Yorkshire DalesHands up if you enjoy your Yorkshire Puddings with your Sunday roast. You may not have realised but 4th February is actually Yorkshire Pudding Day. So in honour of all things Yorkshire, we’ve pulled together 25 fantastic facts (there were so many more but we had to draw the line somewhere) that make Yorkshire great. Enjoy!

  1. Yorkshire is, of course, home to the Yorkshire Pudding! The first recorded recipe was written in 1737, and we’re all very thankful for it.
  2. Thomas Crapper, inventor of the modern loo, was born in Yorkshire. Yorkshire genius and practicality at its best.
  3. Forget the myths and legends of the Bermuda triangle. We have our very own much tastier and internationally recognised triangle – The Rhubarb Triangle – the home of forced rhubarb.
  4. Possibly the greatest invention of modern times, far greater than sliced bread and definitely more life enhancing than the wheel, the Beer Pump was invented in Yorkshire by Joseph Bramah.
  5. Guy Fawkes was born in York in 1570. His intention might have been a bit dubious but at least we get to celebrate every year with Bonfire Night.
  6. Yorkshire is home to the largest museum of its kind - The National Railway Museum in York. And it's free. They say Yorkshire people know a bargain when they see it!
  7. Yorkshire boasts 2 fantastic national parks – (more than any other county!) the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorkshire Moors attracting a combined 16.5 million visitors per year.
  8.  Yorkshire-born William Wilberforce was the MP who passionately campaigned for the abolition of the slave trade. The Slavery Abolition Act 1933 was eventually passed just 3 Chocolatedays before Wilberforce’s death.
  9. The oldest flying aeroplane in Britain was built in Leeds by Robert Blackburn in 1912.
  10. Harry Brearley from Sheffield discovered stainless steel in 1913. Sheffield later became known as the city for stainless steel production.
  11. Marks & Spencer started life as a penny bazaar stall in 1884 in Leeds market. The original slogan was ‘don’t ask the price, it’s a penny’. So Yorkshire!
  12. The first hydraulic lift was developed in Temple Works – for delivering sheep to the roof. Just recently the building sold for £1!
  13. The first motion pictures were filmed by Louis Le Prince in Leeds in 1888. Another industry born and bred in Yorkshire.
  14. Anywhere home to chocolate is definitely worthy of celebration. York is the birthplace of Chocolate Orange, KitKat and the Yorkie Bar, as the headquarters to Terry’s Chocolates and Rowntrees.
  15. Jelly Tots were accidentally invented in Horsforth by Brain Boffey, who was actually trying to create powdered jelly at the time. Hard to imagine the world without Jelly Tots!
  16. The first team to win the English title 3 times in a row were a Yorkshire team – Huddersfield Town.
  17. Yorkshire hosted the Ryder cup in Alwoodley – Leeds in 1929.
  18. The Children In Need mascot – Pudsey Bear – is named after his creator’s hometown of Pudsey.
  19. The world’s very first football club was formed in Yorkshire – Sheffield FC formed on 24th October 1857.
  20. Yorkshire is home to one of the most successful literary families – the Brontes. The parsonage in Haworth was home to Charlotte, Emily and Anne – and was where they wrote some of the nation’s favourite classics.
  21. Flamborough Lighthouse is thought to be the first lighthouse built in England – it was built in 1669.
  22. The George Hotel in Huddersfield is a Grade II listed building famous as the birthplace of rugby league in 1895.
  23. David Hockney is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, and was born in Bradford.
  24. Yorkshire has a GDP greater than the whole of Scotland.
  25. And finally, for good Yorkshire measure… Leeds is the birthplace of the industry’s favourite PD experts and unique Design & Build company - headoffice3.

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