North Yorkshire

This article is about the ceremonial county. For the unitary authority area, see North Yorkshire (district). For the combined authority area, see York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. For the historic division, see North Riding of Yorkshire. For other uses, see North Yorkshire (disambiguation).

North Yorkshire
Ceremonial county
Top to bottom, left to right: Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales, the Tees Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough, Staithes, and York Minster
Location of North Yorkshire within England
Coordinates: 54°10′N1°20′W / 54.167°N 1.333°W / 54.167; -1.333
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber and North East
Established	1974
Established by	Local Government Act 1972
Origin	Yorkshire
Time zone	UTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Members of Parliament	List of MPs
Police	North Yorkshire Police Cleveland Police
Largest town	Middlesbrough
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Johanna Ropner [1]
High Sheriff	Clare Deborah Granger (2023–24) [2]
Area	8,654 km2 (3,341 sq mi)
• Ranked	1st of 48
Population (2021)	1,158,816
• Ranked	14th of 48
Density	134/km2 (350/sq mi)
Ethnicity	96% White 2.0% S.Asian 0.6% Black

Unemployment in the county was traditionally low in recent years, but the lockdowns and travel restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on the economy during much of 2020 and into 2021. ^[43] The UK government said in early February 2021 that it was planning "unprecedented levels of support to help businesses [in the UK] survive the crisis". ^[44] A report published on 1 March 2021 stated that the unemployment rate in North Yorkshire had "risen to the highest level in nearly 5 years – with under 25s often bearing the worst of job losses". ^[45]

York experienced high unemployment during lockdown periods. One analysis (by the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership) predicted in August 2020 that "as many as 13,835 jobs in York will be lost in the scenario considered most likely, taking the city's unemployment rate to 14.5%". Some critics claimed that part of the problem was caused by "over-reliance on the booming tourism industry at the expense of a long-term economic plan". ^[46] A report in mid June 2020 stated that unemployment had risen 114 per cent over the previous year because of restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic. ^[47]

Tourism in the county was expected to increase after the restrictions imposed due the pandemic are relaxed. One reason for the expected increase is the airing of All Creatures Great and Small , a TV series about the vet James Herriot, based on a successful series of books; it was largely filmed within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. ^[48] The show aired in the UK in September 2020 and in the US in early 2021. One source stated that visits to Yorkshire websites had increased significantly by late September 2020. ^[49]

Transport

Bridges

Larpool Viaduct

Knaresborough Viaduct

Whitby Swing Bridge

Skeldergate Bridge

North Yorkshire has a number of bridge with clusters such as bridges of York or in the Tees Lowlands, over the River Tees. Many are road bridges, railway viaducts or footbridges; such Lendal Bridge in York, Saltburn Viaduct and the Infinity Bridge respectively.

The Tees Transporter Bridge, opened in 1911 is a symbol of Teesside and is one of few surviving transporter bridges worldwide. ^[50] Further inland, the Tees Barrage complex (which opened in 1995) incorporates a tidal barrier, road bridge, footbridge and barge lock. ^[51]

Larpool Viaduct near Whitby is a repurposed railway viaduct (footbridge), the viaduct was affected by the Beeching cuts in 1965 with the rail-line connecting Whitby to Scarborough axed. It was opened in 1885, closed in 1965 then repurposed and re-opened in 2000. ^[52]

Rail

See also: Station usage in North Yorkshire

York, Harrogate, Middlesbrough
and Scarborough railway stations

The East Coast Main Line (ECML) bisects the county stopping at Northallerton,Thirsk and York. Passenger service companies in the area are London North Eastern Railway, Northern Rail, TransPennine Express and Grand Central.

LNER and Grand Central operate services to the capital on the ECML, Leeds Branch Line and the Northallerton–Eaglescliffe Line. LNER stop at York, Northallerton and on to County Durham or spur over to the Tees Valley Line for Thornaby and Middlesbrough. The operator also branch before the county for Leeds and run to Harrogate and Skipton. Grand Central stop at York, Thirsk Northallerton and Eaglescliffe then over to the Durham Coast Line in County Durham.

Northern operates the remaining lines in the county, including commuter services on the Harrogate Line, Airedale Line and York & Selby Lines, of which the former two are covered by the Metro ticketing area. Remaining branch lines operated by Northern include the Yorkshire Coast Line from Scarborough to Hull, York–Scarborough line via Malton, the Hull to York Line via Selby, the Tees Valley Line from Darlington to Saltburn via Middlesbrough and the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough to Whitby. Last but certainly not least, the Settle-Carlisle Line runs through the west of the county, with services again operated by Northern.

Current and former railway routes in eastern North Yorkshire

The county suffered badly under the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. Places such as Richmond, Ripon, Tadcaster, Helmsley, Pickering and the Wensleydale communities lost their passenger services. Notable lines closed were the Scarborough and Whitby Railway, Malton and Driffield Railway and the secondary main line between Northallerton and Harrogate via Ripon.

Heritage railways within North Yorkshire include: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, between Pickering and Grosmont, which opened in 1973; the Derwent Valley Light Railway near York; and the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. The Wensleydale Railway, which started operating in 2003, runs services between Leeming Bar and Redmire along a former freight-only line. The medium-term aim is to operate into Northallerton station on the ECML, once an agreement can be reached with Network Rail. In the longer term, the aim is to reinstate the full line west via Hawes to Garsdale on the Settle-Carlisle line.

York railway station is the largest station in the county, with 11 platforms and is a major tourist attraction in its own right. The station is immediately adjacent to the National Railway Museum.

Road

The A1(M) at Dishforth

The main road through the county is the north–south A1(M), which has gradually been upgraded in sections to motorway status since the early 1990s. The only other motorways within the county are the short A66(M) near Darlington and a small stretch of the M62 motorway close to Eggborough. ^[53] The other nationally maintained trunk routes are the A168/A19, A64, A66 and A174.

Coach and bus

Long-distance coach services are operated by National Express and Megabus. Local bus service operators include Arriva Yorkshire, Stagecoach, Harrogate Bus Company, The Keighley Bus Company, Scarborough & District (East Yorkshire), Yorkshire Coastliner, First York and the local Dales & District.

Air

There are no major airports in the county itself, but nearby airports include Teesside International (Darlington), Newcastle and Leeds Bradford.

Education

Universities

The main campus of Teesside University is in Middlesbrough, while York contains the main campuses of the University of York and York St John University. There are also two secondary campuses in the county: CU Scarborough, a campus of Coventry University, and Queen's Campus, Durham University in Thornaby-on-Tees.

Colleges

Middlesbrough College's sixth-form

• Askham Bryan College of agriculture, Askham Bryan and Middlesbrough
• Craven College, Skipton
• Middlesbrough College
• The Northern School of Art, Middlesbrough
• Prior Pursglove College
• Redcar & Cleveland College
• Scarborough Sixth Form College
• Scarborough TEC
• Selby College
• Stockton Riverside College, Thornaby
• York College

Places of interest

Key
	Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
	Accessible open space
	Amusement/Theme Park
	Castle
	Country Park
	English Heritage
	Forestry Commission
	Heritage railway
	Historic House
	Places of Worship
	Museum (free/not free)
	National Trust
	Theatre
	Zoo

Ampleforth College Beningbrough Hall – Black Sheep Brewery Bolton Castle – Brimham Rocks – Castle Howard and the Howardian Hills – Catterick Garrison Cleveland Hills Drax Power Station Duncombe Park – stately home Eden Camp Museum – Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway – Eston Nab Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo – Helmsley Castle – Ingleborough Cave – show cave John Smith's Brewery Jorvik Viking Centre – Lightwater Valley – Lund's Tower Malham Cove Middleham Castle –

Mother Shipton's Cave – National Railway Museum – North Yorkshire Moors Railway – Ormesby Hall – Palladian Mansion Richmond Castle – Ripley Castle – Stately home and historic village Riverside Stadium Samuel Smith's Brewery Shandy Hall – stately home Skipton Castle – Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications – Studley Royal Park – Stump Cross Caverns – show cave Tees Transporter Bridge Theakston Brewery Thornborough Henges Wainman's Pinnacle Wharram Percy York Castle Museum – Yorkshire Air Museum – The Yorkshire Arboretum

• 
  White Scar Cave is a popular show cave in Chapel-le-Dale.
• 
  Aysgarth Falls, a popular destination in the Yorkshire Dales National Park for hikers, can also be reached by a short walk from the main road.
• 
  Harrogate is also a popular tourist destination, famous for its Turkish Baths, gastronomy and high-end shops. The picture is of Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre.
• 
  Roseberry Topping in the North York Moors
• 
  Castle Howard

Religious sites

Further information: Category:Churches in North Yorkshire

Fountains Abbey

Bolton Abbey Byland Abbey – Fountains Abbey – Gisborough Priory Kirkham Priory Mount Grace Priory –

Rievaulx Abbey – Ripon Cathedral – Selby Abbey Wharram Percy Whitby Abbey – York Minster –

• 
  Bolton Abbey
• 
  In terms of interior floor area, York Minster is the 3rd Largest Cathedral in the United Kingdom.
• 
  Rievaulx Abbey
• 
  With the first monastery built in the 7th century, the ruins of the medieval Whitby Abbey still stand today, now famous for its role in Dracula .

Seaside

Scarborough from Oliver's Mount

The Grand Hotel in Scarborough is a Grade II* listed building. At the time of its grand opening in 1867, it was the largest hotel and the largest brick structure in Europe.

Filey Redcar Robin Hood's Bay Scarborough Castle – Peasholm Park Funiculars Scarborough Spa Saltburn Cliff Lift Pier Miniature Railway Staithes Whitby Captain Cook Memorial Museum Cholmley House 199 Steps Pavillion Piers

News and media

The county receives terrestrial television from four main transmission towers. Bilsdale Mast transmits in the county's north from near Helmsley in the county; providing BBC North East and Cumbria, ITV Tyne Tees and BBC Radio Tees. ^[54]

Emley Moor Mast transmits in the county's south, between Selby and Ripon or Northallerton and Thirsk, from West Yorkshire and Oliver's Mount Mast transmits Scarborough and Filey providing BBC Yorkshire, ITV Yorkshire and BBC Radio York.

Settle and the county's far west is served by BBC Radio Lancashire, BBC North West and ITV Granada from Winter Hill Mast, Lancashire.

Sport

Cricket

Yorkshire County Cricket Club play a number of fixtures at North Marine Road, Scarborough and some 2nd XI games in Richmond. The ball game Rock-It-Ball was developed in the county.

Association football

Middlesbrough vs West Ham in FA Cup semi-final 2006

North Yorkshire has a number of association football clubs, including:

Guisborough Town Harrogate Railway Athletic Harrogate Town Middlesbrough Marske United Northallerton Town Pickering Town

Redcar Athletic Scarborough Athletic Selby Town Tadcaster Albion Thornaby Whitby Town York City

Middlesbrough are currently the highest-ranked team in the county as they play in the EFL Championship. In the past, they have won the EFL Cup and reached the UEFA Cup final. Harrogate Town play in the EFL League Two. York City play in the National League. Scarborough Athletic, a phoenix club of Scarborough, play in the National League North. Whitby Town have reached the FA Cup first round seven times and have played the likes of Hull City, Wigan Athletic and Plymouth Argyle; they currently play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

Rugby football

Scarborough ground

Rugby Union Teams 2022–23

League	Team	Venue	Capacity	Location
National League 2 North	Harrogate	Rudding Lane		Harrogate
	Wharfedale	The Avenue	2,000	Threshfield
Regional 1 North East	York	Clifton Park		York, North Yorkshire
Regional 2 North East	Malton & Norton	The Gannock		Malton
	Scarborough	Silver Royd	4,500 (425 seats)	Scalby, Scarborough
	Selby	Sandhill Lane		Selby
Regional 2 North	Middlesbrough	Acklam Park	5,000 (159 seats)	Acklam, Middlesbrough

The leading rugby union teams in the county include Wharfedale RUFC, Harrogate RUFC, but teams also include Middlesbrough RUFC and Acklam RUFC who play their league games in Regional 2 North, a corresponding league of the same level hosting teams from Teesside, County Durham and Northumberland. The rugby league club, York RLFC, are represented by York Knights who play in the Rugby League Championships and York Valkyrie in the RFL Women's Super League.

Racing

York Racecourse

North Yorkshire has multiple racecourses, at: Catterick Bridge, Redcar, Ripon, Thirsk and York. It also has one motor racing circuit, Croft Circuit; the circuit holds meetings of the British Touring Car Championship, British Superbike and Pickup Truck Racing race series and one Motorcycle Racing Circuit at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough.

See also

• List of Lords Lieutenant of North Yorkshire
• List of High Sheriffs of North Yorkshire
• List of settlements in North Yorkshire by population
• Listed buildings in North Yorkshire
• Demographics of Tees Valley

Notes

1. The unitary authority areas of York and North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and the Humber, and Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees are in North East England.
2. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
3. includes hunting and forestry
4. includes energy and construction
5. includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

References

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External links

• North Yorkshire Lieutenancy
• North Yorkshire Council
• North Yorkshire at Curlie
• Images of North Yorkshire at the English Heritage Archive