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Browse the latest posts from the Yorkshire’s Best Guides Blog.
Unusual Photographic Opportunities In and Around York
At the West Front, where the visitors’ entrance can be found today, is a 1990’s version of an original Genesis cycle decorating the ceremonial doors. God’s hand wraps around the globe in his first act of creation and then encircles Adam and Eve. Noah is...
A Mediterranean Garden in Yorkshire
Beningbrough Hall, an 18th century manor overlooking the river Ouse near York has an exciting addition to its historic landscape: a Mediterranean Garden designed by award-winning landscape architect Andy Sturgeon. Created as part of a long-term masterplan for the...
Toast Art in Haworth
I regularly stop at St.Michael & All Angels Church in Haworth on my Bronte tours. The church is next to the Bronte Parsonage Museum, but all that is left of the church from the Bronte sisters time is the tower, the rest of the church being re-built after Patrick...
Bradford’s Wool Exchange
The former Wool Exchange is one of Bradford’s three Grade 1 listed buildings and perhaps the most iconic reminder of the city’s illustrious past. It is now, possibly, the finest Waterstone’s Bookshop in the...
Saint Cuthbert in York Minster
Saint Cuthbert, the North’s favourite saint, is closely connected to Melrose, where he trained as a monk, the Holy Island of Lindisfarne off the Northumberland coast, where he dedicated his life to God as monk, hermit and bishop and Durham Cathedral, where his shrine...
Little Railways of the Yorkshire Dales
The inaugural run of the Stockton to Darlington Railway took place on 27th September 1825 so this year, as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the steam train, we also remember some of the little trains that once clattered along a network of narrow-gauge railways...
Yorkshire’s Prettiest Grade II Listed Railway Station
The town of Knaresborough boasts a delightful Victorian station, with many unusual and original features. It was completed in 1865 and further developed in 1890. Today, the line extends from York to Leeds. Building the railway was problematic. The track needed a...
5 Rise Locks – one of the wonders of the waterways on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Bingley
When it was first opened in the 1700’s, the Leeds & Liverpool Canal helped open up the West of England and the great Port of Liverpool to businesses in Yorkshire. When completed in the early 1800’s the canal stretched 127 miles across the Pennines a notoriously...
Samuel Cunliffe Lister – from Bradford Mill Owner to Lord Masham
Samuel Lister was born on New Year’s Day in 1815. He was the fourth son of Mr Ellis Cunliffe Lister, member of an old county family of Manningham Hall. At that time Bradford’s Manningham Lane was merely a rural highway and Manningham an insignificant hamlet. He was...
SIR TITUS SALT – A YORKSHIRE RECIPIENT OF THE LEGION D’HONNEUR.
What an accolade! It reflects his reputation across Europe as an enlightened industrialist who cared about his workers. At his funeral in 1876 local crowds thronged the streets in appreciation of his legacy. Salt had moved his various woollen...
A Story of the Worth Valley: from “a bun, a banana and a beverage” to boots, books, beer, bales and … curry
Nestled in the foothills of the Pennines, the Bradford area boomed in the 19th century. Economic growth founded on textile manufacturing turned the small market town of Bradford into a city, and outlying hamlets strung along the meandering rivers of West...
Frederick Delius – Bradford’s most Famous Composer
Frederick Delius was born in the Horton district of Bradford on 29 June 1862. His parents Julius and Elise Pauline emigrated from Westphalia in 1856 so that Julius could further his career as a wool merchant. They went on to become leading members of the German...
North York Moors Railway
What better way to enjoy the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire than by taking a ride on the North York Moors Railway, one of Britain’s most iconic heritage railways. First opened in 1836, the line runs from the pretty market town of Pickering to the...
#Bradford2025: UK City of Culture
Introduced in 2009, the UK City of Culture scheme is designed to promote cultural regeneration and economic growth in cities across the UK. Every four years, one city is chosen to hold the title, with the aim of boosting tourism, investment, and community engagement....
A Tale of Two Georges
During the mid 1800s the railways developed exponentially in Britain and nowhere more so than York. Two men were hugely influential in this arena and are honoured in the city today, one by blue plaques and the second by a statue close to the railway station. United by...
A Very British Christmas – the iconic view of Knaresborough
This breathtaking view is of the river Nidd, taken from Knaresborough Castle. The name ‘Nidd’ dates back from Celtic times meaning ‘sparkling,’ and the reflection of the viaduct and neighbouring bankside buildings, enhances the beauty of this iconic scene. The eye is...
Celebrating 250 year of JMW Turner
JMW Turner’s Yorkshire in 10 special places St George’s Day next 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Mallord William Turner, the son of a Covent Garden barber, who was described by art critic John Ruskin as ‘the greatest of the age’ and left a...
The Mystery of the Water Pump with No Handle
One of the pleasures of exploring York is the often unexpected and intriguing discovery of something interesting and decidedly unusual. One such object can found in North Street Gardens by the banks of the River Ouse. On first sight there appears to be a...