Now occupied by York St John University, King’s Manor, is the perfect example of both an historic building and a major heritage asset. It has national, regional, and local significance and a history encompassing an abbey, the Council of the North, a handful of visiting monarchs, Anne

🧵I’m a few days late for Ascension Day this year, but we'll mark it with the Church of the Ascension at Whixley. The Domesday Book records a church in the village, though the fabric of the present building largely dates from the 14th century. Originally dedicated to St James, it

A Sunset over Bolton Castle. Built in the late fourteenth century by John Lewyn for Richard de Scrope, the castle situated in the heart of Wensleydale is a great example of the archetypal quadrangular castle design you would draw as a child. Image courtesy of Barry Marsh. Public Domain

Originally the grand entrance to Hornby Castle situated between Leyburn and Bedale, this imposing early Tudor gateway was carved from local sandstone. Its shallow three-centred arch is richly decorated with heraldic carving and armorial shields. When the castle estate was

Abridged extract from "The Coffee House: a Brief History": By the early 18th century, coffeehouses had become lively centres of news, debate, and sociability, celebrated for their unusually egalitarian character. Men from different social backgrounds could gather over bowls of coffee,

🧵Is the Grade I listed Wentworth Woodhouse the largest back to back-in the country? It was largely built between around 1725 and 1750, functioning as two back-to-back houses, a brick English Baroque west front (below) set against the original 17th century house and what can only

🧵I can't believe it's 25 years today since the famous John Prescott punch. Where the hell as the time gone. On the evening of 16 May 2001, during the general election campaign in Wales, the Kingston upon Hull MP was hit in the face by an egg as he walked to a Labour rally. Prescott being

🧵There is often as much excitement in seeing ancient everyday objects as there is in viewing more high status finds. Roman sandals displayed at Castleford Museum are remarkable examples of 1st-century military footwear, or caligae, discovered at Lagentium. Established around

🧵This LiDAR imagery shows the Scheduled Monument of the deserted medieval village of Hilderthorpe on the southern edge of Bridlington. It shows the “ghost” layout of the village before its long slow desertion. A hollow way runs through the centre, marking the main

🧵Samuel Holberry (1814–1842) was a leading Chartist and one of Sheffield’s best-known radical reformers. Born in Gamston, Nottinghamshire, he joined the army in 1832 before settling in Sheffield, where he worked as a distiller and married Mary Cooper. After the Newport Rising,

🧵3 posts My politics are left of centre and always will be. I have to say though, I feel slightly uneasy about someone giving up their seat primarily to create a route for a senior figure. 1) Voters elected one individual for a full parliamentary term, not as a placeholder.

Magnesian Limestone dominates York's historic architecture, running from its 4th-century Roman foundations through medieval churches to later guildhalls and Victorian monuments. This dense, creamy-white to pale yellow Permian stone was historically quarried along the Cadeby

I have long been championing and writing on the regeneration of post-industrial and coastal towns. For several years I was the manager of a multi-use heritage building in Castleford and saw first-hand the problems they face. It is horrendous therefore when you read this www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Sadly I was just not well enough to even try to get to York for nine this morning to the preview. Really disappointed. Just a reminder though that the Chariots, Treasure and Power - Secrets of the Melsonby Hoard exhibition opens at the Yorkshire Museum tomorrow. #York #IronAge

🧵I believe the Saltburn-by-the-Sea Cliff Tramway is still closed while it awaits the installation of two new replacement carriages. In 1884 the tramway replaced a somewhat precarious cliff "Vertical Hoist System" The water balanced funicular rises one hundred and twenty feet at

🧵 5 posts. Born in Denbigh below, Alice de Lacy has been portrayed both as a vulnerable medieval noblewoman, preyed upon by powerful and scheming men, and by some chroniclers as wilful or wanton. Whatever the truth, hers was one of the most dramatic lives of the fourteenth century and one with deep

The Castleford Roman Festival 2026 takes place on Saturday, 30 May 2026, from 10:00 to 16:00 at the Castleford Town Centre Precinct. This free, family-friendly event features a Roman market, guided walking tours, a '"A Day in Lagentium" theatre show, and interactive archaeological a

🧵The Cawood Sword is one of the rarest and best-preserved medieval swords ever discovered in Britain only the fifth example of its type to be found. Recovered from the River Ouse near Cawood Castle in the late 19th century, it remains in such remarkable condition that

Built in around 1800 Gibson (or Lord Holme) Mill at Hardcastle Crags was one of the first mills of the Industrial Revolution. The mill was driven by a water wheel and produced cotton cloth up until around 1890. In the early 1900s, Gibson Mill began to be used as an ‘entertainment emporium’

A tale of two Scarboroughs! from 1897. The Herring Fleet operated out of Scarborough for about 2 weeks each year with the boats following the fish south. The bathing machines meanwhile for the use of the affluent summer visitors. Herbert Rawling operated about 50 of the them. #socialhistory

🧵Whoever you think should be Labour's leader, they will be on a hiding to nothing for the next three years. The reason, the media. Labour, Greens, Liberal Democrats together with Plaid Cymru and the SNP are likely to face an extremely rough ride for the foreseeable future. Most national newspapers

Founded in Horbury in 1858 by the Rev. John Sharp and the Sisterhood of St Peter, the House of Mercy was created to "shelter and reform" young women labelled “fallen” in Victorian society often those facing poverty, pregnancy, or social stigma. Its history reflects Victorian values but also now

🧵Edwin Ridsdale Tate (1862–1922) was a York born architect, artist and antiquary who dedicated much of his life to capturing and restoring the historic heritage of York. He is most famously known for his detailed artistic recreations of medieval York and his architectural

Raindale Mill, a Victorian watermill was moved to York Castle Museum in the 1960s from the Raindale Valley on the North York Moors. The wheel is powered by a mill pond which uses water from the river below. In its original situation it 'provided for purely small scale local

🧵The 1890 County Cricket Championship was the first one to be held as an official competition. The first match was played between Gloucestershire and Yorkshire captained by Lord Hawke (below) at the Ashley Down Ground in Bristol from 12-14 May. Yorkshire won the historic match by 8 wickets,

🧵At the outbreak of the First World War, many people of German origin living in Britain found their loyalty questioned. In Hull, Charles Hohenrein, the British-born son of German immigrant butcher Georg Friedrich Hohenrein, ran the family shop in Waterworks Street. A proud

Described as one of the finest medieval perpendicular churches in the country, the Minster Church of All Saints in Rotherham dates mainly from the 14th and 15th century. It features a beautiful 15th century gold bossed ceiling and a stunning tower crossing.

Currently closed until summer for renovations the Museum of North Craven Life, 'The Folly,' Settle was constructed as a home in the late 1670s for local solicitor Richard Preston. It has had a chequered history having been leased as a 'farmhouse, bakery, warehouse, furniture shop,

Three years ago I was invited to the preview of "The Unravelling Fantasia of Miss H" a contemporary opera that brought to life a remarkable Yorkshire story of injustice, defiance and survival. It told the story of Doncaster-born Mary Frances Heaton, who in 1837 was committed to the West Riding

A memorial garden and plaque have been unveiled in Leeds to honour Caribbean war veterans. The garden has been opened in memory of the Caribbean World War Two RAF veterans who settled in Leeds after the war. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🧵The dam between Bilberry and Digley Reservoirs. In the early hours of 5 February 1852, the collapse of the Bilberry Reservoir embankment sent 86 million gallons of water surging through the Holme Valley. The disaster claimed 81 lives, destroyed homes, mills,

🧵On the site of an earlier church, the current Minster Church of St Gregory, Kirkdale is a late Anglo Saxon parish church from around 1060. Saxon stone crosses are built into the remaining original walls. Major modifications were completed in the 15th 19th and early 20th centuries. The

Tucked away in Sheffield's old industrial heart is the W H Hulley workshop. Dating back to 1877, it is the oldest business in the UK still making wooden ladders, and one of only two specialists. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The River Washburn is a river in Yorkshire, rising in the uplands of the Yorkshire Dales before flowing south-east to join the River Wharfe. From its source just south of Stump Cross Caverns, to its meeting with the River Wharfe near Pool-in-Wharfedale, is a little over 16 miles.

Well I'm in Dewsbury for my lug 'oles doing. Great that they do Saturday appointments and that there is a community ENT surgery. Last year I had an MRI scan and other tests in a diagnostic centre conveniently situated in a shopping complex. I have seen a lot of the NHS and it is definitely improving

🧵Whitby's East Cliff has always felt older, rougher, and more steeped in the town’s maritime and working class history. Below Whitby Abbey, the East Cliff developed as a tight-knit community living in its narrow lanes, cottages, and yards clustered along the slope. All connected by the

Standing over the market town of Skipton for over 900 years, Skipton Castle is one of the country's most complete and well-preserved medieval fortresses. Originally founded in 1090 by Norman baron Robert de Romille as a wooden motte-and-bailey structure, it was later rebuilt

🧵Cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children's books, Charles Roger Hargreaves was born in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire on tomorrow's date 9 May in 1935. He is best known for the Mr. Men series. The simple, humorous stories, paired with bold and brightly coloured illustrations,

Sorry to see that a friend of mine who has worked tirelessly for the people of the Wakefield District for 26 years was defeated as part of the bloodiest battle in the city since 1460. Throughout the country there will have been superb councillors from different parties who have met the same fate.

This Allan Harris photograph taken in the stoneyard at York Minster in 2014 sums me up perfectly these days. - What shall I do? When shall I do it? etc! I believe it ended up on the east end of the minster. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

🧵3 posts Hungate in York tells the story of how rapidly urban Yorkshire changed. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was an area of gardens, orchards and market plots supplying a growing York. Archaeological excavations uncovered cultivated soils and “lazy beds,” confirming its horticultural

🧵A thought for today! Fifty years after the pits, mills and other industries closed, many of West Yorkshire’s post-industrial towns still carry a deep sense of economic and political neglect. The older, traditional white working-class population, often still living in the terraces built

🧵If there was ever a church with an architectural story to tell this must be it. The church of St Mary, Lockington in the East Riding of Yorkshire was built in the mid 12th century and retains a fine south door. The west tower is early 13th century but was rebuilt

An early 19th century and a later 1905 depiction of the best preserved of all of York’s medieval entrances into the City, Walmgate Bar dates to the 12th century but the majority is of 14th and 15th century construction with later rebuilding after the siege of York. Amazingly the

By the middle of the 19th century much of the country’s working population had not strayed far from the village, town, or city they had been born in. Certainly, a high percentage had never been to the coast. This is confirmed in a somewhat condescending article from the Leeds

Although there had probably been mining on the estate since the late 16th/early 17th centuries, extensive open-cast mining commenced at Temple Newsam near Leeds in May 1942. It was driven by the wartime coal shortage, the land being forcibly requisitioned from Leeds in 1942 and 1945, with mining

Cleckheaton Library is literally 100 metres from me and off I'm trotting (well I don't trot anymore) at some point to cast my votes - it is a full council election. It is an absolute gem of a civic building, The Art Deco-style library was designed by Reuben Castle and opened in 1930.

🧵3 posts On 7 May, John of Beverley is honoured as one of the great saints of early medieval England. Born at Harpham to a noble Northumbrian family, he studied at Canterbury before joining the religious community at Whitby Abbey under St Hilda of Whitby. Renowned as a gifted preacher

Lady Anne’s Way is a 100-mile (160 km) long-distance walking trail in Northern England that traces the life and restoration work of Lady Anne Clifford. The route runs from Skipton Castle in North Yorkshire (her birthplace) to Brougham Castle near Penrith in Cumbria (where she died).

At least the dental surgery has a nice spring garden to take your mind off what lies ahead 😂