

If you run a Yorkshire business, or know one that would like some Yorkshire-based content providing, I am more than happy to do that. Getting paid to tell everyone how great the county is is even better than blogging about it for free. Who’d have known?

Get in contact today and we can chat about your needs.

 

6 Responses

  1. […] frankly. It had personal emails coming in, as well as messages for my Bewildered Dad blog and This is Ilkley website in addition to all the newsletters and marketing mailouts I’d signed up to over the […]

  2. […] used to be really into music. I mean really into music. Before we moved to Yorkshire, we lived in London and would be at gigs most days, often going to more than one in an evening. […]

  3. […] An estate agent that does this very well is Ribston Pippin in Menston, the village next to the one in which I live in West Yorkshire. […]

  4. […] already blogged about my love of the white rose county, and that was a driving force behind the Bewildered Family Guide to Yorkshire – a series of […]

  5. […] Yorkshire – The county in which I have made my home is a constant inspiration for my work. […]

  6. […] love Yorkshire and I have written extensively about why it is such a special county for me. I love living here, bringing up a family here and working here. However, when I was offered a trip […]

Leave a Reply