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Browse the latest posts from the Yorkshire’s Best Guides Blog.
Harlow Carr Reunited
Harrogate’s rise as a spa town began in 1571 when William Slingsby discovered the mineral nature of the waters of the Tewit Well. In 1734 sulphur springs were discovered at Harlow Carr but it was not for another century that the site was developed to become a...
The Masham Swifts
Swifts are unique and amazing birds. Although similar in appearance to swallows and house martins, they are not related and evolved separately some 50 million years ago. Surprisingly perhaps, their closest bird relatives are hummingbirds! What makes swifts so unique...
Dick Turpin
Visitors to York can see his grave in St George’s churchyard, his place of hanging at York’s Tyburn and his condemned cell in the Museum that was formerly York Castle prison. He has had a romantic reputation as a highwayman who held up stagecoaches at gunpoint and...
Anne Lister and Anne Walker Rainbow Blue Plaque, Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York
There are over 70 historical blue plaques in York, but this one, with its distinctive rainbow border, is unique. It was the first ever permanent rainbow plaque in the UK and commemorates the day that Anne Lister and Ann Walker came here with the intent to...
THE KIPLINGCOATES DERBY
What’s the oldest continually running horse race in the world? You may think something at Ascot or Aintree but you’d be wrong! Instead you have to head to the top of the Yorkshire Wolds in East Yorkshire to a tiny place called Kiplingcotes. Here a flat...
Red Squirrels at the Yorkshire Arboretum
The Yorkshire Arboretum is a glorious 120-acre garden of trees from around the world run by the Castle Howard Arboretum Trust in conjunction with Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Set on the historic Castle Howard estate, the trees from Chile, Australasia, North America,...
Yule Riding in York
Every 21st December, a combination of two ancient ceremonies takes place in York. A wonderful opportunity to time-travel back to Tudor times, as liveried musicians march through the city in a torchlit procession. Often stumbled upon by locals and visitors alike, who...
Gin, gin and more gin…
Originally produced in Holland as a malt spirit with lots of Juniper berries, this spirit was known as Genever in the late 1600s. This was shortened to Gin in the early 1700s when William III introduced corn laws and tax breaks for spirit production. This stopped the...
Discovering Yorkshire’s Canals on Foot
North Yorkshire has everything! Here, we have beautiful old market towns nestled in glorious countryside, which visitors can immerse themselves in, time and time again. And with those magnificent towns comes history. These places were self-sufficient – you would once...
Magnificent Mount Grace Priory
The sign to Mount Grace Priory sits at the side of the A19 near Northallerton in North Yorkshire and a narrow road leads down to the best preserved Carthusian Monastery in Britain nestled at the foot of the Cleveland Hills. Mount Grace Priory was built in 1398. One of...
The Cathedral of the Ainstey in Bolton Percy
Down little winding country lanes, midway between York and Tadcaster, lies the pretty village of Bolton Percy. Here the discerning visitor will find the magnificent church of All Saints, known locally as The Cathedral of the Ainstey. The present church dates from...
Did you know Britain’s tallest ever man was a Yorkshireman?
William Bradley – often known as “The Yorkshire Giant” or “Bradley the Giant” was born in Market Weighton in the East Riding in 1787 and went on become the tallest ever recorded British man who ever lived reaching a height of 7ft 9 inches (2m36cm). He was the fourth...
Clifford’s Tower, York
English Heritage have enhanced the visitor experience at Clifford’s Tower in York. You get views from their new walkway right across the Vale of York to Drax Power Station, the Kilburn White Horse and the Yorkshire Wolds. York Minster, so dominant in the walled...
Yorkshire’s Mountains
I imagine that, should you be asked to think of the mountainous areas of Britain, your immediate thoughts would turn to the Lake District, the Peak District and areas of Wales and Scotland. But did you realise we have mountains in Yorkshire too? Indeed, following the...
A real treasure in York – the Treasurer’s House
Tucked away at the back of York Minster is the National Trust owned Treasurer’s House. The Treasurer of York Minster was a highly sought after and lucrative position being responsible for all financial matters relating to the Minster. It was only fitting that the...
A Right Royal Yomp through Yorkshire
“The history of York is the history of England,” said King George VI, and it was in York where his grandson, King Charles III, revealed the first statue of our late Queen to be unveiled since her death in September 2022. The King entered the city from the south by...
Isabella Bird Bishop – A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains
The life and adventures of Isabella Bird Bishop has been recently brought into the public consciousness through BBC2’s ‘Trailblazers – A Rocky Mountain Trip’. A 3-part series televised in December 2022 following Ruby Wax, Mel B. and Emily Atack as they follow in the...
Harry Potter seen in Knaresborough!
The market town of Knaresborough is famous for its public displays of the art technique of ‘trompe l’oeil’, the painting style that sets out to 'fool the eye' into seeing a painted picture as something real. Originally, local artists painted events and people related...