great britain cities

Wolverhampton

2011-02-09T05:03:00.001-08:00

Wolverhampton, UK, Information

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the English West Midlands, traditionally part of the county of Staffordshire.
The city of Wolverhampton has a population of over 230,000.
The city was named after Lady Wulfruna, who founded the town in 985 when King Aethelred granted the title of land known as Heantune to her.
The name Wolverhampton comes from Anglo-Saxon Wulfrūnehēantūn = "Wulfrūn's high or principal enclosure or farm". Many buildings and firms in Wolverhampton are named after Lady Wulfruna. The name Wolverhampton is often abbreviated to "W'ton" or "Wolves".
The United Kingdom government announced on December 18, 2000 that Wolverhampton would be granted city status.

Bristol -

2010-11-19T01:34:00.001-08:00

Bristol

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the British city. For other uses, see Bristol (disambiguation).

Bristol

— Unitary, City, Ceremonial county —

Coat of Arms of the City Council

Coordinates: 51°27′N 2°35′W

United Kingdom

England

Bristol
(County corporate)

Admin HQ

Bristol

Royal Charter

1155

County status

1373

Government

- Type

Unitary authority, City

- Governing body

Bristol City Council

- Leadership

Leader & Cabinet

- Executive

Lib Dem

- MPs

Chris Skidmore (C)

Kerry McCarthy (L)
Charlotte Leslie (C)
Dawn Primarolo (L)

Stephen Williams (LD)

Area

- Unitary, City,Ceremonial county

42.5 sq mi (110 km²)

Elevation^[1]

36 ft (11 m)

Population (2008 est.)

- Unitary, City,Ceremonial county

421,300 (Ranked 7th amongst English Districts / 43rd amongst Ceremonial Counties)

- Density

9,425/sq mi (3,639/km²)

- Urban

587,400 (2,006 ONS estimate)

- Metro

1,006,600 (LUZ2,009)

- Ethnicity^[2]

88.8% White (83.5% White British)
4.2% S. Asian
1.9% Black
2.2% Mixed Race
1.9% E. Asian or Other

Time zone

GMT (UTC0)

Postcode

0117

GB-BST

00HB

NUTS 3

UKK11

Website

bristol.gov.uk/

View westerly of vicinity of Bristol fromNASA World Wind

Bristol (ⁱ /ˈbrɪstəl/) is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009,^[3] and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) with an estimated 1,006,600 residents,^[4] it is England's sixth, and the United Kingdom's eighth most populous city, one of the group ofEnglish Core Cities and the most populous city in South West England.

Bristol received a Royal Charter in 1155 and was granted County status in 1373. From the 13th century, for half a millennium, it ranked amongst the top three English cities after London, alongside York and Norwich, on the basis of tax receipts,^[5] until the rapid rise ofLiverpool, Birmingham and Manchester during the Industrial Revolution in the latter part of the 18th century. It borders the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire, and is also located near the historic cities of Bath to the south east and Gloucester to the north. The city is built around the River Avon, and it also has a short coastline on the Severn Estuary, which flows into the Bristol Channel.

Bristol is the largest centre of culture, employment and education in the region. Its prosperity has been linked with the sea since its earliest days. The commercial Port of Bristol was originally in the city centre before being moved to the Severn Estuary atAvonmouth; Royal Portbury Dock is on the western edge of the city boundary. In more recent years the economy has depended on the creative media, electronics and aerospaceindustries, and the city centre docks have been regenerated as a centre of heritage and culture.^[6] There are 34 other populated places on Earth named Bristol, most in the United States, but also in Peru, Canada, Jamaica and Costa Rica, all presumably commemorating the original.^[7]^[8]

[edit]History

Main article: History of Bristol

Archaeological finds believed to be 60,000 years old, discovered at Shirehampton and St Annes, provide "evidence of human activity" in the Bristol area from the Palaeolithic era.^[9]There are Iron Age hill forts near the city, at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down on the side of the Avon Gorge, and on Kingsweston Hill, near Henbury.^[10] During the Roman era there was a settlement, Abona,^[11] at what is now Sea Mills, connected to Bath by a Roman road, and another at the present-day Inns Court. There were also isolated Roman villas and smallRoman forts and settlements throughout the area.^[12] The town of Brycgstow (Old English, "the place at the bridge")^[13] existed by the beginning of the 11th century, and under Normanrule acquired one of the strongest castles in southern England.^[14]

Bristol Bridge seen across the harbour

The area around the original junction of the River Frome with the River Avon, adjacent to the original Bristol Bridge and just outside the town walls, was where the port began to develop in the 11th century.^[15] By the 12th century Bristol was an important port, handling much of England's trade with Ireland. In 1247 a new stone bridge was built, which was replaced by the current Bristol Bridge in the 1760s,^[16] and the town was extended to incorporate neighbouring suburbs, becoming in 1373 a county in its own right.^[17] During this period Bristol also became a centre of shipbuilding and manufacturing. Bristol was the starting point for many important voyages, notablyJohn Cabot's 1497 voyage of exploration to North America.^[18]

The west front of Bristol Cathedral

By the 14th century Bristol was one of England's three largest medieval towns after London, along with York and Norwich, with perhaps 15,000–20,000 inhabitants on the eve of the Black Death of 1348–49.^[19] The plague resulted in a prolonged pause in the growth of Bristol's population, with numbers remaining at 10,000–12,000 through most of the 15th and 16th centuries. The Diocese of Bristol was founded in 1542,^[20] with the former Abbey ofSt. Augustine, founded by Robert Fitzharding in 1140,^[21] becoming Bristol Cathedral. Traditionally this is equivalent to the town being granted city status. During the 1640s English Civil War the city was occupied by Royalist military, after they overran Royal Fort, the last Parliamentarianstronghold in the city.^[22]

Renewed growth came with the 17th century rise of England's American colonies and the rapid 18th century expansion of England's part in the Atlantic trade in Africans taken for slavery in theAmericas. Bristol, along with Liverpool, became a centre for the Triangular trade. In the first stage of this trade manufactured goods were taken to West Africa and exchanged for Africans who were then, in the second stage or middle passage, transported across the Atlantic in brutal conditions.^[23] The third leg of the triangle brought plantation goods such as sugar, tobacco, rum, rice and cotton^[23] and also a small number of slaves who were sold to the aristocracy as house servants, some eventually buying their freedom.^[24] During the height of the slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slaving ships were fitted out at Bristol, carrying a (conservatively) estimated half a million people from Africa to the Americas and slavery.^[25] The Seven Stars public house,^[26] where abolitionist Thomas Clarkson collected information on the slave trade, still exists.

An 1873 engraving showing sights around Bristol

Fishermen from Bristol had fished the Grand Banks of Newfoundland since the 15th century^[27]and began settling Newfoundland permanently in larger numbers in the 17th century establishing colonies at Bristol's Hope and Cuper's Cove. Bristol's strong nautical ties meant that maritime safety was an important issue in the city. During the 19th century Samuel Plimsoll, "the sailor's friend", campaigned to make the seas safer; he was shocked by the overloaded cargoes, and successfully fought for a compulsory load line on ships.^[28]

Competition from Liverpool from c. 1760, the disruption of maritime commerce caused by wars with France (1793) and the abolition of the slave trade (1807) contributed to the city's failure to keep pace with the newer manufacturing centres of the North of England and the West Midlands. The passage up the heavily tidal Avon Gorge, which had made the port highly secure during theMiddle Ages, had become a liability which the construction of a new "Floating Harbour" (designed by William Jessop) in 1804–9 failed to overcome, as the great cost of the scheme led to excessive harbour dues.^[29] Nevertheless, Bristol's population (66,000 in 1801) quintupled during the 19th century, supported by new industries and growing commerce.^[30] It was particularly associated with the noted Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who designed the Great Western Railway between Bristol and London Paddington, two pioneering Bristol-built ocean goingsteamships, the SS Great Britain and SS Great Western, and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. John Wesley founded the very first Methodist Chapel, called the New Room, in Bristol in 1739. Riotsoccurred in 1793^[31] and 1831, the first beginning as a protest at renewal of an act levying tolls on Bristol Bridge, and the latter after the rejection of the second Reform Bill.^[32]

A map of Bristol from 1946

Bristol's city centre suffered severe damage from Luftwaffe bombing during the Bristol Blitz of World War II.^[33] The original central shopping area, near the bridge and castle, is now a park containing two bombed out churches and some fragments of the castle. A third bombed church nearby, St Nicholas, has been restored and has been made into a museum which houses atriptych by William Hogarth, painted for the high altar of St Mary Redcliffe in 1756. The museum also contains statues moved from Arno's Court Triumphal Arch, of King Edward I and King Edward III taken from Lawfords' Gate of the city walls when they were demolished around 1760, and 13th century figures from Bristol's Newgate representing Robert, the builder of Bristol Castle, andGeoffrey de Montbray, Bishop of Coutances, builder of the fortified walls of the city.^[34]

The rebuilding of Bristol city centre was characterised by large, cheap 1960s tower blocks,brutalist architecture and expansion of roads. Since the 1980s another trend has emerged with the closure of some main roads, the restoration of the Georgian period Queen Square and Portland Square, the regeneration of the Broadmead shopping area, and the demolition of one of the city centre's tallest post-war blocks.^[35]

The removal of the docks to Avonmouth Docks and Royal Portbury Dock, 7 miles (11.3 km) downstream from the city centre during the 20th century has also allowed redevelopment of the old central dock area (the "Floating Harbour") in recent decades, although at one time the continued existence of the docks was in jeopardy as it was viewed as a derelict industrial site rather than an asset. However the holding, in 1996, of the first International Festival of the Sea in and around the docks, affirmed the dockside area in its new leisure role as a key feature of the city.^[36]

[edit]Governance

The Council House, the seat of local government

St Mary Redcliffe church and the Floating Harbour, Bristol.

Main article: Politics of Bristol

Bristol City Council consists of 70 councillors representing 35 wards. They are elected in thirds with two councillors per ward, each serving a four-year term. Wards never have both councillors up for election at the same time, so effectively two-thirds of the wards are up each election.^[37] The Council has long been dominated by the Labour Party, but recently the Liberal Democrats have grown strong in the city and as the largest party took minority control of the Council at the 2005 election. In 2007, Labour and the Conservatives joined forces to vote down the Liberal Democrat administration, and as a result, Labour ruled the council under a minority administration, with Helen Holland as the council leader.^[38] In February 2009, the Labour group resigned, and the Liberal Democrats took office with their own minority administration.^[39] At the council elections on 4 June 2009 the Liberal Democrats gained four seats and, for the first time, overall control of the City Council.^[40] The Lord Mayor is Lib Dem Councillor Chris Davis.^[41]

Bristol constituencies in the House of Commons cross the borders with neighbouring authorities, and the city is divided into Bristol West, East, South and North-west and Kingswood. Northavonalso covers some of the suburbs, but none of the administrative county. In the recent 2010 General Election in May, the boundaries were changed to coincide with the county boundary. Kingswood no longer covers any of the county, and a new Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency includes the suburbs in South Gloucestershire. There are two Labour Members of Parliament (MPs), one Liberal Democrat and three Conservatives.^[42]

Bristol has a tradition of local political activism, and has been home to many important political figures. Edmund Burke, MP for the Bristol constituency for six years from 1774, famously insisted that he was a Member of Parliament first, rather than a representative of his constituents' interests. The women's rights campaigner Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (1867–1954) was born in Bristol. Tony Benn, a veteran left-wing politician, was MP for Bristol South East from 1950 until 1983. In 1963, there was a boycott of the city's buses after the Bristol Omnibus Company refused to employ black drivers and conductors. The boycott is known to have influenced the creation of the UK's Race Relations Act in 1965.^[43] The city was the scene of the first of the 1980s riots. In St. Paul's, a number of largely Afro-Caribbean people rose up against racism, police harassment and mounting dissatisfaction with their social and economic circumstances before similar disturbances followed across the UK. Local support of fair trade issues was recognised in 2005 when Bristol was granted Fairtrade City status.^[44]

Bristol is unusual in having been a city with county status since medieval times. The county was expanded to include suburbs such asClifton in 1835, and it was named a county borough in 1889, when the term was first introduced.^[17] However, on 1 April 1974, it became a local government district of the short-lived county of Avon.^[45] On 1 April 1996, it regained its independence and county status, when the county of Avon was abolished and Bristol became a Unitary Authority.^[46]

[edit]Geography and environment

[edit]Boundaries

Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge.

There are a number of different ways in which Bristol's boundaries are defined, depending on whether the boundaries attempt to define the city, the built-up area, or the wider "Greater Bristol". The narrowest definition of the city is the city council boundary, which takes in a large section of the Severn Estuary west as far as, but not including, the islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm.^[47]A slightly less narrow definition is used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS); this includes built-up areas which adjoin Bristol but are not within the city council boundary, such asWhitchurch village, Filton, Patchway, Bradley Stoke, and excludes non-built-up areas within the city council boundary.^[48] The ONS has also defined an area called the "Bristol Urban Area," which includes Kingswood, Mangotsfield, Stoke Gifford, Winterbourne, Frampton Cotterell, Almondsburyand Easton-in-Gordano.^[49] The term "Greater Bristol", used for example by the Government Office of the South West,^[50] usually refers to the area occupied by the city and parts of the three neighbouring local authorities (Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire), an area sometimes also known as the "former Avon area" or the "West of England".

The Avon Gorge, home to several unique plant species.

[edit]Physical geography

Bristol is in a limestone area, which runs from the Mendip Hills to the south and the Cotswolds to the north east.^[51] The rivers Avon and Frome cut through this limestone to the underlying clays, creating Bristol's characteristic hilly landscape. The Avon flows from Bath in the east, throughflood plains and areas which were marshy before the growth of the city. To the west the Avon has cut through the limestone to form the Avon Gorge, partly aided by glacial meltwater after the lastice age.^[52] The gorge helped to protect Bristol Harbour, and has been quarried for stone to build the city. The land surrounding the gorge has been protected from development, as The Downs andLeigh Woods. The gorge and estuary of the Avon form the county's boundary with North Somerset, and the river flows into the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth. There is another gorge in the city, in theBlaise Castle estate to the north.^[52]

[edit]Climate

Situated in the south of the country, Bristol is one of the warmest cities in the UK, with a mean annual temperature of 10.2-12 °C (50-54 °F).^[53] It is also amongst the sunniest, with 1,541–1,885 hours sunshine per year.^[54] The city is partially sheltered by the Mendip Hills, but exposed to the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel, Annual rainfall is similar to the national average, at 741-1,060 mm (29.2–41.7 in). Rain falls all year round, but autumn and winter are the wettest seasons. The Atlantic strongly influences Bristol's weather, maintaining average temperatures above freezing throughout the year, although cold spells in winter often bring frosts. Snow can fall at any time from mid-November through to mid-April, but it is a rare occurrence. Summers are drier and quite warm with variable amounts of sunshine, rain and cloud. Spring is unsettled and changeable, and has brought spells of winter snow as well as summer sunshine.^[55]

[hide]Climate data for Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	7.2 (45)	7.8 (46)	11.1 (52)	15 (59)	17.8 (64)	21.1 (70)	22.8 (73)	22.8 (73)	20 (68)	15 (59)	10.6 (51)	7.8 (46)	15 (59)
Average low °C (°F)	2.8 (37)	2.2 (36)	4.4 (40)	7.2 (45)	8.9 (48)	12.2 (54)	14.4 (58)	13.9 (57)	11.7 (53)	8.9 (48)	5 (41)	2.8 (37)	7.8 (46)
Precipitation mm (inches)	97.7 (3.846)	53.8 (2.118)	85.9 (3.382)	65.0 (2.559)	92.5 (3.642)	70.6 (2.78)	79.8 (3.142)	56.6 (2.228)	64.5 (2.539)	113.3 (4.461)	118.6 (4.669)	117.0 (4.606)	1,015.3 (39.972)
Source #1: Weatherbase^[1]
Source #2: Met Office- Yeovilton^[56]

[edit]Waste management and sustainability

Main article: Waste management and sustainability in Bristol

Based on its environmental performance, quality of life, future-proofing and how well it is addressing climate change, recycling and biodiversity, Bristol was ranked as the UK's most sustainable city, topping environmental charity Forum for the Future's Sustainable CitiesIndex 2008.^[57]^[58] Notable local initiatives include Sustrans, who have created the National Cycle Network, founded as Cyclebag in 1977,^[59]and Resourcesaver established in 1988 as a non-profit business by Avon Friends of the Earth.^[60]

[edit]Demographics

In 2008 the Office for National Statistics estimated the Bristol unitary authority's population at 416,900,^[61]^[62] making it the 47th-largestceremonial county in England.^[63] Using Census 2001 data the ONS estimated the population of the city to be 441,556,^[64] and that of the contiguous urban area to be 551,066.^[65] and more recent 2006 ONS estimates put the urban area population at 587,400^[66] This makes the city England's sixth most populous city, and ninth most populous urban area.^[65] At 3,599 inhabitants per square kilometre (9,321 /sq mi) it has the seventh-highest population density of any English district.^[67]

According to 2007 estimates, 88.1% of the population were described as White British, 4.6% as Asian or Asian British, 2.9% as black or black British, 2.3% as mixed race, 1.4% as Chinese and 0.7% other. National averages for England were 88.2%, 5.7%, 2.8%, 1.7%, 0.8% and 0.7% for the same groups.^[68]

[edit]Historical population records

Note: Only includes figures for Bristol Unitary Authority i.e. excludes areas that are part of the Bristol urban area (2006 estimated population 587,400) but are located in South Gloucestershire, BANES or North Somerset which border Bristol UA such as Kingswood, Mangotsfield, Filton, Warmley etc.^[69] The figures for 2008 & 2009 are an estimate from the Office for National Statistics.

Year	1377^[70]	1607^[71]	1700^[69]	1801^[69]	1811^[69]	1821^[69]	1831^[69]	1841^[69]	1851^[69]
Total population	9,518	10,549	20,000	68,944	83,922	99,151	120,789	144,803	159,945

Year	1861^[69]	1871^[69]	1881^[69]	1891^[69]	1901^[69]	1911^[69]	1921^[69]	1931^[69]	1941^[69]
Total population	194,229	228,513	262,797	297,525	323,698	352,178	367,831	384,204	402,839

Year	1951^[69]	1961^[69]	1971^[69]	1981^[69]	1991^[69]	2001^[69]	2008^[3]	2009^[3]
Total population	422,399	425,214	428,089	384,883	396,559	380,615	426,100	433,100

[edit]Economy and industry

Main article: Economy of Bristol

The Nails in Corn Street, over which trading deals were made

As a major seaport, Bristol has a long history of trading commodities, originally wool cloth exports and imports of fish, wine, grain and dairy produce,^[72] later tobacco, tropical fruits and plantation goods; major imports now are motor vehicles, grain, timber, fresh produce and petroleum products. Deals were originally struck on a personal basis in the former trading area around The Exchange in Corn Street, and in particular, over bronze trading tables, known as "The Nails". This is often given as the origin of the expression "cash on the nail", meaning immediate payment, however it is likely that the expression was in use before the nails were erected.^[73]

As well as Bristol's nautical connections, the city's economy is reliant on the aerospace industry, defence, the media, information technology and financial services sectors, and tourism.^[74] The former Ministry of Defence (MoD)'s Procurement Executive, later the Defence Procurement Agency, and now Defence Equipment & Support, moved to a purpose-built headquarters at Abbey Wood, Filton in 1995. The site employs some 7,000 to 8,000 staff and is responsible for procuring and supporting much of the MoD's defence equipment.^[75]

In 2004 Bristol's GDP was £9.439 billion, and the combined GDP of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North Somerset was £44.098 billion. The GDP per head was £23,962 (US$47,738, €35,124) making the city more affluent than the UK as a whole, at 40% above the national average. This makes it the third-highest per-capita GDP of any English city, after London and Nottingham, and the fifth highest GDP per capita of any city in the United Kingdom, behind London, Edinburgh,Glasgow, Belfast and Nottingham.^[76] In March 2007, Bristol's unemployment rate was 4.8%, compared with 4.0% for the south west and 5.5% for England.^[77]

Although Bristol's economy is no longer reliant upon the Port of Bristol, which was relocated gradually to the mouth of the Avon to new docks at Avonmouth (1870s)^[78] and Royal Portbury Dock (1977) as the size of shipping increased, the city is the largest importer of cars to the UK.^[79] Since the port was leased in 1991, £330 million has been invested and the annual tonnage throughput has increased from 3.9 million long tons (4 million metric tonnes) to 11.8 million long tons (12 million metric tonnes).^[80] The tobacco trade and cigarette manufacturing have now ceased, but imports of wines and spirits by Harveys and Averys continue.

The financial services sector employs 59,000 in the city,^[81] and the high-tech sector is important, with 50 micro-electronics and silicon design companies, which employ around 5,000 people, including the Hewlett-Packard national research laboratories, which opened in 1983.^[82] ^[83] Bristol is the UK's seventh most popular destination for foreign tourists, and the city receives nine million visitors each year.^[84]

In the 20th century, Bristol's manufacturing activities expanded to include aircraft production at Filton, by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and aero-engine manufacture by Bristol Aero Engines (later Rolls-Royce) at Patchway. The aeroplane company became famous for the World War I Bristol Fighter,^[85] and Second World War Blenheim and Beaufighter aircraft.^[85] In the 1950s it became one of the country's major manufacturers of civil aircraft, with the Bristol Freighter and Britannia and the huge Brabazon airliner. The Bristol Aeroplane Companydiversified into car manufacturing in the 1940s, producing hand-built luxury cars at their factory in Filton, under the name Bristol Cars, which became independent from the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1960.^[86] The city also gave its name to the Bristol make of buses, manufactured in the city from 1908 to 1983, first by the local bus operating company, Bristol Tramways, and from 1955 by Bristol Commercial Vehicles.

The last ever flight of any Concorde, 26 November 2003. The aircraft is seen a few minutes before landing on the Filton runway from which it first flew in 1969.

In the 1960s Filton played a key role in the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner project. The Bristol Aeroplane Company became part of the British partner, the British Aircraft Corporation(BAC). Concorde components were manufactured in British and French factories and shipped to the two final assembly plants, in Toulouse and Filton. The French manufactured the centre fuselage and centre wing and the British the nose, rear fuselage, fin and wingtips, while theOlympus 593 engine's manufacture was split between Rolls-Royce (Filton) and SNECMA (Paris). The British Concorde prototype made its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford on 9 April 1969, five weeks after the French test flight.^[87] In 2003 British Airways and Air France decided to cease flying the aircraft and to retire them to locations (mostly museums) around the world. On 26 November 2003 Concorde 216 made the final Concorde flight, returning to Filton airfield to be kept there permanently as the centrepiece of a projected air museum. This museum will include the existing Bristol Aero Collection, which includes a Bristol Britannia aircraft.^[88]

The aerospace industry remains a major segment of the local economy.^[89] The major aerospace companies in Bristol now are BAE Systems, (formed by merger between Marconi Electronic Systems and BAe; the latter being formed by a merger of BAC, Hawker Siddeley and Scottish Aviation), Airbus^[90] and Rolls-Royce, all based at Filton, and aerospace engineering is a prominent research area at the nearby University of the West of England. Another important aviation company in the city is Cameron Balloons, who manufacture hot air balloon.^[91] Each August the city is host to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, one of Europe's largest hot air balloon events.^[92]

A new £500 million shopping centre called Cabot Circus opened in 2008 amidst claims from developers and politicians that Bristol would become one of England's top ten retail destinations.^[93] Bristol was selected as one of the world's top ten cities for 2009 by international travel publishers Dorling Kindersley in their Eyewitness series of guides for young adults.^[94]

Panorama over Bristol, taken in 2004.

[edit]Culture

Main article: Culture of Bristol

[edit]Arts

The Coopers Hall, entrance to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Royal complex

Bristol Industrial Museum.

One of many Banksy artworks in the city, which has since been vandalised with blue paint (partly cleared by the city council)

The city is famous for its music and film industries, and was a finalist for the 2008 European Capital of Culture, but the title was awarded to Liverpool.^[95]

The city's principal theatre company, the Bristol Old Vic, was founded in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic company in London. Its premises on King Street consist of the 1766 Theatre Royal (607 seats), a modern studio theatre called the New Vic (150 seats), and foyer and bar areas in the adjacent Coopers' Hall (built 1743). The Theatre Royal is a grade I listed building^[96]^[97] and is the oldest continuously operating theatre in England.^[98] The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which had originated in King Street is now a separate company. The Bristol Hippodrome is a larger theatre (1981 seats) which hosts national touring productions. Other theatres include the Tobacco Factory (250 seats), QEH (220 seats), the Redgrave Theatre (at Clifton College) (320 seats) and the Alma Tavern (50 seats). Bristol's theatre scene includes a large variety of producing theatre companies, apart from the Bristol Old Vic company, including Show of Strength Theatre Company, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory and Travelling Light Theatre Company. Theatre Bristol is a partnership between Bristol City Council, Arts Council England and local theatre practitioners which aims to develop the theatre industry in Bristol.^[99] There are also a number of organisations within the city which act to support theatre makers, for example Equity, the actors union, has a General Branch based in the city,^[100] and Residence which provides office, social and rehearsal space for several Bristol-based theatre and performance companies.^[101]

Since the late 1970s, the city has been home to bands combining punk, funk, dub and political consciousness, amongst the most notable have been Glaxo Babies,^[102] The Pop Group^[103] andtrip hop or "Bristol Sound" artists such as Tricky,^[104] Portishead^[105] and Massive Attack;^[106] thelist of bands from Bristol is extensive. It is also a stronghold of drum & bass with notable artists such as the Mercury Prize winning Roni Size/Reprazent^[107] as well as the pioneering DJ Krust^[108] and More Rockers.^[109] This music is part of the wider Bristol urban culture scene which received international media attention in the 1990s.^[110] Bristol has many live music venues, the largest of which is the 2,000-seat Colston Hall, named after Edward Colston. Others include theBristol Academy, Fiddlers, Victoria Rooms, Trinity Centre, St George's Bristol and a range of public houses from the jazz-orientated The Old Duke to rock at the Fleece and Firkin and indie bands at the Louisiana.^[111]^[112] In 2010, PRS for Music announced that Bristol is the most musical city in the UK, based on the number of its members born in Bristol in relation to the size of its population.^[113]

The Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery houses a collection of natural history, archaeology, local glassware, Chinese ceramics and art. The Bristol Industrial Museum, featuring preserved dock machinery, closed in October 2006 for rebuilding and plans to reopen in 2011 as the Museum of Bristol.^[114] The City Museum also runs three preserved historic houses: the Tudor Red Lodge, theGeorgian House, and Blaise Castle House. The Watershed Media Centre and Arnolfini gallery, both in disused dockside warehouses, exhibit contemporary art, photography and cinema, while the city's oldest gallery is at the Royal West of England Academy in Clifton.

Stop frame animation films and commercials produced by Aardman Animations^[115] and television series focusing on the natural world have also brought fame and artistic credit to the city. The city is home to the regional headquarters of BBC West, and the BBC Natural History Unit.^[116]Locations in and around Bristol often feature in the BBC's natural history programmes, including the children's television programme Animal Magic, filmed at Bristol Zoo.^[117]

In literature, Bristol is noted as the birth place of the 18th-century poet Thomas Chatterton,^[118] and also Robert Southey,^[119] who was born in Wine Street, Bristol in 1774. Southey and his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge married the Bristol Fricker sisters;^[120] and William Wordsworth spent time in the city,^[121] where Joseph Cottle first published Lyrical Ballads in 1798.^[122]

The 18th- and 19th-century portrait painter Sir Thomas Lawrence and 19th-century architect Francis Greenway, designer of many of Sydney's first buildings, came from the city, and more recently the graffiti artist Banksy, many of whose works can be seen in the city.^[123] Some famous comedians are locals, including Justin Lee Collins,^[124] Lee Evans,^[125] Russell Howard,^[126] and writer/comedian Stephen Merchant.^[127]

Bristol University graduates include magician and psychological illusionist Derren Brown;^[128] the satirist Chris Morris;^[129] Simon Pegg^[130]and Nick Frost^[131] of Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz; and Matt Lucas^[132] and David Walliams^[132] of Little Britain fame.^[133]Hollywood actor Cary Grant was born in the city;^[134] Patrick Stewart, Jane Lapotaire, Pete Postlethwaite, Jeremy Irons, Greta Scacchi,Miranda Richardson, Helen Baxendale, Daniel Day-Lewis and Gene Wilder are amongst the many actors who learnt their craft at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School,^[135] opened by Laurence Olivier in 1946. The comedian John Cleese was a pupil at Clifton College.^[136] Hugo Weaving studied at Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School^[137] and David Prowse (Darth Vader, Star Wars) attended Bristol Grammar School.^[138]

[edit]Architecture

Main article: Buildings and architecture of Bristol

The Llandoger Trow, an ancient public house in the heart of Bristol.

Bristol has 51 Grade I listed buildings,^[97] 500 Grade II* and over 3,800 Grade II buildings,^[139] in a wide variety of architectural styles, ranging from the medieval to the 21st century. In the mid-19th century, Bristol Byzantine, an architectural style unique to the city, was developed, of which several examples have survived. Buildings from most of the architectural periods of the United Kingdom can be seen throughout the city. Surviving elements of the fortified city and castle date back to the medieval era,^[140] also some churches dating from the 12th century onwards.^[141]

Outside the historical city centre there are several large Tudor mansions built for wealthy merchants.^[142] Almshouses^[143] and public houses of the same period still exist,^[144] intermingled with modern development. Several Georgian-era squares were laid out for the enjoyment of the middle class as prosperity increased in the 18th century.^[145]

During World War II, the city centre suffered from extensive bombing during the Bristol Blitz.^[146]The redevelopment of shopping centres, office buildings, and the harbourside continues apace.

[edit]Sport and leisure

Main article: Sport in Bristol

Ashton Gate stadium with the Clifton Suspension Bridge in the background over the Avon Gorge

The city has two Football League clubs: Bristol City and Bristol Rovers, as well as a number of non-league clubs. Bristol City was formed in 1897, became runners-up in Division One in 1907, and losing FA Cup finalists in 1909. They returned to the top flight in 1976, but in 1980 started a descent to Division Four. They were promoted to the second tier of English football in 2007. The team lost in the play-off final of the Championship to Hull City (2007/2008 season). City announced plans for a new 30,000 all-seater stadium to replace their home, Ashton Gate.^[147] Bristol Roversis the oldest professional football team in Bristol, formed in 1883. They are in the top half of League One, and reached the quarter-final stage of the FA Cup. During their history, Rovers have been champions of the (old) division Three (1952/53, 1989/90), Watney Cup Winners (1972, 2006/07), and runners-up in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. The Club have planning permission to re-develop the Memorial Stadium into an 18,500 all-seat Stadium, but has yet to start due to financial difficulties.

The County Ground, Ashley Down

The city is also home to Bristol Rugby rugby union club,^[148] a first-class cricket side,Gloucestershire C.C.C.^[149] and a Rugby League Conference side, the Bristol Sonics. The city also stages an annual half marathon, and in 2001 played host to the World Half Marathon Championships. There are several athletics clubs in Bristol, including Bristol and West AC, Bitton Road Runners and Westbury Harriers. Speedway racing was staged, with breaks, at the Knowle Stadium from 1928 to 1960, when it was closed and the site redeveloped. The sport briefly returned to the city in the 1970s when the Bulldogs raced at Eastville Stadium.^[150] In 2009, seniorice hockey returned to the city for the first time in 17 years with the newly formed Bristol Pitbullsplaying out of Bristol Ice Rink.

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, a major event for hot-air ballooning in the UK, is held each summer in the grounds of Ashton Court, to the west of the city.^[151] The fiesta draws substantial crowds even for the early morning lift beginning at about 6.30 am. Events and a fairground entertain visitors during the day. A second mass ascent is made in the early evening, again taking advantage of lower wind speeds. Until 2007 Ashton Court also played host to the Ashton Court festival each summer, an outdoor music festival known as the Bristol Community Festival.

[edit]Media

Bristol International Balloon Fiesta

Bristol has two daily newspapers, the Western Daily Press and the Bristol Evening Post; a weekly free newspaper, the Bristol Observer; and a Bristol edition of the free Metro newspaper, all owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust.^[152] The local weekly listings magazine, Venue, covers the city's music, theatre and arts scenes and is owned by Northcliffe Media, a subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust.^[153] Bristol Media is the city's support network for the creative and media industries with over 1600 members.^[154] The city has several local radio stations, including BBC Radio Bristol, Heart Bristol (previously known as GWR FM), Classic Gold 1260, Kiss 101, Star 107.2, BCfm (a community radio station launched March 2007), Ujima 98 FM,^[155] 106 Jack FM (Bristol),^[156] as well as two student radio stations, The Hub and BURST. Bristol also boasts television productions such as The West Country Tonight for ITV West (formerly HTV West) andITV Westcountry , Points West for BBC West, hospital drama Casualty (due to move to Cardiff in 2011)^[157] and Endemol productions such as Deal Or No Deal. Bristol has been used as a location for the Channel 4 comedy dramaTeachers, BBC drama Mistresses, teen drama Skins and BBC3 comedy-drama series Being Human.

[edit]Dialect

A dialect of English is spoken by some Bristol inhabitants, known colloquially as Bristolian, or even more colloquially as "Bristle" or "Brizzle". Bristol natives speak with a rhotic accent, in which the r in words like car is pronounced. The unusual feature of this dialect, unique to Bristol, is the Bristol L (or terminal L), in which an L sound is appended to words that end in an 'a' or 'o'.^[158] Thus "area" becomes "areal", etc. Further Bristolian linguistic features are the addition of a superfluous "to" in questions relating to direction or orientation (a feature also common to the coastal towns of South Wales), or using "to" instead of "at"; and using male pronouns "he", "him" instead of "it". For example, "Where's that?" would be phrased as "Where's he to?", a structure exported to Newfoundland English.^[159]

Cabot Tower viewed from Brandon Hill park.

Stanley Ellis, a dialect researcher, found that many of the dialect words in the Filton area were linked to work in the aerospace industry. He described this as "a cranky, crazy, crab-apple tree of language and with the sharpest, juiciest flavour that I've heard for a long time".^[160]

[edit]Religion

In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 60% of Bristol's population reported themselves as being Christian, and 25% stated they were not religious; the national UK averages are 72% and 15% respectively. Islam accounts for 2% of the population (3% nationally), with no other religion above one percent, although 9% did not respond to the question.^[161]

The city has many Christian churches, the most notable being the Anglican Bristol Cathedral andSt. Mary Redcliffe and the Roman Catholic Clifton Cathedral. Nonconformist chapels includeBuckingham Baptist Chapel and John Wesley's New Room in Broadmead.^[162]

In Bristol, other religions are served by four mosques,^[163]^[164] several Buddhist meditation centres,^[165] a Hindu temple,^[166] Progressive and Orthodox synagogues,^[167] and four Sikh temples.^[168]^[169]^[170]

[edit]Education, science and technology

The Victoria Rooms, owned by theUniversity

Main article: Education in Bristol

Bristol is home to two major institutions of higher education: the University of Bristol, a "redbrick" chartered in 1909, and the University of the West of England, formerly Bristol Polytechnic, which gained university status in 1992. The city also has two dedicated further education institutions,City of Bristol College and Filton College, and three theological colleges, Trinity College, Wesley College and Bristol Baptist College. The city has 129 infant, junior and primary schools,^[171] 17 secondary schools,^[172] and three city learning centres. It has the country's second highest concentration of independent school places, after an exclusive corner of north London.^[173] The independent schools in the city include Colston's School, Clifton College, Clifton High School,Badminton School, Bristol Cathedral School, Bristol Grammar School, Redland High School,Queen Elizabeth's Hospital (the only all-boys school) and Red Maids' School, which claims to be the oldest girls' school in England, having been founded in 1634 by John Whitson.^[174]

The Wills Memorial Building on Park Streetbelongs to the University of Bristol. The tower was cleaned in 2006-2007.

In 2005, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer recognised Bristol's ties to science and technology by naming it one of six "science cities", and promising funding for further development of science in the city,^[175] with a £300 million science park planned at Emerson's Green.^[176] As well as research at the two universities, Bristol Royal Infirmary, and Southmead Hospital, science education is important in the city, with At-Bristol, Bristol Zoo, Bristol Festival of Nature and theCreate Centre being prominent local institutions involved in science communication. The city has a history of scientific luminaries, including the 19th-century chemist Sir Humphry Davy,^[177]who worked in Hotwells. Bishopston gave the world Nobel Prize winning physicist Paul Dirac^[178]for crucial contributions to quantum mechanics in 1933. Cecil Frank Powell was Melvill Wills Professor of Physics at Bristol University when he was awarded the Nobel prize for a photographic method of studying nuclear processes and associated discoveries in 1950. The city was birth place of Colin Pillinger,^[179] planetary scientist behind the Beagle 2 Mars-lander project, and is home to the psychologist Richard Gregory.^[180] Initiatives such as the Flying Start Challenge help encourage secondary school pupils around the Bristol area to take an interest in Science and Engineering. Links with major aerospace companies promote technical disciplines and advance students' understanding of practical design.^[181]

[edit]Transport

Main article: Transport in Bristol

[show] [v • d • e] Bristol Area Railway Map

Bristol has two principal railway stations. Bristol Temple Meads is near the centre and sees mainly First Great Western services including regular high speed trains to London Paddington as well as other local and regional services and CrossCountry trains. Bristol Parkway is located to the north of the city and is mainly served by high speed First Great Western services between Cardiff and London, and CrossCountry services toBirmingham and the North East. There is also a limited service to London Waterloo from Bristol Temple Meads, operated by South West Trains. There are also scheduled coach links to most major UK cities.^[182]

Temple Meads station

The city is connected by road on an east–west axis from London to West Wales by the M4 motorway, and on a north–southwest axis from Birmingham to Exeter by the M5 motorway. Also within the county is the M49 motorway, a short cut between the M5 in the south and M4 Severn Crossing in the west. The M32 motorway is a spur from the M4 to the city centre.^[182]

The city is served by Bristol Airport (BRS), at Lulsgate, which has seen substantial investments in its runway, terminal and other facilities since 2001.^[182]

Bristol Airport, Lulsgate

Public transport in the city consists largely of its bus network, provided mostly by First Group, formerly the Bristol Omnibus Company – other services are provided by Abus,^[183] Buglers,^[184]Ulink,^[185] and Wessex Connect.^[186] Buses in the city have been widely criticised for being unreliable and expensive, and in 2005 First was fined for delays and safety violations.^[187]^[188]Private car usage in Bristol is high, and the city suffers from congestion, which costs an estimated £350 million per year.^[189] Bristol is motorcycle friendly; the city allows motorcycles to use most of the city's bus lanes, as well as providing secure free parking.^[190] Since 2000 the city council has included a light rail system in its Local Transport Plan, but has so far been unwilling to fund the project. The city was offered European Union funding for the system, but the Department for Transport did not provide the required additional funding.^[191] As well as support for public transport, there are several road building schemes supported by the local council, including re-routing and improving the South Bristol Ring Road.^[192] There are also three park and ride sites serving the city, supported by the local council.^[193] The central part of the city has water-based transport, operated by the Bristol Ferry Boat, Bristol Packet and Number Seven Boat Trips providing leisure and commuter services on the harbour.^[194]

Bristol's principal surviving suburban railway is the Severn Beach Line to Avonmouth and Severn Beach. The Portishead Railway was closed to passengers under the Beeching Axe, but was relaid for freight only in 2000–2002 as far as the Royal Portbury Dock with a Strategic Rail Authority rail-freight grant. Plans to relay a further three miles (5 km) of track to Portishead, a largely dormitory town with only one connecting road, have been discussed but there is insufficient funding to rebuild stations.^[195] Rail services in Bristol suffer from overcrowding and there is a proposal to increase rail capacity under the Greater Bristol Metro scheme.^[196]

Bristol was named "England's first 'cycling city'" in 2008,^[197] and is home to the sustainable transport charity Sustrans. It has a number of urban cycle routes, as well as links to National Cycle Network routes to Bath and London, to Gloucester and Wales, and to the south-western peninsula of England. Cycling has grown rapidly in the city, with a 21% increase in journeys between 2001 and 2005.^[189]

[edit]Twin cities

St Peter's ruined church in Castle Park, Bristol.

Bristol was among the first cities to adopt the idea of town twinning. In 1947 it was twinned withBordeaux and then with Hannover,^[198] the first post-war twinning of British and German cities. Twinnings with Porto, Portugal (1984),^[199] Tbilisi, Georgia (1988),^[200] Puerto Morazan, Nicaragua (1989), Beira, Mozambique (1990) and Guangzhou, China (2001)^[201] have followed.

Newcastle, Shropshire

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Newcastle is a village in the rural south west of Shropshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Clun and the Folly Brook, 3 miles west of the small town of Clun. The B4368 runs through the village, on its way between Craven Arms in Shropshire to Newtown in Powys.

The village has a community hall, a campsite (Clun Valley Camping), a church and a pub (the "Crown").^[1]

Newcastle AFC

An association football club exists in the village, called Newcastle AFC or Newcastle Football Club, whose home ground is the Mill Field, situated to the southwest of the village between the B-road and the Folly Brook.^[2] They play in the Mid Wales South League.^[3]

The parish

Newcastle on Clun is a parish^[4] which covers the village and surrounding countryside, reaching the border with Wales to the north. It is part of the remote and very rural Clun Forest, part of the Shropshire Hills AONB. Offa's Dyke runs through the area. It forms part of the Clunelectoral division of Shropshire Council.

Edinburgh (3)

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Culture

Festivals

Pipers emerging from Edinburgh Castleduring the Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Lightshow at Edinburgh Castle during theEdinburgh Military Tattoo

Culturally, Edinburgh is best known for the Edinburgh Festival, which is a series of separate events running from the end of July until early September each year. The longest established festival is the Edinburgh International Festival, which first ran in 1947. The International Festival centres on a programme of high-profile theatre productions and classical music performances, featuring international directors, conductors, theatre companies and orchestras.

The International Festival has since been taken over in both size and popularity by the Edinburgh Fringe. What began as a programme of marginal acts has become the largest arts festival in the world, with 1867 different shows being staged in 2006, in 261 venues. Comedy is now one of the mainstays of the Fringe, with numerous notable comedians getting their 'break' here, often through receipt of the Perrier Award.

In 2008 the largest comedy venues on the Edinburgh Fringe launched as a festival within a festival, labelled the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. Already at its inception it was the largest comedy festival in the world.^[57] Alongside these major festivals, there is also the Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival (moved to June from 2008), the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The Edge Festival (formerly known as T on the Fringe), a popular music offshoot of the Fringe, began in 2000, replacing the smaller Flux and Planet Pop series of shows.

Running concurrently with the summer festivals, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo occupies the Castle Esplanade every night, with massedpipers and fireworks.

The Edinburgh International Science Festival is held annually in April and is one of the most popular science festivals in the world.

[edit]Celebrations

A Viking longship being burnt during Edinburgh's annual Hogmanay celebrations.

Equally famous is the annual Hogmanay celebration. Originally a street party held on Princes Street and the Royal Mile, the Hogmanay event has been officially organised since 1993. In 1996, over 300,000 people attended, leading to ticketing of the main street party in later years, with a limit of 100,000 tickets. Hogmanay now covers four days of processions, concerts and fireworks, with the street party commencing on Hogmanay. During the street party Princes Street is accessible by ticket only, with live bands playing, food and drink stalls, and a clear view of the castle and fireworks. Alternative tickets are available for entrance into the Princes Street Gardens concert and Ceilidh, where well known artists perform and ticket holders are invited to participate in traditional Scottish Ceilidh dancing. The event attracts thousands of people from all over the world.

On the night of 30 April, the Beltane Fire Festival takes place on Edinburgh's Calton Hill. The festival involves a procession followed by the re-enactment of scenes inspired by pagan spring fertility celebrations. At the beginning of October each year, the Dussehra Hindu Festival is also held on Calton Hill.^[58]

Museum of Scotland

[edit]Museums and libraries

Edinburgh is home to a large number of museums and libraries, many of which are national institutions. These include the Museum of Scotland, the Royal Museum, the National Library of Scotland, National War Museum of Scotland, the Museum of Edinburgh, Museum of Childhoodand the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

[edit]Literature and philosophy

Edinburgh has a long literary tradition, going back to the Scottish Enlightenment. Edinburgh's Enlightenment produced philosopher David Hume and the pioneer of political economy, Adam Smith. Writers such as James Boswell, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and SirWalter Scott all lived and worked in Edinburgh. J K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels, is a resident of Edinburgh. Edinburgh has also become associated with the crime novels of Ian Rankin, and the work of Irvine Welsh, whose novels are mostly set in the city and are often written in colloquial Scots. Edinburgh is also home to Alexander McCall Smith. Edinburgh has been declared the first UNESCO City of Literature.

[edit]Music, theatre and film

The Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Outside festival season, Edinburgh continues to support a number of theatres and production companies. The Royal Lyceum Theatre has its own company, while the King's Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, and Edinburgh Playhouse stage large touring shows. The Traverse Theatrepresents a more contemporary programme of plays. Amateur theatre companies productions are staged at the Bedlam Theatre, Church Hill Theatre, and the King's Theatre amongst others. Youth Music Theatre: UK has a regional office in the city.

The Usher Hall is Edinburgh's premier venue for classical music, as well as the occasional prestige popular music gig. Other halls staging music and theatre include The Hub, the Assembly Rooms and the Queen's Hall. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is based in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh has two repertory cinemas, the Edinburgh Filmhouse, and the Cameo, and the independent Dominion Cinema, as well as the usual range of multiplexes.

Edinburgh has a healthy popular music scene. Occasional large gigs are staged at Murrayfield and Meadowbank, with mid-sized events at venues such as the Corn Exchange, HMV Picture House, the Liquid Room, and the Bongo Club. Smaller more intimate shows can be found at venues like The GRV, Cabaret Voltaire, The Voodoo Rooms, The Roxy Art House, Bannerman's, Henry's Cellar Bar, and Sneaky Pete's. Recent successes in the Edinburgh scene can be attributed to the rise of artists such as Steve Mason and Steve Adey.

In 2010, PRS for Music listed Edinburgh amongst the UK's top ten 'most musical' cities.^[59]

Edinburgh is also home to a flourishing group of contemporary composers such as Nigel Osborne, Peter Nelson, Lyell Cresswell, Hafliði Hallgrímsson, Edward Harper, Robert Crawford, Robert Dow, and John McLeod^[60] whose music is heard regularly on BBC Radio 3 and throughout the UK.

[edit]Visual arts

The National Gallery of Scotland

Edinburgh is home to Scotland's five National Galleries as well as numerous smaller galleries. The national collection is housed in the National Gallery of Scotland, located on the Mound, and now linked to the Royal Scottish Academy, which holds regular major exhibitions of painting. The contemporary collections are shown in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and the nearbyDean Gallery. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery focuses on portraits and photography.

The council-owned City Art Centre shows regular art exhibitions. Across the road, The Fruitmarket Gallery offers world class exhibitions of contemporary art, featuring work by British and international artists with both emerging and established international reputations.

There are world class private galleries, including: Doggerfisher and Ingleby Gallery, the latter serving up a constantly challenging exhibition program of museum quality work; including shows by Callum Innes, Peter Liversidge, Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Forster, and Sean Scully.

The city hosts several of Scotland's galleries and organisations dedicated to contemporary visual art. Significant strands of this infrastructure include: The Scottish Arts Council, Inverleith House, Edinburgh College of Art, Talbot Rice Gallery (University of Edinburgh), The Travelling Gallery, Edinburgh Printmakers, WASPS, Artlink, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Stills, Collective Gallery, Out of the Blue, The Embassy, Magnifitat, Sleeper, Total Kunst, OneZero, Standby, Portfolio Magazine, MAP magazine, Edinburgh's One O'Clock Gun Periodical and Product magazine and the Edinburgh Annuale.

[edit]Nightlife and shopping

Edinburgh has a large number of pubs, clubs and restaurants. The traditional areas were the Grassmarket, Lothian Road and surrounding streets, Rose Street and its surrounds and the Bridges. In recent years George Street in the New Town has grown in prominence, with a large number of new, upmarket public houses and nightclubs opening, along with a number on the parallel Queen Street. Stockbridge and the waterfront at Leith are also increasingly fashionable areas, with a number of pubs, clubs and restaurants.

The largest nightclubs are Lava & Ignite (formerly Cavendish) and City Nightclub, as well as the University of Edinburgh's student union, Potterrow. Smaller commercial venues include Base, Faith, Stereo, and Karma. In recent years night clubs on George Street such as Opal Lounge, Lulu's, Why Not and Shanghai have become popular.

The main alternative, indie and rock nights are hosted at The Hive, Opium and Studio 24. The Liquid Room re-opened on 4 August 2010 after undergoing a full re-fit, after being damaged by the fire that destroyed an Indian restaurant which was situated behind it in December 2008.

The underground nightclub scene playing music such as techno, house, electronica, drum & bass and dubstep has suffered in recent years with the closure of Wilkie House, The Honeycomb, The Venue, La Belle Angele (destroyed in the Cowgate fire) and Luna (formerly eGo). The GRV, Cabaret Voltaire, The Bongo Club, and Sneaky Pete's now host the majority of underground events held in Edinburgh.

Jenners Department Store

There are two dedicated gay clubs in Edinburgh, CC Blooms and GHQ; several other club venues have LGBT nights.

A fortnightly publication, The List, is dedicated to life in Edinburgh and around, and contains listings of all nightclubs, as well as music, theatrical and other events. The List also regularly produces specialist guides such as its Food and Drink guide and its guide to the Edinburgh Festivals. Free Monthly newspaper The Skinny (magazine) also provides listing and cultural reviews.

Princes Street is the main shopping area in the city centre, with a wide range of stores from souvenir shops, from chains such as Boots and H&M and institutions like Jenners. George Street, north of Princes Street, is home to a number of upmarket chains and independent stores. The St. James Centre, at the eastern end of George Street and Princes Street, hosts a substantial number of national chains including a large John Lewis. Multrees Walk, adjacent to the St. James Centre, is a recent addition to the city centre, hosting brands such as Louis Vuitton, Emporio Armani, Mulberry and Calvin Klein, with Harvey Nichols anchoring the development.

Edinburgh also has substantial retail developments outside the city centre. These include The Gyle and Hermiston Gait in the west of the city, Cameron Toll, Straiton Retail Park and Fort Kinnaird in the south and east, and Ocean Terminal to the north, on the Leith waterfront. TheRoyal Yacht Britannia lies in dock here next to the centre.

[edit]Edinburgh Zoo

Edinburgh Zoo is a non-profit zoological park located in Corstorphine. The land lies on Corstorphine Hill and provides extensive views of the city. Built in 1913, and owned by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, it receives over 600,000 visitors a year, which makes it Scotland's second most popular paid-for tourist attraction, after Edinburgh Castle.^[61] As well as catering to tourists and locals, the zoo is involved in many scientific pursuits, such as captive breeding of endangered animals, researching into animal behaviour, and active participation in various conservation programs around the world.^[62] The zoo is the only one in Britain to house polar bears and koalas, as well as being the first zoo in the world to house and breed penguins.

[edit]Sport

[edit]Football

Tynecastle Stadium

Edinburgh has two professional football clubs - Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian. They are known locally as Hearts and Hibs and both teams currently play in the Scottish Premier League. Hearts play at Tynecastle Stadium in Gorgie, while Hibs play at Easter Road Stadium, which straddles the former boundary between Edinburgh and Leith.

Edinburgh was also home to senior sides St Bernard's, and Leith Athletic. Most recently, Meadowbank Thistle played at Meadowbank Stadium until 1995, when the club moved toLivingston, becoming Livingston F.C.. Previously, Meadowbank Thistle had been named Ferranti Thisle. The Scottish national team has occasionally played at Easter Road and Tynecastle.

Easter Road Stadium

Non-league sides include Spartans and Edinburgh City, who play in the East of Scotland League along withCivil Service Strollers F.C., Lothian Thistle F.C.,Edinburgh University A.F.C., Edinburgh Athletic F.C., Tynecastle F.C., Craigroyston F.C. andHeriot-Watt University F.C.. Edinburgh United F.C. plays in the Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region.

[edit]Rugby union

The Scotland national rugby union team plays at Murrayfield Stadium, which is owned by the Scottish Rugby Union and is also used as a venue for other events, including music concerts. Edinburgh's professional rugby team, Edinburgh Rugby, play in the Celtic Magners League at Murrayfield. It is the largest capacity stadium in Scotland. Raeburn Place held the first rugby international game between Scotland and England. Edinburgh is also home to numerous smaller rugby teams including Boroughmuir, Edinburgh Academicals and Currie.

[edit]Ice hockey

The Edinburgh Capitals are the latest of a succession of ice hockey clubs to represent the Scottish capital. Previously Edinburgh was represented by the Murrayfield Racers and the Edinburgh Racers. The club play their home games at the Murrayfield Ice Rink and compete in the ten team professional Elite Ice Hockey League along with two other Scottish teams which are the Braehead Clan and the Dundee Stars.

[edit]Other sports

The Scottish cricket team, who represent Scotland at cricket internationally and in the Friends Provident Trophy, play their home matches atThe Grange.

The Heart of Midlothian

The Edinburgh Diamond Devils is a baseball club claiming its first Scottish Championship in 1991 as the "Reivers." 1992 saw the team repeat as national champions, becoming the first team to do so in league history and saw the start of the club's first youth team, the Blue Jays. The name of the club was changed in 1999.

Edinburgh has also hosted various national and international sports events including the World Student Games, the 1970 British Commonwealth Games, the 1986 Commonwealth Games and the inaugural 2000 Commonwealth Youth Games. For the Games in 1970 the city built majorOlympic standard venues and facilities including the Royal Commonwealth Pool and theMeadowbank Stadium.

In American football, the Scottish Claymores played WLAF/NFL Europe games at Murrayfield, including their World Bowl 96 victory. From 1995 to 1997 they played all their games there, from 1998 to 2000 they split their home matches between Murrayfield and Glasgow's Hampden Park, then moved to Glasgow full-time, with one final Murrayfield appearance in 2002. The city's most successful non-professional team are the Edinburgh Wolves who currently play at Meadowbank Stadium.

The Edinburgh Marathon has been held in the city since 2003 with more than 13,000 taking part annually. The city also has a half-marathon, as well as a number of 10 km and 5 km races, including a 5 km race on the first of January each year.

Edinburgh has a speedway team, the Edinburgh Monarchs, which is currently based at the Lothian Arena in Armadale, West Lothian. Speedway was staged at four venues in the City. Marine Gardens operated 1928 - 1931 and 1938 - 1939. Old Meadowbank operated 1948 - 1954 and 1960 - 1967. Powderhall operated 1977 - 1995. A training track at the Gyle operated 1968.

Edinburgh Eagles are a rugby league team who play in the Rugby League Conference Scotland Division. Murrayfield Stadium also hosts theMagic Weekend where all Super League matches are played(at Murrayfield) all on the one weekend.

[edit]Economy

Main article: Economy of Edinburgh

Edinburgh Park

Edinburgh is the most competitive large city in the UK according to the Centre for International Competitiveness.^[63] Edinburgh also has the highest Gross value added per employee figure of any city in the UK outside London, measuring £50,256 in 2007.^[64] A combination of these factors saw Edinburgh named the Best Small City of the future by fDi Magazine for 2010/11.^[65] Education and health, finance and business services, retailing and tourism are the largest employers.^[66] The economy of Edinburgh is largely based on the services sector — centered around banking, financial services, higher education, and tourism. As of March 2010 unemployment in Edinburgh is comparatively low at 3.6%, and remains consistently below the Scottish average of 4.5%.^[67]Banking has been a part of the economic life of Edinburgh for over 300 years, with the establishment of the Bank of Scotland - now part of the Lloyds Banking Group - by an act of the original Parliament of Scotland in 1695. Today, together with the financial services industry, with particular strengths in insurance and investment underpinned by the presence of Edinburgh based firms such as Scottish Widows andStandard Life, Edinburgh is the UK's second financial centre after London and Europe's fourth by equity assets.^[68] In world terms, it ranks ahead of Dubai, Amsterdam and Washington in the Global Financial Centres Index.^[68] The Royal Bank of Scotland opened its new global headquarters at Gogarburn in the west of the city in October 2005. Edinburgh has recently become home to the headquarters of Tesco Bank^[69] and Virgin Money.^[70]

Edinburgh Financial District

Tourism is an important economic mainstay in the city. As a World Heritage Site, tourists come to visit such historical sites as Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the GeorgianNew Town. This is augmented in August of each year with the presence of the Edinburgh Festivals, which bring in over 4.4 million visitors,^[67] and generate in excess of £100m for the Edinburgh economy.^[71]

As the centre of Scotland's government, as well as its legal system, the public sector plays a central role in the economy of Edinburgh with many departments of the Scottish Governmentlocated in the city. Other major employers include NHS Scotland and local governmentadministration.

[edit]Governance

Main article: Politics in Edinburgh

Scottish Parliament

Following local government reorganisation in 1996, Edinburgh constitutes one of the 32 Unitary Authorities of Scotland.^[72] Today, the City of Edinburgh Council is the administrative body for the local authority and has its powers stipulated by the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994.^[73]Like all other unitary and island authorities in Scotland, the council has powers over most matters of local administration such as housing, planning, local transport, parks, economic development and regeneration.^[73] The council is composed of 58 elected councillors, returned from 17 multi-member electoral wards in the city.^[74] Each ward elects three or four councillors by the single transferable vote system, to produce a form of proportional representation. Following the 2007 Scottish Local Elections the incumbent Labour Party lost majority control of the council, after 23 years, to a Liberal Democrat/SNP coalition.^[75]

Since 2007, the council has operated a committee structure, headed by the Lord Provost, who chairs the full council and acts as a figurehead for the city.^[76] The Provost, currently George Grubb, also serves as ex officio the Lord Lieutenant of the city.^[77] A Leader and Policy & Strategy Committee, appointed by the full council, are responsible for the day-to-day running of the city administration. Jenny Dawe has been the Council Leader since May 2007. Councillors are also appointed to sit on the boards of public bodies such as Lothian and Borders Police and the Forth Estuary Transport Authority.^[76]

Edinburgh City Chambers is the headquarters of the City of Edinburgh Council.

In terms of national governance, Edinburgh is represented in the Scottish Parliament. For electoral purposes, the city area is divided between six of the nine constituencies in the Lothians electoral region.^[78] Each constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system of election, and the region elects seven additional MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation.^[78]

Edinburgh is also represented in the House of Commons by 5 Members of Parliament elected from single member constituencies by the plurality system. One of the local constituencies, Edinburgh South West, is represented by Alistair Darling, the former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer.^[79]

[edit]Transport

Main article: Transport in Edinburgh

Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh Airport is Scotland's busiest airport and principal international gateway to the capital, handling just over 9 million passengers in 2009.^[80] In anticipation of rising passenger numbers, the airport operator BAA outlined a draft masterplan in 2006 to provide for the expansion of the airfield and terminal building.^[81] The possibility of building a second runway to cope with an increased number of aircraft movements has also been mooted.^[81]

As an important hub on the East Coast Main Line, Edinburgh Waverley is the primary railway station serving the city. With more than 14 million passengers per year, the station is the second busiest in Scotland behind Glasgow Central.^[82] Waverley serves as the terminus for trains arriving from London King's Cross and is the departure point for many rail services within Scotlandoperated by First ScotRail.

A First ScotRail Class 170 enteringEdinburgh Waverley railway station

To the west of the city centre lies Haymarket railway station which is an important commuter stop. Opened in 2003, Edinburgh Park station serves the adjacent business park located in the west of the city and the nearby Gogarburn headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland. The Edinburgh Crossrail connects Edinburgh Park with Haymarket, Waverley and the suburban stations ofBrunstane and Newcraighall in the east of the city.^[83] There are also commuter lines to South Gyle and Dalmeny, which serves South Queensferry by the Forth Bridges, and to the south west of the city out to Wester Hailes and Curriehill

Lothian Buses operate the majority of city bus services within the City and to surrounding suburbs, with the majority of routes running via Princes Street. Services further afield operate from theEdinburgh Bus Station off St. Andrew Square. Lothian, as the successor company to the City'sCorporation Trams, also operates all of the City's branded public tour bus services, the night bus network and airport buses.^[84] Lothian's Mac Tours subsidiary has one of the largest remaining fleets of ex-London Routemaster buses in the UK, many converted to open top tour buses.^[85] In 2007, the average daily ridership of Lothian Buses was over 312,000 - a 6% rise on the previous year.^[84]

One of Lothian Buses fleet on Princes Street.

In order to tackle traffic congestion, Edinburgh is now served by six park and ride sites on the periphery of the city at Sheriffhall, Ingliston, Riccarton, Inverkeithing (in Fife) and Newcraighall. A new facility at Straiton opened in October 2008. A referendum of Edinburgh residents in February 2005 rejected a proposal to introduce congestion charging in the city.

Edinburgh has been without a tram system since 16 November 1956.,^[86] Following parliamentary approval in 2007, construction began on a new Edinburgh tram network in early 2008. The first stage of the project was expected to be operational by July 2011^[87] but is unlikely to be working before the beginning of 2012.^[88] The first phase will see trams running from the airport in the west of the city, through the centre of Edinburgh and down Leith Walk to Ocean Terminal andNewhaven.^[89] The next phase of the project will see trams run from Haymarket through Ravelstonand Craigleith to Granton on the waterfront.^[89] Future proposals include a line going west from the airport to Ratho and Newbridge, and a line running along the length of the waterfront.^[90]

[edit]Education

Main article: List of schools in Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

There are four universities in Edinburgh with over 100,000 students studying in the city.^[91]Established by Royal Charter in 1583, the University of Edinburgh is one of Scotland's ancient universities and is the fourth oldest in the country after St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen.^[92]Originally centred around Old College the university expanded to premises on The Mound, the Royal Mile and George Square.^[92] Today, the King's Buildings in the south of the city contain most of the schools within the College of Science and Engineering. In 2002, the medical schoolmoved to purpose built accommodation adjacent to the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary at Little France. The University was voted 20th in the world in the 2009 THES World University Rankings.^[93]

In the 1960s Heriot-Watt University and Napier Technical College were established.^[92] Heriot-Watt traces its origins to 1821, when a school for technical education of the working classes was opened.^[94] Based in Riccarton to the west of the city, Heriot-Watt specialises in the disciplines of engineering, business and mathematics.^[95] Napier College was renamed Napier Polytechnic in 1986 and gained university status in 1992.^[96] Edinburgh Napier University has campuses in the south and west of the city, including the former Craiglockhart Hydropathic and Merchiston Tower.^[96] It is home to the Screen Academy Scotland.

The former Craiglockhart HydropathicBuilding now forms part of the Napier University campus.

Further education colleges in the city include Jewel and Esk College (incorporating Leith Nautical College founded in 1903), Telford College, opened in 1968, and Stevenson College, opened in 1970. The Scottish Agricultural College also has a campus in south Edinburgh. Awarded university status in January 2007, Queen Margaret University was founded in 1875, as The Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy, by Christian Guthrie Wright and Louisa Stevenson.^[97]

Other notable institutions include the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh which were established by Royal Charter, in 1506 and 1681 respectively. The Trustees Drawing Academy of Edinburgh was founded in 1760 - an institution that became the Edinburgh College of Art in 1907.^[98]

There are 18 nursery, 94 primary and 23 secondary schools in Edinburgh administered by the city council.^[99]

In addition, the city is home to a large number of independent, fee-paying schools including Clifton Hall School, George Heriot's School, Fettes College, Merchiston Castle School, George Watson's College, Edinburgh Academy andStewart's Melville College. In 2009, the proportion of pupils in education at independent schools was 24.2%, far above the national average of just over 4% and higher than in any other region of Scotland.^[100]

[edit]Hospitals

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is the main public hospital for the city.

Hospitals in Edinburgh include the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, which includes Edinburgh University Medical School, and the Western General Hospital, which includes a large cancer treatment centre and the nurse-led Minor Injuries Clinic. There is one private hospital, Murrayfield Hospital, owned by Spire Healthcare. The Royal Infirmary is the main Accident & Emergency hospital not just for Edinburgh but also Midlothian and East Lothian, and is the headquarters ofNHS Lothian, making it a centric focus for Edinburgh and its hinterland. The Royal Edinburgh Hospital specialises in mental health; it is situated in Morningside. The Royal Hospital for Sick Children is located in Sciennes Road; it is popularly known as the 'Sick Kids'.

[edit]Religious communities

The fan vaulted ceiling dominates the interior of St John's Church in central Edinburgh.

[edit]Christianity

The Church of Scotland claims the largest membership of any religious denomination in Edinburgh. As of 2010, there are 83 congregations in the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Edinburgh.^[101] Its most notable and historic church is St Giles' Cathedral; others includeGreyfriars Kirk, Barclay Church, Canongate Kirk and St Andrew's and St George's Church. In the south east of the city is the 12th century Duddingston Kirk. The Church of Scotland Offices are located in Edinburgh, as is the Assembly Hall and New College on The Mound.

The Roman Catholic Church also has a sizeable presence in the city. Its notable structures include St Mary's Cathedral, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St Patrick's, St. Columba's, St. Peter's and Star of the Sea. The Roman Catholic community in Edinburgh is part of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, which is led by Keith Cardinal O'Brien, considered to be the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.

The Free Church of Scotland (Reformed and Presbyterian) has congregations on the Royal Mile and Crosscauseway; its offices and training college are located on the Mound.

The Scottish Episcopal Church, part of the Anglican Communion, has a number of churches across the city. Its centre is the late 19th century Gothic style St Mary's Cathedral in the West End's Palmerston Place. The historic former pro-cathedral of the city is Old Saint Paul's, located off the Royal Mile, which was established in 1689 when St Giles' Cathedral and the wider Church of Scotland converted from Episcopal to Presbyterian governance.

St. Giles' Cathedral

In addition, there are a number of independent churches situated throughout the city; these churches tend to have a high percentage of student congregants and include Destiny Church, The Rock Elim Church, Kings Church Edinburgh,Charlotte Chapel, Carrubbers Christian Centre, Morningside Baptist Church and Bellevue Chapel.

Biblical unitarians are represented by a Christadelphian church, established in Edinburgh since 1853.^[102]

[edit]Other faiths

Edinburgh Central Mosque - Edinburgh's main mosque and Islamic Centre is located on Potterrow on the city's southside, near Bristo Square. It was opened in the late 1990s and the construction was largely financed by a gift from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.^[103] The first recorded presence of aJewish community in Edinburgh dates back to the late 17th century.^{[citation needed]} Edinburgh's Orthodox synagogue is located in Salisbury Road, which was opened in 1932 and can accommodate a congregation of 2000. A Liberal congregation also meets in the city. There is also a Sikh Gurdwara and Hindu Mandir in the city which are both located in the Leith district. Edinburgh Buddhist Centre, part of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, is situated by the Meadows.

[edit]Notable residents

Main article: List of Edinburgh people

Scotland has a rich history in science and engineering, with Edinburgh contributing its fair share of famous names. James Clerk Maxwell, the founder of the modern theory of electromagnetism, was born here and educated at the Edinburgh Academy and University of Edinburgh, as was the engineer and telephone pioneer Alexander Graham Bell.^[104] Other names connected to the city include Max Born, physicist andNobel laureate; Charles Darwin, the biologist who discovered natural selection; David Hume, a philosopher, economist and historian; James Hutton, regarded as the "Father of Geology"; John Napier inventor of logarithms;^[105] chemist and one of the founders of thermodynamicsJoseph Black; pioneering medical researchers Joseph Lister and James Young Simpson; chemist and discoverer of the element nitrogen,Daniel Rutherford; mathematician and developer of the maclaurin series, Colin Maclaurin and Ian Wilmut, the geneticist involved in the cloning of Dolly the sheep just outside Edinburgh. The stuffed carcass of Dolly the sheep is now on display in the National Museum of Scotland.

The lighthouse engineering family, the Stevenson family was based in Edinburgh.

Famous authors of the city include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus series of crime thrillers, J. K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, who wrote her first book in an Edinburgh coffee shop (Nicolson's Cafe,^[106]^[107] the Elephant House and Black Medicine), Adam Smith, economist, born in Kirkcaldy, and author of The Wealth of Nations, Walter Scott, the author of famous titles such as Rob Roy and Ivanhoe, Robert Louis Stevenson, creator of Treasure Island and the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Edinburgh has been home to the actor Sir Sean Connery, famed as the first cinematic James Bond;^[108] Ronnie Corbett, a comedian and actor, best known as one of The Two Ronnies;^[109] and Dylan Moran, the Irish comedian. Famous city artists include the portrait painters Sir Henry Raeburn, Sir David Wilkie and Allan Ramsay. Historians such as Douglas Johnson and Arthur Marwick had roots here.

The city has produced or been home to musicians that have been extremely successful in modern times, particularly Ian Anderson, frontman of the band Jethro Tull; Wattie Buchan, lead singer and founding member of punk band The Exploited; Shirley Manson, lead singer for the band Garbage; The Proclaimers; the Bay City Rollers; Boards of Canada and Idlewild.

Sir Walter Scott

Edinburgh is the hometown of the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, who was born in the city and attended Fettes College;^[110] Robin Harper the co-convener of theScottish Green Party; and John Witherspoon, the only clergyman to sign the United States Declaration of Independence, and later president of Princeton University.^[111]

On the more sinister side, famous criminals from Edinburgh's history include Deacon Brodie, pillar of society by day and burglar by night, who is said to have influenced Robert Louis Stevenson's story, the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde^[112] the murderers Burke and Hare^[113] who provided fresh corpses for anatomical dissection by the famous surgeon Robert Knox^[114] andMajor Weir a notorious warlock.

Edinburgh (2)

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Geography

Arthur's Seat viewed across southern parts of Edinburgh from Blackford Hill.

The view from Arthur's Seat west over the Salisbury Crags and Edinburgh

Bounded by the Firth of Forth to the north and the Pentland Hills, which skirt the periphery of the city to the south, Edinburgh lies in the eastern portion of the Central Lowlands of Scotland.^[34] The city sprawls over a landscape which is the product of early volcanic activity and later periods of intensive glaciation.^[35] Igneous activity between 350 and 400 million years ago, coupled withfaulting led to the dispersion of tough basalt volcanic plugs, which predominate over much of the area.^[35] One such example is Castle Rock which forced the advancing icepack to divide, sheltering the softer rock and forming a mile-long tail of material to the east, creating a distinctivecrag and tail formation.^[35] Glacial erosion on the northern side of the crag gouged a large valley resulting in the now drained Nor Loch. This structure, along with a ravine to the south, formed an ideal natural fortress which Edinburgh Castle was built upon.^[35] Similarly, Arthur's Seat is the remains of a volcano system dating from the Carboniferous period, which was eroded by a glaciermoving from west to east during the ice age.^[35] Erosive action such as plucking and abrasionexposed the rocky crags to the west before leaving a tail of deposited glacial material swept to the east.^[36] This process formed the distinctive Salisbury Crags, which formed a series of teschenitecliffs located between Arthur's Seat and the city centre.^[37] The residential areas of Marchmontand Bruntsfield are built along a series of drumlin ridges located south of the city centre which were deposited as the glacier receded.^[35]

Other viewpoints in the city such as Calton Hill and Corstorphine Hill are similar products of glacial erosion.^[35] The Braid Hills and Blackford Hill are a series of small summits to the south west of the city commanding expansive views over the urban area of Edinburgh and northwards to the Forth.^[35]

Edinburgh is drained by the Water of Leith, which finds its source at the Colzium Springs in the Pentland Hills and runs for 29 km (18 miles) through the south and west of the city, emptying into the Firth of Forth at Leith.^[38] The nearest the river gets to the city centre is at Dean Village on the edge of the New Town, where a deep gorge is spanned by the Dean Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford and built in 1832 for the road to Queensferry.^[38] The Water of Leith Walkway is a mixed use trail that follows the river for 19.6 km (12.2 miles) from Balerno to Leith.^[39]

The Water of Leith at Juniper Green.

Designated in 1957, Edinburgh is ringed by a green belt stretching from Dalmeny in the west toPrestongrange in the east.^[40] With an average width of 3.2 km (2 miles) the principal objective of the green belt was to contain the outward expansion of Edinburgh and to prevent the agglomeration of urban areas.^[40] Expansion within the green belt is strictly controlled but developments such as Edinburgh Airport and the Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston are located within the zone.^[40] Similarly, urban villages such as Juniper Green and Balerno sit on green belt land.^[40] One feature of the green belt in Edinburgh is the inclusion of parcels of land within the city which are designated as green belt even though they do not adjoin the main peripheral ring. Examples of these independent wedges of green belt include Holyrood Park and Corstorphine Hill.^[40]

[edit]Location

**Destinations from Edinburgh**
Queensferry, Dunfermline,Alloa, Stirling	Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Perth,Cupar, Dundee	Leven, St Andrews, North Berwick
Falkirk, Coatbridge, Glasgow		Musselburgh, Prestonpans,Haddington, Dunbar
	Edinburgh

Bathgate, Livingston, West Calder, Wishaw, Hamilton	Penicuik, Peebles, Galashiels,Selkirk	Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg, Kelso,Berwick upon Tweed

[edit]Areas

Old and New Towns of Edinburgh*
UNESCO World Heritage Site

Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Reference	728
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1995 (19th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Main article: Areas of Edinburgh

Areas of Edinburgh. Click to enlarge.

Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is divided into areas that generally encompass a park (sometimes known as "links"), a main local street (i.e. street of local retail shops), a high street (the historic main street, not always the same as the main local street, such as in Corstorphine) and residential buildings. In Edinburgh many residences are tenements, although the more southern and western parts of the city have traditionally been more affluent and have a greater number of detached and semi-detachedvillas.

The historic centre of Edinburgh is divided into two by the broad green swath of Princes Street Gardens. To the south the view is dominated by Edinburgh Castle, perched atop the extinct volcanic crag, and the long sweep of the Old Town trailing after it along the ridge. To the north lies Princes Street and the New Town. The gardens were begun in 1816 on bogland which had once been the Nor Loch.

To the immediate west of the castle lies the financial district, housing insurance and banking buildings. Probably the most noticeable building here is the circular sandstone building that is the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

[edit]Old Town

Main article: Old Town, Edinburgh

Map of the city, showing New Town, Old Town, and the West End.

Looking down The Royal Mile

The Old Town has preserved its medieval plan and many Reformation-era buildings. One end is closed by the castle and the main artery, the Royal Mile, leads away from it; minor streets (calledcloses or wynds) lead downhill on either side of the main spine in a herringbone pattern. Large squares mark the location of markets or surround public buildings such as St. Giles' Cathedral and the Law Courts. Other notable places nearby include the Royal Museum of Scotland, Surgeons' Hall and McEwan Hall. The street layout is typical of the old quarters of many northern European cities, and where the castle perches on top of a rocky crag (the remnants of an extinct volcano) the Royal Mile runs down the crest of a ridge from it.

Due to space restrictions imposed by the narrowness of the "tail", the Old Town became home to some of the earliest "high rise" residential buildings. Multi-storey dwellings known as lands were the norm from the 16th century onwards with ten and eleven stories being typical and one even reaching fourteen stories. Additionally, numerous vaults below street level were inhabited to accommodate the influx of immigrants during the Industrial Revolution. These continue to fuel legends of anunderground city to this day. Today there are tours of Edinburgh which take you into the underground city,Edinburgh Vaults.^[41]

Part of the Historic Centre of Edinburgh Old Town

[edit]New Town

Main article: New Town, Edinburgh

View of the New Town

The New Town was an 18th century solution to the problem of an increasingly crowded Old Town. The city had remained incredibly compact, confined to the ridge running down from the castle. In 1766 a competition to design the New Town was won by James Craig, a 22-year-old architect. The plan that was built created a rigid, ordered grid, which fitted well with enlightenment ideas of rationality. The principal street was to be George Street, which follows the natural ridge to the north of the Old Town. Either side of it are the other main streets of Princes Street and Queen Street. Princes Street has since become the main shopping street in Edinburgh, and few Georgianbuildings survive on it. Linking these streets were a series of perpendicular streets. At the east and west ends are St. Andrew Square and Charlotte Square respectively. The latter was designed byRobert Adam and is often considered one of the finest Georgian squares in the world. Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland, is on the north side of Charlotte Square. Sitting in the glen between the Old and New Towns was the Nor Loch, which had been both the city's water supply and place for dumping sewage. By the 1820s it was drained. Craig's original plans included the ornamental Princes Street Gardens and a canal^[42] in place of the Nor Loch. Excess soil from the construction of the buildings was dumped into the loch, creating what is now The Mound and the canal idea was abandoned. In the mid-19th century the National Gallery of Scotland and Royal Scottish Academy Building were built on The Mound, and tunnels to Waverley Station driven through it. The New Town was so successful that it was extended greatly. The grid pattern was not maintained, but rather a more picturesque layout was created. Today the New Town is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture and planning in the world.

Edinburgh New Town viewed from Edinburgh Castle

[edit]South side

A popular residential part of the city is its south side, comprising a number of areas including St Leonards, Marchmont, Newington,Sciennes, The Grange, Edinburgh "South side" is broadly analogous to the area covered by the Burgh Muir, and grew in popularity as a residential area following the opening of the South Bridge. These areas are particularly popular with families (many well-regarded^{[citation needed]} state and private schools are located here), students (the central University of Edinburgh campus is based around George Square just north of Marchmont and the Meadows, and Napier University has major campuses around Merchiston & Morningside), and with festival-goers. These areas are also the subject of fictional work: Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus lives in Marchmont and worked in St Leonards; and Morningside is the home of Muriel Spark's Miss Jean Brodie. Today, the literary connection continues, with the area being home to the authors J. K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, and Alexander McCall Smith.

[edit]Leith

Main article: Leith

Leith is the port of Edinburgh. It still retains a separate identity from Edinburgh, and it was a matter of great resentment when, in 1920, theburgh of Leith was merged^[43] into the county of Edinburgh. Even today the parliamentary seat is known as 'Edinburgh North and Leith'. With the redevelopment of Leith, Edinburgh has gained the business of a number of cruise liner companies which now provide cruises to Norway,Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Leith also has the Royal Yacht Britannia, berthed behind the Ocean Terminal and Easter Road, the home ground of Hibernian F.C.

[edit]Urban area

The urban area of Edinburgh is almost entirely contained within the City of Edinburgh Council boundary, merging with Musselburgh in East Lothian. Nearby towns close to the city borders include Dunfermline, Bonnyrigg, Dalkeith, Danderhall, Livingston and Broxburn. The EUclassifies this area as a Larger Urban Zone with a population of nearly 800,000 people.

[edit]Climate

Edinburgh

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
64 6 1	45 7 1	52 9 2	43 11 3	49 14 6	53 17 9	58 19 11	53 19 10	62 16 9	70 13 6	61 9 3	67 7 1
average max. and min. temperatures in °C
precipitation totals in mm
source: Met Office

[show]Imperial conversion

Like much of the rest of Scotland, Edinburgh has a temperate, maritime climate which is relatively mild despite its northerly latitude.^[44] Winters are especially mild, with daytime temperatures rarely falling below freezing, and compare favourably with places such as Moscow,Labrador and Newfoundland which lie in similar latitudes.^[44] Summer temperatures are normally moderate, with daily upper maxima rarely exceeding 22 °C.^[44] The highest temperature ever recorded in the city was 31.4 °C on 4 August 1975.^[44] The proximity of the city to the sea mitigates any large variations in temperature or extremes of climate. Given Edinburgh's position between the coast and hills, it is renowned as a windy city, with the prevailing wind direction coming from the south-west which is associated with warm, unstable air from the North Atlantic Current that can give rise to rainfall - although considerably less than cities to the west, such asGlasgow.^[44] Rainfall is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year.^[44] Winds from an easterly direction are usually drier but colder. Vigorous Atlantic depressions, known as European windstorms, can affect the city between October and May.^[44]

[edit]Demography

Edinburgh compared^[45]^[46]
UK Census 2001	Edinburgh	Lothian	Scotland
Total population	448,624	778,367	5,062,011
Population growth 1991–2001	7.1%	7.2%	1.3%
White	95.9%	97.2%	98.8%
Asian	2.6%	1.6%	1.3%
Under 16 years old	16.3%	18.6%	19.2%
Over 65 years old	15.4%	14.8%	16.0%
Christian	54.8%	58.1%	65.1%
Muslim	1.5%	1.1%	0.8%

At the United Kingdom Census 2001, Edinburgh had a population of 448,624, a rise of 7.1% on 1991.^[45] Estimates in 2009 placed the total resident population at 477,660 split between 230,986 males and 246,674 females.^[47] This makes Edinburgh the second largest city in Scotland after Glasgow.^[45]According to the European Statistical agency, Eurostat, Edinburgh sits at the heart of aLarger Urban Zone covering 665 square miles (1,724 km²) with a population of 778,000.^[48]

The cramped tenements of the Royal Milewere once home to most of Edinburgh's population.

Edinburgh has a higher proportion of those aged between 16 and 24 than the Scottish average, but has a lower proportion of those classified as elderly or pre-school.^[47] Over 95% of Edinburgh respondents classed their ethnicity as White in 2001, with those identifying as being Indian and Chinese at 1.6% and 0.8% of the population respectively.^[49] In 2001, 22% of the population were born outside Scotland with the largest group of people within this category being born in Englandat 12.1%.^[49] Since the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, a large number of migrants from the accession states such as Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have settled in the city, with many working in the service industry.^[50]

There is evidence of human habitation on Castle Rock from as early as 3,000 years ago.^[51] A census conducted by the Edinburgh presbytery in 1592 estimated a population of 8,000 scattered equally north and south of the High Street which runs down the spine of the ridge leading from the Castle.^[52] In the 18th and 19th Centuries, the population began to expand rapidly, rising from 49,000 in 1751 to 136,000 in 1831 primarily due to rural out-migration.^[53] As the population swelled, overcrowding problems in the Old Town, particularly in the cramped tenements that lined the present day Royal Mile and Cowgate, were exacerbated.^[53] Sanitary problems and disease were rife.^[53] The construction of James Craig's masterplanned New Town from 1766 onwards witnessed the migration of the professional classes from the Old Town to the lower density, higher quality surroundings taking shape on land to the north.^[54] Expansion southwards from the Royal Mile/Cowgate axis of the Old Town saw more tenements being built in the 19th century, giving rise to present day areas such as Marchmont, Newington and Bruntsfield.^[55]

Early 20th century population growth coincided with lower density suburban development in areas such as Gilmerton, Liberton and South Gyle. As the city expanded to the south and west, detached and semi detached villas with large gardens replaced tenements as the predominant building style. Nonetheless, the 2001 census revealed that over 55% of Edinburgh's population live in tenements or blocks of flats compared to the Scottish average of 33.5%.^[56]

Throughout the early to mid 20th century many new estates were built in areas such as Craigmillar, Niddrie, Pilton, Muirhouse, Piershill andSighthill, linked to slum clearances in the Old Town.

Edinburgh

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Edinburgh (pronounced /ˈɛdɪnb(ʌ)rə/ ( listen), ED-in-brə or ED-in-burr-ə; Scots: Edinburgh ; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann) is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland after Glasgow and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30-square-mile (78 km²) rural area.

Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea. Owing to its spectacular, rugged setting and vast collection of Medieval and Georgian architecture, including numerous stonetenements, it is often considered one of the most picturesque cities in Europe.

Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Parliament. The city was one of the major centres ofthe Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh, earning it the nickname Athens of the North. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city.^[1] In May 2010, it had a total of 40 conservation areas covering 23% of the building stock and 23% of the population, the highest such ratios of any major city in the UK.^[2] In the 2009 mid year population estimates, Edinburgh had a total resident population of 477,660.^[3] Edinburgh is well-known for the annual Edinburgh Festival, a collection of official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks from early August. The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city. The most famous of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Other events include the Hogmanay street party (31 December), Burns Night (25 January) and the Beltane Fire Festival (30 April).

The city attracts 1 million overseas visitors a year, making it the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London.^[4] In a 2009 YouGov poll, Edinburgh was voted the "most desirable city in which to live in the UK".^[5] Edinburgh was also rated The Best Place to Live in Channel 4's 2007 4Homes survey.^[6] It is ranked as agamma- world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

History

Humans have settled the Edinburgh area from at least the Bronze Age, leaving traces of primitive stone settlements at Holyrood, Craiglockhart Hill and the Pentland Hills for example.^[8] Influenced through the Iron Age by Hallstatt and La Tene Celtic cultures from central Europe, by the time the Romans arrived in Lothian at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, they discovered a Celtic, Brythonic tribe whose name they recorded asVotadini, likely to be a Latin version of the name they called themselves.

Some believe that the name of Edinburgh comes from the Brythonic language.^[9] Some propose that the name was Din Eidyn (Fort of Eidyn) from the time when it was a Gododdin hillfort^[10]^[11]^[12] although many believe that the name comes from the Bernician Angles,Edwinesburh or Edin-burh, which derives from the Anglo-Saxon for "Edwin's fort", possibly derived from the 7th century king Edwin of Northumbria, and that the name Din Eidyn in British writings is an anachronism.^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18] The term Din Eidyn first appears in the Y Gododdin, a poem which appears after the fall of the British stronghold to the Angles. The oldest manuscript of the Y Gododdin, The Book of Aneirin is from circa 1265.^[19] Most scholars usually considered to be that of the 9th or 10th centuries, although some scholars consider that it could be from the 11th century.^[20]

Regardless of the etymology of Edinburgh, there is no doubt that the Angles of Northumbria did have significant influence over south east Scotland, notably from AD 638 when it appears the Gododdin stronghold was besieged. Though far from exclusive (cf Picts and Scots), this influence continued over three centuries. It was not until c. AD 950 when, during the reign of Indulf, son of Constantine, the city, referred to at this time in the PictishChronicle as 'oppidum Eden',^[9] fell to the Scots and finally remained under their jurisdiction.^[21]

During this period of Germanic influence in south east Scotland, when the city's name gained its Germanic suffix, 'burgh', the seeds for the language we know today as Scots were sown.

By the 12th century Edinburgh was well established, founded upon the famous castle rock, the volcanic crag and tail geological feature shaped by 2 million years of glacial activity. Flourishing alongside it to the east, another community developed around the Abbey of Holyrood, known as Canongate. In the 13th century these both became Royal Burghs and through the late medieval period Edinburgh grew quickly.

Edinburgh Castle in Autumn

In 1492 King James IV of Scotland undertook to move the Royal Court from Stirling toHolyrood, making Edinburgh the national capital.

Edinburgh continued to flourish economically and culturally through the Renaissanceperiod and was at the centre of the 16th century Scottish Reformation and the Wars of the Covenant a hundred years later.

In 1603 King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English and Irish thrones, uniting the Kingdoms in a personal union known as the Union of the Crowns. Scotland remained an independent state with the Parliament of Scotland in Edinburgh. King James VI progressed to London establishing his court there from which he reigned over his kingdoms. Despite promising to return every three years, he returned to Edinburgh only once, in 1617.

In 1639, disputes between the Presbyterian Covenanters and the Anglican Church led to the Bishops' Wars, the initial conflict of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. During the Third English Civil War Edinburgh was taken by the Commonwealth forces of Oliver Cromwell prior to Charles II's eventual defeat at the Battle of Worcester. In 17th century Edinburgh, a defensive wall, built in the 16th century, largely as protection against English invasion following James IV's defeat at Flodden (hence its moniker, the Flodden Wall) still defined the boundaries of the city. Due to the restricted land area available for development, the houses increased in height instead. Buildings of 11 stories were common and there are records of buildings as high as 14 or even 15 stories,^[22] an early version of the modern-day skyscraper. Many of the stone-built structures can still be seen today in the Old Town.

In 1707 the Acts of Union were passed by the Parliaments of England and Scotland uniting the two Kingdoms into the Kingdom of Great Britain. As a consequence, the Parliament of Scotland merged with the Parliament of England to form the Parliament of Great Britain, which sat at Westminster in London. The union was opposed by many Scots at the time and this led to riots within the city.

Panorama of Edinburgh, seen from the Scott Monument

From early times, and certainly from the 14th century, Edinburgh (like other royal burghs of Scotland) used armorial devices in many ways, including on seals. In 1732, the 'achievement' or 'coat of arms' was formally granted by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. These arms were used by Edinburgh Town Council until the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in May 1975, when it was succeeded by the City of Edinburgh District Council and a new coat of arms, based on the earlier one, was granted. In 1996, further local government reorganisation resulted in the formation of the City of Edinburgh Council, and again the coat of arms was updated.^[23]

During the Jacobite rising of 1745, Edinburgh was briefly occupied by Jacobite forces before their march into England.

An 1802 illustration of Edinburgh from the west.

Following their ultimate defeat at Culloden, there was a period of reprisals and pacification, largely directed at the Catholic Highlanders. In Edinburgh the Hanoverian monarch attempted to gain favour by supporting new developments to the north of the castle, naming streets in honour of the King and his family; George Street, Frederick Street, Hanover Street and Princes Street, named in honour of George III's two sons.

The city was at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment and renowned throughout Europe at this time, as a hotbed of talent and ideas and a beacon for progress.^{[citation needed]} Celebrities from across the continent would be seen in the city streets, among them famous Scots such as David Hume, Walter Scott, Robert Adam, David Wilkie, Robert Burns, James Hutton and Adam Smith. Edinburgh became a major cultural centre, earning it the nickname Athens of the North because of the Greco-Romanstyle of the New Town's architecture, as well as the rise of the Scottish intellectual elite who were increasingly leading both Scottish and European intellectual thought.^{[citation needed]}

Edinburgh today

In the 19th century, Edinburgh, like many cities, industrialised, but did not grow as fast as Scotland's second city, Glasgow, which replaced it as the largest city in the country, benefiting greatly at the height of the British Empire.

The Scotland Act 1998 which came into force in 1999 established a devolved Scottish parliamentand Scottish Executive, both based in Edinburgh responsible for governing Scotland, with reserved matters such as defence, taxation and foreign affairs remaining the responsibility of Westminster.

Nicknames

The city is affectionately nicknamed Auld Reekie^[24] (Middle Scots for Old Smoky), because when buildings were heated by coal and wood fires, chimneys would spew thick columns of smoke into the air. The colloquial pronunciation "Embra" or "Embro" has also been used^[25] as in Robert Garioch's Embro to the Ploy.^[26]

Some have called Edinburgh the Athens of the North. It is also known by several Latin names; Aneda or Edina. The adjectival form of the latter, Edinensis, can be seen inscribed on many educational buildings.^[27]^[28]^[29]^[30]^[31]

Edinburgh has also been known as Dunedin, deriving from the Scottish Gaelic, Dùn Èideann. Dunedin, New Zealand, was originally called "New Edinburgh" and is still nicknamed the "Edinburgh of the South". The Scots poets Robert Burns and Robert Fergusson sometimes used the city's Latin name, Edina. Ben Jonson described it as Britain's other eye,^[32] and Sir Walter Scott referred to the city as yon Empress of the North.^[33] Robert Louis Stevenson, also a son of the city, wrote, "Edinburgh is what Paris ought to be".

Panorama of the Old Town and Southside of Edinburgh from the Nelson monument. The term panorama was originally coined by the painter Robert Barker to describe his panoramic paintings of Edinburgh.

Photo Gallery: London's Financial District

2010-10-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

The dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, at rear, watches over Paternoster Square within The City. The square takes its name from Paternoster Row, the center of the London publishing trade. In 1940 the area was devastated by the aerial bombardment of The Blitz during World War II. Paternoster Square is now home to the London Stock Exchange, which relocated here from Threadneedle Street in 2004. The square is a favorite lunchtime venue and a great place for people-watching.

A frilly dress and faraway look herald a fashion shoot in a garden adjacent to St. Paul's Cathedral, the glorious edifice built by Sir Christopher Wren. London is filled with small nooks of green spaces and vest-pocket parks.

An artist takes part in a painting workshop at the Guildhall Art Gallery. The ornate Guildhall, which dates to 1411, is The City's historic administrative center and hosts lavish banquets and corporate events, in addition to boasting a well-respected art gallery.

Four servers pray during Sunday High Mass at London's St. Bartholomew the Great church. Founded in 1123 as an Augustinian priory, the church is intact. Inside, the dark timbered ceiling, massive stone arches, and clustered pillars support one of the two remaining Norman churches in London, redolent of incense and the mysteries of medieval faith. Says author James Conaway, "I'm slightly nervous walking over the stone floor in the presence of the ghost of William Hogarth, the 18th-century artist who was baptized in the pre-Reformation font."

A view taking in the corner of the 1881 Leadenhall Market, at left, and futuristic Lloyds Bank, opened 1986, shows the contrast between old and new. The winged dragon on the corner of Leadenhall Market is symbol of The City. The Leadenhall Market is a labyrinthine open-air emporium designed in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones. It was built on what has been a market site since Roman times. "Today," says Conaway, "occupants of the old shops are mostly restaurants feeding workers spilling out of the looming towers roundabout, or purveyors of clothes, gifts, and spirits that are part of larger retail chains."

A patron at Coq D'Argent, a rooftop restaurant, enjoys a glass of wine and a sterling view of the heart of The City. Author Conaway believes the past and present coexist admirably within The City. "The new architecture may be brilliant and imposing, but we also need those old buildings and open spaces, to ease the mind and make urban intensity tolerable. Without them, we can't begin to understand the present."

A common street scene in The City: Enjoying a pint and a chat after work outside the historic Ye Olde Watling pub, in Bow Lane. Legend says workers who built St. Paul's Cathedral used to come here. "This is where business has always been done," says Londoner Peter Wynne Rees, "in alleyways outside pubs, by people standing around with pots of beer, talking. One reason The City works is that there are so many places like this to go to."

London past and present: 30 St. Mary Axe, the futuristic office building known locally as the "Gherkin," looms behind 13th-century St. Helen's Bishopsgate Church, where people gather for an evening service featuring a rock band. The 40-story 30 St. Mary Axe building was designed by Foster & Partners, one of Britain's star architectural firms. Its double-skinned exterior is designed for maximum insulation, and overall it is London's most environmentally sound skyscraper.

A stylish Londoner window-shops in St. Michael's Alley. The popular Jamaica Wine House, in the distance, is one of many pubs and coffeehouses in the area, a power center in The City, London's bustling financial district. The Celts first came here thousands of years ago. It was later settled by Romans and has for at least four centuries been the beating heart of England's financial empire. Today The City is part of Greater London.

Richard Martin, senior program manager and sword bearer of the Lord Mayor of The City of London, stands amid the Plate Collection in Mansion House, the Lord Mayor's official residence. Built between 1739 and 1752, Mansion House is used for official functions, such as the annual dinner at which the Chancellor of the Exchequer reviews the state of the British economy. Mansion House occupies the site where St. Mary Woolchurch Haw stood before it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

London

2010-10-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

Members of the Grenadier Guards march through the gates of Buckingham Palace.

The United Kingdom’s capital city—covering 610 square miles (1,580 square kilometers)—is huge. Founded in A.D. 43, it’s also old. And powerful. London is a hub of culture, business, and politics—and center of the once glorious British Empire that can still throw its weight around the globe. Served by a fabulous subway system, numerous tour buses, and the iconic black taxis, London is not difficult to find your way around in. And despite the city’s enormity, the center is small enough to make walking a good option—just mind the warnings painted on the curb to look right when crossing the street. Drivers come at you, unexpectedly, along the left side of the road

London Must-Dos

The British Museum
Built around the 1857 Round Reading Room, "Norman Foster's Great Court is a wonderful contrast of old London with new. Afterward, wander through the Egyptian rooms and look at the mummies."—Hannah Duguid, an arts writer atThe Independent. Great Russell Street; tel. 44 (0) 207 323 8299.www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

The Gagosian
Larry Gagosian's cavernous second London gallery is "an amazing space. They barely advertise but get big names (Giacometti, Twombly, Koons) you'd pay to see at the Tate, and it's free."—Mat Osman, musician and editor of le cool London. 6-24 Britannia St., Kings Cross; tel. 44 (0) 207 841 9960.www.gagosian.com

Hampstead Heath
"Wonderfully wild environment right in central London. Just wander and get lost."–Mark Sladen, director of exhibitions, Institute of Contemporary Arts. "No major sights, but a real sense of history. Pretty potters and dress designers in charming backstreets of Hampstead Village."—Henrietta Green, founder ofwww.foodloversbritain.com. Hampstead Lane; tel. 44 (0) 208 348 1286.www.english-heritage.org.uk

The London Library
"Saunter in and take out a first-edition Shakespeare folio."—Stephen Bayley, design consultant and author. Over one million books and periodicals dating back to the 16th century, in fabulous period premises. 14 St James's Square, Mayfair; tel. 44 (0) 207 930 7705. www.londonlibrary.co.uk

Sir John Soanes Museum
"The best place to get lost in London."—Stephen Bayley. Vast, varied collection of art and architecture crammed into three town houses. "A cabinet of curiosities, a very personal and eccentric product of its maker."—Mark Sladen. Candlelit tours 6-9 p.m. first Tuesday of each month. 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields; tel: 44 (0) 207 405 2107. www.soane.org

St. Paul's Cathedral
"As London's skyline evolves, with the prevailing climate of vertiginous architectural ambition, Wren's cupola remains the iconic feature of the city's landscape. Finest place to give into the airy seduction of a bird's-eye view of the city."—Jack Lohman, director, Museum of London. Be prepared to climb 530 steps to the top. Ludgate Hill; tel. 44 (0) 207 236 4128. www.stpauls.co.uk

Victoria and Albert Museum
Founded in 1852, this treasure trove of fine art and design covers 3,000 years and every continent. Fabulous gift shop and art nouveau café overlooking serene courtyard with sculpture. Cromwell Rd, South Kensington; tel. 44 (0) 207 942 2000. www.vam.ac.uk

William Morris Gallery
"Wonderful testament to the polymath talents of one of England's finest designers. Unrivaled collection of Morris's work in fabrics, furniture, glass, and ceramics. Deserves much wider public recognition."—Jack Lohman. Worth a trek to Walthamstow. Lloyd Park, Forest Road; tel: 44 (0) 208 527 3782.

Cabinet War Rooms
A small door surrounded by sandbags leads to the underground bunkers from which Winston Churchill conducted military operations while air raids rocked London. Locked in 1945 and re-opened in 1984, everything is intact from the campaign maps to Churchill's encrypted hotline to FDR. A history lesson frozen in time. Clive Steps, King Charles St.; tel. 44 (0) 207 930 6961.

Abercarn - Wales

2010-10-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Abercarn is a small town^[2] community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales, 10 miles (16 km) north-west of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within thehistoric boundaries of Monmouthshire.

History

The district was traditionally associated with the coal mining collieries, ironworks and tinplateworks of the South Wales coalfield and South Wales Valleys, although all have now closed;^[3]the town, which lies in the middle portion of the Ebbw valley, being situated on the south-eastern flank of the once great mining region of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire.^[4]

On 11 September 1878 it was the site of an underground explosion which killed 268 coal miners.^[5]

Local government

^{The area was part of the ancient Monmouthshireparish of Mynyddislwyn until the late 19th century. In 1892 a local board of health and local government district of Abercarn was formed.^[6] This became Abercarn urban district in 1894, governed by an urban district council of twelve members. Under the Local Government Act 1972 the urban district was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the borough of Islwyn, Gwent. Further local government organisation in 1996 placed the area in the county borough of Caerphilly. The former urban district corresponds to the three communities of Abercarn, Crumlin andNewbridge.}

Sport

Abercarn is home to Abercarn Rugby Club which is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union.

Aberbargoed - Wales

2010-10-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Aberbargoed (Welsh: Aberbargod) is a small town in the Welsh county borough of Caerphilly, within the historic boundaries ofMonmouthshire, south Wales.

Aberbargoed once contained the largest ever colliery waste tip in Europe, although this has now been reclaimed and turned into a country park.

Mining

Coal mining operations in Bargoed Colliery started in 1897 when the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company started to sink the shaft. In 1901, the "Ras Las" nine-foot seam was discovered at a depth of 625 yards. The north and south shafts were completed. In November 1903, Sir Alfred Thomas, M.P. for East Glamorgan, started the engines to raise the first four trams of coal.
By 1910, the pit was employing 1,943 miners and was the largest coal mine in the Rhymney Valley. On 10 December 1908, it broke the world record for production when a ten-hour shift produced 3,562 tons of coal. It further broke its own record on 23 April 1909 when 4,020 tons were raised in a ten-hour shift.
Bargoed Colliery closed on 4 June 1977. By this time, only 360 men were employed there.

Population

The population of Pont Aberbargoed was 351 in the census of 1851. Aberbargoed reached a peak in 1961 of 5,157, and had dropped to 3,882 according to the 1991 Census. Bargoed in 1921 had a population of 17,901, dropping to 9,184 by 1991.

Modern Day

The coal-mining waste tip that lay between Bargoed and Aberbargoed once towered to a height of 400 feet in the 1970s. The local school had a "Plant a tree in '73 campaign" in an attempt to make it more pleasurable on the eye. The tip has now been levelled and the area has been reclaimed with walkways. The colliery has gone and is now home to an Ambulance Station and other small industries.
There are also developments with a new retail outlet in the area where the tip once stood. The large tip at Bedwellty is still there, but has been grassed over and now looks much like the surrounding countryside.
Aberbargoed now has an extensive area of grasslands that are protected due to the finding of a rare butterfly: the Marsh fritillary Euphydryas aurinia has been found in the marshy area north of where Bedwellty School once stood. Recently a bypass has been built through the park allowing road users to bypass the town of Bargoed.

Notable people

Heolddu Comprehensive School (1994). Bargoed Bygones. Heolddu Comprehensive School.
James, Paul (2002). The History of Bargoed, Gilfach and Aberbargoed in Photographs, Vol. 3. Old Bakehouse Publications. ISBN 1 874538 64 6.
Gelligaer Historical Society (1972). Gelligaer. Gelligaer Historical Society.

Aberavon -Wales

2010-10-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Aberavon (Welsh: Aberafan) is a settlement in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medievallordship. Today it is essentially a district of Port Talbot, covering the central and south western part of the town. Aberavon is also the name of the nearby Blue Flag beach and theparish covering the same area.

History

On the Normans conquest of Glamorgan, Caradog, the eldest son of the defeated Welsh prince, Iestyn ab Gwrgant, continued to hold this lordship, and for the defence of the passage of the river built a castle whose foundations now lie underneath the streets around St Mary's church. His descendants (who from the 13th century onwards styled themselves De Avan or D'Avene) established, under line protection of the castle, a chartered town, which in 1372 received a further charter from Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer, into whose family the lordship had come on an exchange of lands. In modern times these charters were not acted upon, the town being deemed a borough by prescription, but in 1861 it wasincorporated under the Municipal Corporations Act.

Aberavon was the birthplace of Dic Penderyn, a key figure in the Merthyr Rising of 1831. St Mary's Church is the site of his grave.

From 1832 Aberavon belonged to the Swansea parliamentary district of boroughs, uniting withKenfig, Loughor, Neath and Swansea to return one member; since 1918 it has had its own constituency. Its most famous MP was Ramsay MacDonald.

In the 1950s many of the sand dunes of Aberavon Beach disappeared as part of the development of the Sandfields estate, at this time a 1.25 mile sea wall was built primarily for sea defences. The estate was built to accommodate the growing population, especially the families of workers at the new Port Talbot Steelworks.

Aberavon hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1932 and 1966.

Sport

Aberavon RFC are a rugby union team, and play in the Welsh Premier Division, which is the top tier of the Welsh rugby pyramid.

Aberavon Green Stars RFC are a rugby club based in Sitwell Way Aberavon. [1]

Afan Lido F.C. is a football team, playing in the Macron Welsh League Division One.

One of Aberavon's rugby league clubs is called the Aberavon Fighting Irish and play in the Welsh Conference Premier.

Baglan Industrial Park

The Baglan Bay Industrial Park lies on a stretch of Baglan Moors in the parish of Aberavon south east of the Baglan Energy Park and immediately northwest of Neath Port Talbot Hospital. It is sandwiched between the M4 Motorway and Afan Way (A4241). Current occupants include Morrisons, Lidl, KFC, Focus DIY, Dreams, Pound Stretcher, Pets at Home & Halfords superstores and a Warburtons bread factory in premises which were previously occupied by Panasonic.

Government and politics

The electoral ward of Aberavon is coterminous with district of Aberavon and is a part of the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon.

Aberavon is bounded by the wards of Sandfields West and Sandfields East to the southwest; Baglan to the north; Port Talbot to the east and Margam to the south. The ward boundaries can be defined by the roads surrounding it which are the M4 Motorway to the north east; the A4241 to the north west; Afan Way to the southwest and the River Afan to the south east.

The Aberavon ward can be roughly divided into two parts. There is the residential area to the southeastern part of the ward beside the River Afan. The north western area consists of areas of industrial estate land called the Baglan Industrial Park which includes a number of out of town retail premises as well as business and manufacturing premises.

Aberaeron-wales

2010-10-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

Aberaeron (English: Mouth of the River Aeron) is a seaside resort town in Ceredigion,Wales. Population 1,500. Situated between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, it is home to the headquarters of Ceredigion County Council.

History and design

Aberaeron was planned and built in 1805 by the Rev. Alban Thomas Jones. It is built around the estuary of the River Aeron, which has been enlarged to provide a small half-tide harbourfor recreational craft. The estuary is also crossed by a wooden pedestrian bridge.

In the late 1890s, a hand-powered cable car 'The Aeron Express' was built to ferry workers across the harbour when the bridge was demolished by floods. The structure was recreated in the late 1980s as a tourist attraction that ran until the end of summer 1994.

The architecture of Aberaeron is unusual in this part of rural Wales, being constructed around a principal square of elegant Regency style buildings grouped around the harbour. Some of the architecture was of sufficient interest to feature on British postage stamps

Location and features

Aberaeron is located between Cardigan and Aberystwyth on the A487, at a junction with theA482 leading south-east to the university town of Lampeter.

The shoreline consists of generally steep storm beaches of pebbles, although fine sand is visible at low tide levels. Aberaeron south beach was awarded the Blue Flag rural beach award in 2005^[1].

The climate is mild and temperate, largely conditioned by the proximity of the relatively shallow sea. However, Aberaeron can suffer from occasional winter frosts when cold air descends the Aeron valley from the upland parts of Ceredigion.

The town is notable for the sale of honey and especially honey ice-cream and more recently honey mustard.

70% of Aberaeron's inhabitants are able to speak Welsh according to the 2001 census.

A life-sized statue of a Welsh cob stallion was donated to the town in 2005 by the Aberaeron Festival of Welsh Ponies and Cobs to denote the area as Welsh Cob country. It was created by sculptor David Mayer.

Dylan Thomas' links with Aberaeron, New Quay and Talsarn have been documented by local author David N Thomas^[2]. The Dylan Thomas Trail runs through Ceredigion, passing through Aberaeron and ending in New Quay^[3]

There is also an annual carnival which takes place every Bank Holiday Monday in August A pressesion starts on the Quay and ends up in the Alban Square.

Famous residents

Sir Geraint Evans, the renowned opera singer had a home in Aberaeron for more than 30 years
Ron Davies OBE, photographer

Image gallery

The River Aeron	The Black Lion Hotel, on Alban Square	Harbour at low tide	Footbridge over the Aeron
Harbour and hills	Aberaeron Cottage Hospital (former workhouse)	The Feathers (former coaching inn)	Welsh cob statue
Market Street	Georgian houses	Northgate Toll House, c. 1785	Prince's Avenue

Leeds- Culture , Sports, Religion , Public services and Twin towns

2010-10-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

Media

Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd, owned by Johnston Press plc, is based in the city, and produces a daily morning broadsheet, the Yorkshire Post, and an evening paper, the Yorkshire Evening Post (YEP). The YEP has a website which includes a series of community pages which focus on specific areas of the city.^[96] TheWetherby News covers mainly areas within the north eastern sector of the district, and the Wharfedale & Airedale Observer, published in Ilkley, covers the north west, both appearing weekly. Both of the universities have student newspapers, the weekly Leeds Student from the University of Leeds and the monthly The Metfrom Leeds Metropolitan University. The Leeds Guide is a fortnightly listings magazine, established in 1997. Free publications include the Leeds Weekly News, produced by Yorkshire Post Newspapers in four geographic versions and distributed to households in the main urban area of the city,^[97] and the regional version of Metrowhich is distributed on buses and at rail stations.

Regional television and radio stations have bases in the city; BBC Television and ITV both have regional studios and broadcasting centres in Leeds. ITV Yorkshire, formerly Yorkshire Television, broadcasts from The Leeds Studios on Kirkstall Road. There are a number of independent film production companies, including the not-for-profit cooperative Leeds Animation Workshop, founded in 1978; community video producers Vera Mediaand several small commercial production companies. BBC Radio Leeds, Radio Aire, Magic 828, Galaxy Yorkshire, Real Radio and Yorkshire Radio broadcast from the city. LSRfm.com, is based in Leeds University Union, and regularly hosts outside broadcasts around the city. Many communities within Leeds now have their own local radio stations, such as East Leeds FM and Tempo FM for Wetherby and the surrounding areas. Leeds also has its own privately owned television station: Leeds Television is run by volunteers and supported by professionals in the media industry.

Museums

A new Leeds City Museum opened in 2008^[98] in Millennium Square. Abbey House Museum is housed in the former gatehouse of Kirkstall Abbey, and includes walk-through Victorian streets and galleries describing the history of the abbey, childhood, and Victorian Leeds. Armley Mills Industrial Museum is housed in what was once the world's largest woollen mill,^[99] and includes industrial machinery and railway locomotives. This museum also shows the first known moving pictures in the world which were taken in the city, by Louis Le Prince, of a Roundhay Garden Scene and of Leeds Bridge in 1888. Thwaite Mills Watermill Museum is a fully-restored 1820s water-powered mill on the river Aire to the east of the city centre. The Thackray Museum is a museum of the history of medicine, featuring topics such as Victorian public health, pre-anaesthesia surgery, and safety in childbirth. It is housed in a former workhouse next to St James's hospital. The Royal Armouries Museum opened in 1996 in a dramatic modern building when this part of the national collection was transferred from the Tower of London. Leeds Art Gallery reopened in June 2007 after a major renovation, and houses important collections of traditional and contemporary British art. Smaller museums in Leeds include Otley Museum,Horsforth Village Museum,^[100] the University of Leeds Textile Archive (ULITA),^[101] and the museum at Fulneck Moravian Settlement.

Music, theatre and dance

Leeds has the Grand Theatre where Opera North is based, the City Varieties Music Hall, which hosted performances by Charlie Chaplin andHarry Houdini and was also the venue of the BBC television programme The Good Old Days, and West Yorkshire Playhouse.^[102]^[103]^[104]

Leeds is home to Phoenix Dance Theatre, who were formed in the Harehills area of the city in 1981, and Northern Ballet Theatre.^[105] In autumn 2010 the two companies will move into a purpose-built dance centre which will be the largest space for dance outside of London. It will be the only space for dance to house a national classical and a national contemporary dance company alongside each another.^[106]

Popular musical acts originating in Leeds include Soft Cell, The Sunshine Underground, The Sisters of Mercy, Hadouken!, Kaiser Chiefs,Gang of Four, The Rhythm Sisters, and Melanie B, of the Spice Girls.

Carnivals and festivals

Leeds Carnival is Western Europe's oldest West Indian Carnival, and the UK's second largest afterNotting Hill Carnival.^[113]^[114] It attracts around 100,000 people over 3 days to the streets of Chapeltown and Harehills. There is a large procession that finishes at Potternewton Park, where there are stalls, entertainment and refreshments. The Leeds Festival, featuring some of the biggest names in rock and indie music, takes place every year in Bramham Park. The Leeds Asian Festival, formerly the Leeds Mela, is held in Roundhay Park.^[115] The Otley Folk Festival (patron:Nic Jones),^[116] Walking Festival,^[117] Carnival^[118] and Victorian Christmas Fayre^[119] are annual events. Light Night Leeds takes place each October,^[120] and many venues in the city are open to the public for Heritage Open Days in September.^[121] The Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, established in 1963 by Fanny Waterman and Marion Stein, has been held in the city every three years since 1963 and has launched the careers of many major concert pianists. The Leeds International Concert Season, which includes orchestral and choral concerts in Leeds Town Hall and other events, is the largest local authority music programme in the UK.^[122]

The Leeds International Film Festival is the largest film festival in England outside London^[123] and shows films from around the world. It incorporates the highly successful Leeds Young People's Film Festival, which features exciting and innovative films made both for and by children and young people.^[124] Garforth is host to the fortnight long festival The Garforth Arts Festival which has been an annual event since 2005.

Nightlife

Leeds has a very large student population, resulting in a large number of pubs, bars, nightclubs and restaurants, as well as a multitude of venues for live music. The full range of music tastes is catered for in Leeds. It includes the original home of the club nights Back 2 Basics and Speedqueen.^[125] Morley was the location of techno club The Orbit.^[126] Leeds has number of large 'super-clubs' and there is a selection of independent clubs.

Leeds has a well established gay nightlife scene. The Bridge Inn and The New Penny, both on Call Lane, have long been gay night spots.^[127]

Towards Millennium Square and the Civic or Northern Quarter, is a growing entertainment district providing for both students and weekend visitors. The square has many bars and restaurants and a large outdoor screen mounted on the side of the Civic Theatre. Millennium Square is a venue for large seasonal events such as a Christmas market, gigs and concerts, citywide parties and the Rhythms of the City Festival. It is adjacent to the Mandela Gardens, which were opened by Nelson Mandela in 2001. A number of public art features, fountains, a canal and greenery caWater supply and sewerage in Leeds is provided by Yorkshire Water, part of the Kelda Group. Prior to 1973 it had been provided by the Leeds Corporation. Leeds City Council has a target of 11MW of renewable energy from onshore wind by 2010 and an aspirational target of 75MW by 2020. There are currently no operational wind farms in Leeds.^[138]

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds site

The area is policed by the West Yorkshire Police. The force has eight divisions, three of which cover Leeds: AA "North West Leeds Division" covering north and west Leeds with a station atWeetwood; BA "North East Leeds Division", covering north east Leeds with stations at Stainbeck near Chapel Allerton and Killingbeck; CA "City and Holbeck Division" covering central and south Leeds with stations at Millgarth (city centre) and Holbeck. Fire and rescue services are provided by the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. The fire stations in Leeds are: Cookridge, Gipton,Hunslet, Whinmoor "Leeds" (near city centre, on Kirkstall Road) and Moortown.

Health services are provided by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds Primary Care Trust^[139] and Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust^[140] which provides mental health services. Leeds General Infirmary ("LGI") is a listed building with more recent additions and is in the city centre. St James's University Hospital, Leeds, known locally as "Jimmy's"^[141]^[142] is to the north east of the city centre and is one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe. Other NHS hospitals are Chapel Allerton Hospital,Seacroft Hospital, Wharfedale Hospital in Otley, and Leeds Dental Institute. The new NHS Leeds Website provides information on NHS services in Leeds.^[143]

West Yorkshire Joint Services provides analytical, archaeological, archives, ecology, materials testing and trading standards services in Leeds and the other four districts of West Yorkshire. It was created following the abolition of the county council in 1986 and expanded in 1997, and is funded by the five district councils, pro rata to their population. The Leeds site of the archives service is in the former public library at Sheepscar, Leeds.^[144]

Leeds City Council is responsible for over 50 public libraries across the whole city, including 5 mobile libraries. The main be found here as an oasis amongst the city centre excitement.

Sports

The city has teams representing all the major national sports. Leeds United A.F.C. are the city's main football club. Leeds Rh

inos (Rugby League), Leeds Carnegie (Rugby Union) and Yorkshire County Cricket Club are also based in the city. Leeds United was formed in 1919 and plays at the 40,000 capacity Elland Road in Beeston. The team play in The Championship - the second tier ofEnglish football.

The new Carnegie Stand at Headingley Stadium (rugby)

Leeds Rhinos are the most successful rugby leagueteam in Leeds. In 2009 they became first club to beSuper League champions three seasons running, giving them their fourth Super League title.^[128] They play their home games at the Headingley Carnegie Stadium.Hunslet Hawks, based at the John Charles Centre for Sport play in Co-Operative Championship One. Bramley Buffaloes and Leeds Akkies are members of the Rugby League Conference. Leeds Carnegie, formerly known as Leeds Tykes, are the foremost rugby union team in Leeds and they play at Headingley Carnegie Stadium. They play in the Guinness Premiership, the top level of domestic rugby union in England. Otley R.U.F.C. are a rugby union club based to the north of the city and also compete in National Division One, whilstMorley R.F.C., located in Morley currently play in National Division Three North. Leeds Carnegie L.F.C. are the best-placed women's football team in Leeds, competing at the highest level in England, the FA Women's Premier League National Division.

Leeds City Athletics Club competes in the British Athletics League and UK Women's League as well as the Northern Athletics League. The city has a wealth of sports facilities including the Elland Road football stadium, a host stadium during the 1996 European Football Championship; the Headingley Carnegie Stadiums, adjacent stadia world famous for both cricket and rugby league and the John Charles Centre for Sport with an Olympic sized pool in its Aquatics Centre^[129] and includes a multi-use stadium. Other facilities include the Leeds Wall (climbing) and Yeadon Tarn sailing centre. In 1929 the first Ryder Cup of Golf to be held on British soil was competed for at the Moortown Golf club in Leeds and Wetherby has a National Hunt racecourse.^[130] In the period 1928 to 1939 speedway racing was staged in Leeds on a track at the greyhound stadium in Elland Road. The track entered a team in the 1931 Northern league.

Religion

The majority of people in Leeds identify themselves as Christian.^[54] Leeds does not have a Church of England Cathedral because Leeds is part of the Anglican Diocese of Ripon and Leeds and the Cathedral for this Diocese is in Ripon; the Bishop's residence has been in Leeds since 2008. The most important Anglican church is the Leeds Parish Church. Leeds has a Roman Catholic Cathedral, the Episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds. Many other Christian denominations and new religious movements are established in Leeds, including Assembly of God, Baptist, Christian Scientist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Mormons"), Community of Christ, Greek Orthodox, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus Army, Lutheran, Methodist,Nazarene, Newfrontiers network, Pentecostal, Salvation Army, Seventh-Day Adventist, Society of Friends ("Quakers"), Unitarian, United Reformed, Vineyard, Wesleyan Church, an ecumenical Chinese church, and several independent churches.^[131]^[132]

The proportion of Muslims in Leeds is average for the country.^[54] Mosques can be found throughout the city, serving Muslim communities in Chapeltown,Harehills, Hyde Park and parts of Beeston. The largest mosque is Leeds Grand Mosque in Hyde Park. The Sikh community is represented by Gurudwaras(Temples) spread across the city, the largest being in Chapeltown. There is also a colourful religious annual procession, called the Nagar Kirtan, into Millennium Square in the city centre around 13–14 April to celebrate Baisakhi — the Sikh New Year and the birth of the religion. It is estimated that around 3,000 Sikhs in Leeds take part in this annual event.

Leeds has the third-largest Jewish community in the United Kingdom, after those of London and Manchester. The areas of Alwoodley and Moortown contain sizeable Jewish populations.^[55] There are eight activesynagogues in Leeds.^[133] The small Hindu community in Leeds has a temple (mandir) at Hyde Park.^[134] The temple has all the major Hindu deities and is dedicated to the Lord Mahavira of the Jains.^[135] Various Buddhist traditions are represented in Leeds,^[136] including: FWBO,Soka Gakkai, Theravada, Tibetan and Zen. The Buddhist community (sangha) comes together to celebrate the major festival of Wesak in May. There is also a community of the Bahai Faith in Leeds.^[137]

Twin towns

The City has several twinning or partnership arrangements:

Brno, Czech Republic^[145]^[146]

Colombo, Sri Lanka^[147]

Dortmund, Germany^[148]^[149]

Durban, South Africa^[150]

Hangzhou, China^[151]

Lille, France^[152]

Louisville, United States^[153]

Siegen, Germany^[154]

The city also has "strong contacts" with the following cities "for the purposes of ongoing projects":^[147]

Braşov, Romania

St Mary, Jamaica

Leeds- Economy , Landmarks , Transport , Education

2010-10-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

Economy

Leeds has a diverse economy with employment in the service sector now far exceeding that in the traditional manufacturing industries. In 2002, 401,000 employees were registered in the Leeds district. Of these 24.7% were in public administration, education and health, 23.9% were in banking finance and insurance and 21.4% were in distribution, hotels and restaurants. It is in the banking, finance and insurance sectors that Leeds differs most from the financial structure of the region and the nation.^[63] The city is the location of one of the largest financial centres in England outside London.^[64]^[65]^[66]^[67]^[68]^[69] Tertiary industries such as retail, call centres, offices andmedia have contributed to a high rate of economic growth. The city also hosts the only subsidiary office of the Bank of England in the UK. In 2006 GVA for city was recorded at £16.3 billion,^[70] with the entire Leeds City Region generating an economy of £46 billion.^[71]

The extensive retail area of Leeds is identified as the principal regional shopping centre for the whole of the Yorkshire and the Humber region and approximately 3.2 million people live within its catchment area.^[72] There are a number of indoor shopping centres in the middle of the city, including the Merrion Centre, Leeds Shopping Plaza, St John's Centre, Headrow Centre, theVictoria Quarter, The Light and the Corn Exchange. In total there are approximately 1,000 retail stores, with a combined floorspace of 2,264,100 square feet (210,340 m²).^[72] Of the 40,000 people who work in retailing in Leeds 75% work in places which are not located in the city centre. There are additional shopping centres located in the many villages that became part of the county borough and in the towns that were incorporated in the City of Leeds in 1974.^[73]

Office developments, also traditionally located in the inner area, have expanded south of the River Aire and total 11,000,000 square feet (1,000,000 m²) of space.^[72] In the period from 1999 to 2008 £2.5bn of property development was undertaken in central Leeds; of which £711m has been offices, £265m retail, £389m leisure and £794m housing. Manufacturing and distribution uses accounts for £26m of new property development in the period. There are 130,100 jobs in the city centre, accounting for 31% of all jobs in the wider district. In 2007, 47,500 jobs were in finance and business, 42,300 in public services, and 19,500 in retail and distribution. 43% of finance sector jobs in the district are contained in Leeds city centre and 44% of those employed in the city centre live more than nine kilometres away.^[72] Tourism is important to the Leeds economy, in 2009 Leeds was the 8th most visited city in England by UK visitors.^[74] and the 13th most visited city by overseas visitors.

Landmarks

Leeds displays a variety of natural and built landmarks. Natural landmarks include such diverse sites as the gritstone outcrop of Otley chevin and the Fairburn Ings RSPB reserve. The city's parks at Roundhay and Temple Newsam have long been owned and maintained by the council for the benefit of ratepayers and among the open spaces in the centre of Leeds are Millennium Square,Leeds City Square, Park Square and Victoria Gardens. This last is the site of the central city war memorial: there are 42 other war memorials in the suburbs, towns and villages in the district.^[76]

The built environment embraces edifices of civic pride like Morley Town Hall and the trio of buildings in Leeds, Leeds Town Hall, Corn Exchange and Leeds City Museum by the architectCuthbert Brodrick. The two startlingly white buildings on the Leeds skyline are the Parkinson building of Leeds University and the Civic Hall, with golden owls adorning the tops of its twin spires.^[77] Armley Mills, Tower Works, with its campanile-inspired towers, and the Egyptian-styleTemple Works hark back to the city's industrial past, while the site and ruins of Kirkstall Abbey display the beauty and grandeur of Cistercianarchitecture. Notable churches are Leeds Parish Church, St George's Church and Leeds Cathedral, in the city centre, and the Church of St John the Baptist, Adel and Bardsey Parish Church in quieter locations.

The 110 metres (360 ft) tower of Bridgewater Place, also known as The Dalek, is part of a major office and residential development and the region's tallest building; it can be seen for miles around.^[78] Among other tower blocks the 37-storey Sky Plaza to the north of the city centre stands on higher ground so that its 105 metres (344 ft) is higher than Bridgewater Place. With 37 floors it is reported to be the tallest student residential building in the world.^[79]

Elland Road (football) and Headingley Stadium (cricket and rugby) are well known to sports enthusiasts and the White Rose Centre is a well known retail outlet.

Transport

Leeds is the starting-point of the A62, A63, A64, A65 and A660 roads, and is also situated on the A58 and A61. The M1 and M62 intersect to its south and the A1(M) passes to the east. Leeds is one of the principal hubs of the northern motorway network. Additionally, there is an urban motorway network; the radial M621 takes traffic into Central Leeds from the M62 and M1. There is an Inner Ring Road with part motorway status and an Outer Ring Road. Part of the city centre^[80] is pedestrianised, and is encircled by the clockwise-only Loop Road.

Leeds railway station after the 2002 rebuild

The terminal of Leeds Bradford International Airport.

Public transport in the Leeds area is coordinated and developed by West Yorkshire Metro,^[81] with service information provided by Leeds City Council^[82] and West Yorkshire Metro. The primary means of public transportation in Leeds are the bus services. The main provider is First Leeds andArriva Yorkshire serves routes to the south of the city. Leeds also offers a free bus, the FreeCity Bus service. Leeds City bus station is at Dyer Street and is used by bus services to towns and cities in Yorkshire, plus a small number of local services. Adjacent to it is the coach station forNational Express coach services. Buses out of the city are mainly provided by FirstBus and Arriva Yorkshire. Harrogate & District provides a service to Harrogate and Ripon. Keighley & Districtprovides a service to Shipley, Bingley and Keighley. The Yorkshire Coastliner service runs from Leeds to Bridlington, Filey, Scarborough and Whitby via York and Malton. Stagecoach provides a service to Hull via Goole.

From Leeds railway station at New Station Street, MetroTrains operated by Northern Rail run to Leeds' suburbs and onwards to all parts of Leeds City Region. The station is one of the busiest in England outside London, with over 900 trains and 50,000 passengers passing through every day.^[83] It provides national and international connections as well as services to local and regional destinations. The station itself has 17 platforms, making it the largest in England outside London.^[84]

Leeds Bradford International Airport is located in Yeadon, about 10 miles (16 km) to the north-west of the city centre, and has both charter and scheduled flights to destinations within Europe plusEgypt, Pakistan and Turkey. There are connections to the rest of the world via London Heathrow Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.There is a direct rail service from Leeds to Manchester Airport. Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield is 40 miles (64 km) south-east of Leeds. Leeds has connections by road, rail and coach to Hull, only an hour away, from where it is possible to travel to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge by ferry services run by P&O Ferries.

Walking

The Leeds Country Way is a waymarked circular walk of 62 miles (100 km) through the rural outskirts of the city, never more than 7 miles (11 km) from City Square. The Meanwood Valley Trail leads from Woodhouse Moor along Meanwood Beck to Golden Acre Park. The Leeds extension of the Dales Way follows the Meanwood Valley Trail before it branches off to head towards Ilkley and Windermere. Leeds is on the northern section of the Trans Pennine Trail for walkers and cyclists, and the towpath of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal is another popular walking route. In addition, there are many parks and public footpaths in both the urban and rural parts of Leeds, and the Ramblers' Association, YHA and other walking organisations offer sociable walks. The Ramblers' Association publish various booklets of walks in and around Leeds.^[85]

Education

At the time of the 2001 census Leeds had a population of 183,000 young people aged 0–19 of whom 110,000 were attending local authority schools.^[86] In 2008 Education Leeds, a non-profit company owned by Leeds City Council, provided for 220 primary schools, 39 secondary schools and 6 special inclusive learning centres.^[87] Under the government Building Schools for the Futureinitiative, Leeds secured £260m, to transform 13 secondary schools into high achieving, e-confident, inclusive schools. The first three of these schools at Allerton High School, Pudsey Grangefield School and Rodillian School, were opened in September 2008.^[88] Because Leeds has a falling birth rate, the council have come under pressure in recent years to reduce the number of school places resulting in the merger and closure of some schools. The city's oldest and largest private school is The Grammar School at Leeds, which was legally re-created in 2005 following the merger of Leeds Grammar School, established 1552, and Leeds Girls' High School, established 1857. Other independent schools in Leeds include faith schools serving the Jewish^[89] and Muslim^[90] communities.

Further and higher education

Further education is provided by Leeds City College (formed by a merger in 2009 and having over 60,000 students), Leeds College of Building, Joseph Priestley College in Morley and Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College. The city has two universities: the University of Leeds received its charter in 1904 having developed from the Yorkshire College which was founded in 1874 and the Leeds School of Medicine of 1831, and Leeds Metropolitan University became a university in 1992 but can trace its roots to the Mechanics Institute of 1824. The University of Leeds has a total of about 31,000 students, of which 21,500 are full-time or sandwich undergraduate degree students,^[91] Leeds Metropolitan University has a total of 52,000 students of which 12,000 are full time or sandwich undergraduate degree students and 2,100 full time or sandwich HND students.^[92] Other higher education establishments are:Leeds Trinity University College with just under 3,000 students,^[93] Leeds College of Art, Leeds College of Music and Northern School of Contemporary Dance. The city was voted the Best UK University Destination by a survey in The Independent newspaper.^[94] The combined totals of learners give Leeds one of the largest student populations in the country with over 250,000 students.^[95]

Leeds - Geography , Climate , Demography

2010-10-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

Geography

At 53°47′59″N 1°32′57″W (53.799°, −1.549°), and 190 miles (310 km) north-northwest of central London, the central area of Leeds is located on the River Aire in a narrow section of the Aire Valley, which is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. The city centre lies at about 206 feet (63 m) above sea level while the district ranges from 1,115 feet (340 m) in the far west on the slopes ofIlkley Moor to about 33 feet (10 m) where the rivers Aire and Wharfe cross the eastern boundary. The centre of Leeds is part of a continuously built-up area extending to Pudsey, Bramley, Horsforth, Alwoodley, Seacroft, Middleton and Morley.^[40] Leeds has the second highest population of any local authority district in the UK (after Birmingham), and the second greatest area of any English metropolitan district (after Doncaster), extending 15 miles (24 km) from east to west, and 13 miles (21 km) from north to south. The northern boundary follows the River Wharfe for several miles but crosses the river to include the section of Otley which lies north of the river. Over 65% of the Leeds district is green belt land and the city centre is less than twenty miles (32 km) from the Yorkshire Dales National Park,^[41] which offers some of the most spectacular scenery and countryside in the UK.^[42] Inner and southern areas of Leeds lie on a layer of coal measure sandstones. To the north parts are built on older sand and gritstones and to the east it extends into the magnesian limestone belt.^[19]^[43] The land use in the central areas of Leeds is overwhelmingly urban.^[40]

^{Attempts to define the exact geographic meaning of Leeds lead to a variety of concepts of its extent, varying by context; they include the area of the city centre, the urban sprawl, the administrative boundaries, and the functional region.^[44]
^{Leeds city centre is contained within the Leeds Inner Ring Road, formed from parts of the A58 road, A61 road, A64 road, A643 road and theM621 motorway. Briggate, the principal north-south shopping street, is pedestrianised and Queen Victoria Street, a part of the Victoria Quarter, is enclosed under a glass roof. Millennium Square is a significant urban focal point. The Leeds postcode area covers most of the City of Leeds^[45] and is almost entirely made up of the Leeds post town.^[46] Otley, Wetherby, Tadcaster, Pudsey and Ilkley are separate post towns within the postcode area.^[46] Aside from the built up area of Leeds itself, there are a number of suburbs and exurbs within the district.}

Climate
Leeds has a temperate climate, with four distinct seasons. As with most of the eastern counties of England, Leeds is a relatively dry city, with an average of 660 mm of rain falling annually, which is drier than New York City, Sydney and Rome. Snowfall can occur from November - April, but is most common from January - March. When snowfall does occur, it rarely sticks on the ground for more than a few days. An exception to this would be the snowfall of 2009-2010, where there were several prolonged spells of continuous snow cover, particularly in late December and early January. Hard frost in winter is common and can occur any time from October-April.
Summers in Leeds are usually mild, with an average high of 20°C (69°F)^{[citation needed]} , and occasionally exceed 25°C (77°F), and in 2003 & 2006, temperatures stayed above 25°C for several days^{[citation needed]} , and even reached 30°C (86°F)^{[citation needed]} , and were one of the hottest summers in the city since the 20th century. The summers of 2007-2009 were very wet, not just for Leeds, but for most of the UK, with high humidity and frequent thunderstorms, hail showers and floodin

Demography
Urban subdivision
At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, the Leeds urban subdivision occupied an area of 109 square kilometres (42 sq mi) and had a population of 443,247; making it the fourth most populous urban subdivision within England and the fifth largest within the United Kingdom. The population density was 4,066 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,530 /sq mi), slightly higher than the rest of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. It accounts for 20% of the area and 62% of the population of the City of Leeds. The population of the urban subdivision had a 100 to 93.1 female–male ratio.^[50] Of those over 16 years old, 39.4% were single (never married) and 35.4% married for the first time.^[51] The urban subdivision's 188,890 households included 35% one-person, 27.9% married couples living together, 8.8% were co-habiting couples, and 5.7% single parents with their children. Leeds is the largest component of the West Yorkshire Urban Area^[40] and is counted by Eurostat as part of the Leeds-Bradford Larger Urban Zone. The Leeds travel to work area in 2001 included all of the City of Leeds, a northern strip of the City of Bradford, the eastern part of Kirklees, and a section of southern North Yorkshire; it occupies 751 square kilometres (290 sq mi).
Metropolitan district
As of the 2001 UK census, the district had a total population of 715,402.^[52] Of the 301,614 households in Leeds, 33.3% were married couples living together, 31.6% were one-person households, 9.0% were co-habiting couples and 9.8% were lone parents, following a similar trend to the rest of England.^[53] The population density was 1,967 inhabitants per square kilometre (5,094.5/sq mi)^[53] and for every 100 females, there were 93.5 males.
The majority of people in Leeds identify themselves as Christian.^[54] The proportion of Muslims (3.0% of the population) is average for the country.^[54] Leeds has the third-largest Jewish community in the United Kingdom, after those of London and Manchester. The areas ofAlwoodley and Moortown contain sizeable Jewish populations.^[55] 16.8% of Leeds residents in the 2001 census declared themselves as having "no religion", which is broadly in line with the figure for the whole of the UK (also 8.1% "religion not stated"). The crime rate in Leeds is well above the national average, like many other English major cities.^[56]^[57] In July 2006, the think tank Reform calculated rates of crime for different offences and has related this to populations of major urban areas (defined as towns over 100,000 population). Leeds was 11th in this rating (excluding London boroughs, 23rd including London boroughs).^[58] The table below details the population of the current area of the district since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data.

Governance
City of Leeds is the local government district covering Leeds and the local authority is Leeds City Council. The council is composed of 99 councillors, three for each of the city's wards. Elections are held three years out of four, on the first Thursday of May. One third of the councillors are elected, for a four year term, in each election. In 2004 all seats were up for election due to boundary changes. The council is currently under no overall control, and is run by a coalition of the Labour and Green councillors. West Yorkshire does not have a county council, so Leeds City Council is the primary provider of local government services for the city. The district is in the Yorkshire and the Humberregion of England, and consists of an unparished area and 31 civil parishes. These are the lowest tier of local government^[60] and absorb some limited functions from Leeds City Council in their areas. The councils of Horsforth, Morley, Otley and Wetherby are town councils.^[61]There are 27 other civil parishes in the district.
The district is represented by eight MPs, for the constituencies of Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke, Conservative); Leeds Central (Hilary Benn, Labour); Leeds East (George Mudie, Labour); Leeds North East (Fabian Hamilton, Labour); Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland, Lib Dem); Leeds West (Rachel Reeves, Labour); Morley and Outwood (constituency shared with City of Wakefield) (Ed Balls, Labour); andPudsey (Stuart Andrew, Conservative). Leeds is within the Yorkshire and the Humber European constituency, which is represented by twoConservative, one Labour, one UKIP, one Liberal Democrat and one BNP MEPs. The voting figures for Leeds in the European Parliament election in June 2009 were: Conservative 22.6%, Labour 21.4%, UKIP 15.9%, Lib Dem 13.8%, BNP 10.0%, Green 9.4%.}

Leeds - Local government and Suburban growth

2010-10-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

Local government

Leeds was a manor and township in the large ancient parish of Leeds St Peter, in the Skyrack wapentake of theWest Riding of Yorkshire.^[26] The Borough of Leeds was created in 1207, when Maurice Paynel, lord of the manor, granted a charter to a small area within the manor, close to the river crossing, in what is now the city centre. Four centuries later, the inhabitants of Leeds petitioned Charles I for a charter of incorporation, which was granted in 1626. The new charter incorporated the entire parish, including all eleven townships, as the Borough of Leeds and withdrew the earlier charter. Improvement commissioners were set up in 1755 for paving, lighting, and cleansing of the main streets, including Briggate; with further powers added in 1790 to improve the water supply.^[27]

^{The borough corporation was reformed under the provisions of Municipal Corporations Act 1835. Leeds Borough Police force was formed in 1836 and Leeds Town Hall was completed by the corporation in 1858. In 1866 Leeds, and each of the other townships in the borough, became a civil parish. The borough became a county borough in 1889, giving it independence from the newly formed West Riding County Council and it gained city status in 1893. In 1904 the Leeds parish absorbed Beeston, Chapel Allerton, Farnley, Headingley cum Burley and Potternewtonfrom within the borough. In the twentieth century the county borough initiated a series of significant territorial expansions, growing from 21,593 acres (87.38 km²) in 1911 to 40,612 acres (164.35 km²) in 1961.^[28] In 1912 the parish and county borough of Leeds absorbed Leeds Rural District, consisting of the parishes of Roundhay andSeacroft; and Shadwell, which had been part of Wetherby Rural District. On 1 April 1925 the parish of Leeds was expanded to cover the whole borough.^[26]
^{1881 160,109
1891 177,523
1901 177,920
1911 259,394
1921 269,665
1931 482,809
1941 war #
1951 505,219
1961 510,676
# no census was held due to wa}}

1881	160,109
1891	177,523
1901	177,920
1911	259,394
1921	269,665
1931	482,809
1941	war #
1951	505,219
1961	510,676
# no census was held due to wa

The county borough was abolished on 1 April 1974 and its former area was combined with that of the municipal boroughs of Morley andPudsey; the urban districts of Aireborough, Horsforth, Otley, Garforth and Rothwell; and parts of the rural districts of Tadcaster, Wetherby andWharfedale.^[29] This area was used to form a new metropolitan district in the county of West Yorkshire; it gained both borough and city status and is known as the City of Leeds. Initially, local government services were provided by Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire County Council. However, the county council was abolished in 1986 and the city council absorbed its functions, with some powers passing to organisations such as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority. From 1988 two run-down and derelict areas close to the city centre were designated for regeneration and formed the area of responsibility of Leeds Development Corporation, outside the planning remit of the city council.^[30] Planning powers were restored to the local authority in 1995 when the development corporation was wound up.

Suburban growth

In 1801, 42% of the population of Leeds lived outside the township, in the wider borough. Choleraoutbreaks in 1832 and 1849 caused the borough authorities to address the problems of drainage, sanitation and water supply. Water was originally pumped from the River Wharfe, but by 1860 it was too heavily polluted to be usable. Following the Leeds Waterworks Act of 1867 three reservoirs were built at Lindley Wood, Swinsty and Fewston, to the north of Leeds.^[31] Residential growth occurred in Holbeck and Hunslet from 1801 to 1851, but, as these townships became industrialised new areas were favoured for middle class housing.^[32] Land to the south of the river was henceforth developed, primarily for industry and secondarily for back-to-back workers' dwellings. The Leeds Improvement Act 1866 sought to improve the quality of working class housing by restricting the number of homes that could be built in a single terrace.^[33] Holbeck and Leeds formed a continuous built-up area by 1858, with Hunslet nearly meeting them.^[34] In the latter half of the nineteenth century, population growth in Hunslet, Armley and Wortley outstripped that of Leeds itself. When pollution became a problem, the wealthier residents left the small industrial conurbation to live in the northerly villages of Headingley, Potternewton and Chapel Allerton; this led to a 50% increase in the population of Headingley and Burley from 1851 to 1861. The middle class flight from the industrial areas also led to development beyond the borough at Roundhay and Adel.^[34] The introduction of the electric tramway led to intensification of development in Headingley and Potternewton and expansion outside the borough intoRoundhay.^[35]

^{Two private gas supply companies were taken over by the corporation in 1870 and this new municipal supply was used to provide street lighting and cheaper gas to homes. From the early 1880s the Yorkshire House-to-House Electricity Company supplied electricity to Leeds until it was also purchased by Leeds Corporation and became a municipal supply.^[36]}

^{^{Slum clearance and rebuilding began in Leeds in the Inter-war period when over 18,000 houses were built by the council on 24 estates in places like Cross Gates, Middleton, Gipton, Belle Isle and Halton Moor. The slums of Quarry Hill were replaced by the innovative Quarry Hill flats, which were demolished in 1975. Another 36,000 houses were built by private sector builders, creating the suburbs of Gledhow, Moortown, Alwoodley, Roundhay, Colton, Whitkirk, Oakwood, Weetwood and Adel. After 1949 a further 30,000 sub-standard houses were demolished by the council to be replaced by a total of 151 medium-rise and high-rise blocks of council flats in estates like Seacroft, Armley Heights, Tinshill and Brackenwood.^[37]
^{Recently, Leeds has seen great local expenditure on regenerating the city, attracting in investments and flagship projects,^[38] as found inLeeds city centre. Many buildings have already been built, boasting luxurious penthouse apartments,^[39] just a stones throw from the city centre. Recently, the Skyscraper Project has been put on hold, due to the global recession and overall downturn in the housing market. The building works are still planned to go ahead, despite very little recent change.}}}

City of Leeds

2010-10-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire,England.^[4] In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247,^[5] while theentire city had a population of 770,800 (2008 est.).^[6] Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial heart of the West Yorkshire Urban Area,^[7]^[8]^[9] which at the 2001 census had a population of 1.5 million,^[10] and the Leeds city region, an economic area with Leeds at its core, had a population of 2.9 million.^[11] Leeds is the UK's largest centre for business, legal, and financial services outside London.

Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Leeds can trace its recorded history to fifth century when the Kingdom of Elmet was covered by the forest of "Loidis", the origin of the name Leeds. The name has been applied to many administrative entities over the centuries. It changed from being the appellation of a small manorial borough, in the 13th century, through several reincarnations, to being the name attached to the present metropolitan borough. In the 17th and 18th centuries Leeds became a major centre for the production and trading of wool. Then, during the Industrial Revolution, Leeds developed into a major industrial centre; wool was still the dominant industry but flax, engineering, iron foundries, printing and other industries were important.^[12] From being a compact market town in the valley of the River Aire in the 16th century Leeds expanded and absorbed the surrounding villages to become a populous urban centre by the mid-20th century.

The diverse array of landmarks, which includes rural open spaces and impressive buildings, reflects both its industrial past and its many current roles. The multicultural nature of the city is evidenced in the range of religious buildings and cultural festivals present. The city is a major centre of higher education, being the seat of the internationally acclaimed University of Leeds as well as Leeds Metropolitan University and Leeds Trinity University College. The student population has stimulated growth of the nightlife in the city and there are ample facilities for sporting and cultural activities, including classical and popular music festivals, and a varied collection of museums.

Public transport, rail and road communications networks in the region are focused on Leeds and there are a number of twinning arrangements with towns and cities in other countries. Its assigned role in the Leeds City Region partnership recognises the city's importance to regional economic development.

History

Toponomy

The name Leeds derives from "Loidis", the name given to a forest covering most of the kingdom of Elmet, which existed during the 5th century into the early 7th century.^[13] Bedestates in the fourteenth chapter of his Historia ecclesiastica, in a discussion of an altar surviving from a church erected by Edwin of Northumbria, that it is located in "...regione quae vocatur Loidis", the region known as Loidis. An inhabitant of Leeds is locally known as aLoiner, a word of uncertain origin.^[14]

Economic development

Leeds developed as a market town in the Middle Ages as part of the local agricultural economy. Prior to the Industrial Revolution it had become a co-ordination centre for the making of woollen cloth; with white broadcloth being traded at the Leeds White Cloth Hall.^[15] Leeds was handling one sixth of England's export trade in 1770.^[16]Growth, initially in textiles, was accelerated by the building of the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1699 and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816.^[17] The railway network constructed around Leeds, starting with the Leeds and Selby Railway in 1834, provided improved communications with national markets and, significantly for its development, an east-west connection with Manchester and the ports ofLiverpool and Hull giving improved access to international markets.^[18] Alongside technological advances and industrial expansion, Leeds retained an interest in trading in agricultural commodities, with the Corn Exchange opening in 1864.
Marshall's Mill was one of the first of the many factories that were to be constructed in Leeds from around 1790.^[19] In the early years the most significant of the factories were woollen finishing and flax mills; diversifying by 1914 to printing, engineering, chemicals and clothing manufacture.^[20] Decline in manufacturing during the 1930s was temporarily reversed by a switch to producing military uniforms and munitions during World War II. However, by the 1970s the clothing industry was in irreversible decline, facing cheap foreign competition.^[21] The contemporary economy of Leeds has been shaped by Leeds City Council having the vision of building a '24 hour European city' and a 'capital of the north'.^[22] It has developed from the decay of the post-industrial era to become a telephone banking centre, connected to the electronic infrastructure of the modern global economy.^[22] There has been growth in the corporate and legal sectors^[23] and increased local affluence has led to an expanding retail sector, including the luxury goods market.^[24]

Yorkshire:Conclusion

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Cuisine

The traditional cuisine of Yorkshire, in common with the North of England in general, is known for using rich tasting ingredients, especially with regard to sweet dishes, which were affordable for the majority of people.^[134] There are several dishes which originated in Yorkshire or are heavily associated with it.^[134] Yorkshire pudding, a savoury batter dish, is by far the best known of Yorkshire foods. It is commonly served with roast beef and vegetables to form part of the Sunday roast.^[134]

^{Other foods associated with the county include: Yorkshire curd tart, a curd tart recipe withrosewater;^[135]^[136] Parkin, a sweet ginger cake which is different from standard ginger cakes in that it includes oatmeal and treacle;^[137] and Wensleydale cheese, a cheese associated withWensleydale and often eaten as an accompaniment to sweet foods.^[138] The beverage ginger beer, flavoured with ginger, came from Yorkshire and has existed since the mid 18th century.^{[citation needed]} Liquorice sweet was first created by George Dunhill from Pontefract, who in the 1760s thought to mix the liquorice plant with sugar.^[139] Yorkshire and in particular the city of York played a prominent role in the confectionery industry, with chocolate factories owned by companies such as Rowntree's, Terry's andThorntons inventing many of Britain's most popular sweets.^[140]^[141] Another traditional Yorkshire food is pikelets which are similar tocrumpets but much thinner.^[142] The Rhubarb Triangle is a location within Yorkshire which supplies most of the rhubarb to locals.
In recent years curries have become popular in the county largely due to the immigration and successful integration of Asian families. There are many famous curry empires with their origins in Yorkshire including the 850-seater Aakash restaurant in Cleckheaton which has been described as "the world's largest curry house".^[143]
Beer and brewing
Yorkshire has a number of breweries including Black Sheep, Copper Dragon, Cropton Brewery, John Smith's, Sam Smith's, Tetley's, Kelham Island Brewery, Theakstons and Timothy Taylor.^[144] The beer style most associated with the county is bitter.^[145] As elsewhere in the North of England, when served through a handpump, a sparkler is used giving a tighter, more solid head.^[146]
^{Brewing has taken place on a large scale since at least the 12th century, for example at the now derelict Fountains Abbey which at its height produced 60 barrels of strong ale every ten days.^[147] Most current Yorkshire breweries date from the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early 19th century.^[144]
Music and film

Yorkshire has a rich heritage of folk music and folk dance including particularly Long Sword dance.^[148] Yorkshire folk song was chiefly distinguished by the use of dialect, particularly in the West Riding and exemplified by the song 'On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at', probably written in the later 19th century and using a Kent folk tune (almost certainly borrowed via a Methodist hymnal), but often seen as an unofficial Yorkshire anthem.^[149] The most famous folk performers from the county are the Watersons from Hull, who began recording Yorkshire versions of folk songs from 1965.^[150]Other Yorkshire folk musicians include Heather Wood (b. 1945) of the Young Tradition, the short-lived electric folk group Mr Fox (1970–2), The Deighton Family, Julie Matthews, Kathryn Roberts, and Kate Rusby.^[150] Yorkshire has a flourishing folk music culture, with over forty folk clubs and thirty annual folk music festivals.^[151] In 2007 the Yorkshire Garland Group was formed to make Yorkshire folk songs accessible online and in schools.^[152]
^{Yorkshire is often called the home of the brass band and the county boasts some of the most famous and successful bands in the world such as Black Dyke, Brighouse & Rastrick, Yorkshire Imperial, Yorkshire Building Society, and Carlton Main Frickley.^{[citation needed]} Historically the bands evolved around the mines, mills and steel works in the county but the demise of these industries has meant that the bands are now professional ensembles in their own right.^{[citation needed]} Although brass is still considered by many in the UK to be a niche form of music, its popularity has increased overseas and UK bands often perform in Europe, Australia, the far east and the USA.^{[citation needed]}
^{During the 1970s David Bowie, himself of a father from Tadcaster in North Yorkshire,^[153] hired three musicians from Hull in the form of Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey; together they recorded Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, an album that went on to become widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential of all time.^[154] In the following decade, Def Leppard, from Sheffieldachieved worldwide fame, particularly in America. Their 1983 album, Pyromania (album) and 1987 album, Hysteria (Def Leppard album)became one of the most successful albums of all time. Yorkshire had a very strong post-punk scene which went on to achieve wide spread acclaim and success, including; The Sisters of Mercy, The Cult, Vardis, Gang of Four, ABC, The Human League, New Model Army, Soft Cell, Chumbawamba, The Wedding Present and The Mission.^[155] Pulp from Sheffield had a massive hit in the form of Common People during 1995, the song focuses on working-class northern life.^[156] The 21st century saw popularity of indie rock and post-punk revival bands from the area with the Kaiser Chiefs, The Cribs and the Arctic Monkeys, the latter of whom hold the record for the fastest-selling debut album in British music history with Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.^[157]
^{The three most prominent British television shows filmed in (and based on) Yorkshire are the sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, the drama series Heartbeat, and the soap opera Emmerdale, the latter two of which are produced by Yorkshire Television. Last of the Summer Wine in particular is noted for holding the record of longest-running comedy series in the world, from 1973 until today.^[158] Other notable television series set in Yorkshire include The Beiderbecke Trilogy, Rising Damp, Fat Friends and The Royal. Several noted films are set in Yorkshire, including Kes, This Sporting Life, Room at the Top, Brassed Off, Mischief Night, Rita, Sue and Bob Too and Calendar Girls. A comedy film set in Sheffield named The Full Monty, won an Academy Award and was voted the second best British movie of all-time by ANI.^[159] The county is also referenced in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life during a segment on birth where a title card read, "The Miracle of Birth, Part II—The Third World". The scene opens into a mill town street, subtitled "Yorkshire".^[160] Monty Python also performed the Four Yorkshiremen sketch live, which first featured on At Last the 1948 Show.^[161]

Governance

Politics
From 1290, Yorkshire was represented by two Members of Parliament of the House of Commonsof the Parliament of England. After the union with Scotland two members represented the county in the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdomfrom 1801 to 1832. In 1832 the county benefited from the disfranchisement of Grampound by taking an additional two members.^[162] Yorkshire was represented at this time as one single, large, county constituency.^[162] Like other counties, there were also some county boroughs within Yorkshire, the oldest was the City of York which had existed since the ancient De Montfort's Parliament of 1265. After the Reform Act 1832, Yorkshire's political representation in parliament was drawn from its subdivisions, with Members of Parliament representing each of the three historic Ridings of Yorkshire; East Riding, North Riding and West Riding constituencies.^[162]
^{For the 1865 general elections and onwards, the West Riding was further divided into Northern,Eastern and Southern parliamentary constituencies, though these only lasted until the majorRedistribution of Seats Act 1885.^[163] This act saw more localisation of government in the United Kingdom, with the introduction of 26 new parliamentary constituencies within Yorkshire, while theLocal Government Act 1888 introduced some reforms for the county boroughs, of which there were 8 in Yorkshire by the end of the 19th century.^[164]
^{With the Representation of the People Act 1918 there was some reshuffling on a local level for the1918 general election, revised again during the 1950s.^[165] The most controversial reorganisation of local government in Yorkshire was the Local Government Act 1972,^[166] put into practice in 1974. Under the act, the Ridings lost their lieutenancies, shrievalties, administrative counties. County boroughs and their councils were abolished, to be replaced by metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties with vastly changed borders.^[54] Although some government officials^[167] and Prince Charles^[168] have asserted such reform is not meant to alter the ancient boundaries or cultural loyalties, there are pressure groups such as the Yorkshire Ridings Society who want greater recognition for the historic boundaries.^[169] In 1996 the East Riding of Yorkshire was reformed as a unitary authority area and a ceremonial county. The Yorkshire and the Humber region of government office covers most, but not all of the historiccounty.Yorkshire and the Humber is a constituency for European elections, returning six MEPs to the European Parliament.
Monarchy and peerage

When the territory of Yorkshire began to take shape as a result of the invasion of the Danish vikings, they instituted a monarchy based at the settlement of Jórvík , York.^[170] The reign of the Viking kings came to an end with the last king Eric Bloodaxe dying in battle in 954 after the invasion and conquest by the Kingdom of England from the south. Jórvík was the last of the independent kingdoms to be taken to form part of the Kingdom of England and thus the local monarchal title became defunct.^[171]
^{Though the monarchal title became defunct, it was succeeded by the creation of the Earl of Yorktitle of nobility^[172] by king of England Edgar the Peaceful in 960.(The earldom covered the general area of Yorkshire and is sometimes referred to as the Earl of Yorkshire)^[172] The title passed through the hands of various nobles, decided upon by the current king of England. The last man to hold the title was William le Gros, however the earldom was abolished by Henry II as a result of a troubled period known as The Anarchy.^[173]
^{The peerage was recreated by Edward III in 1385, this time in the form of the prestigious title ofDuke of York which he gave to his son Edmund of Langley. Edmund founded the House of York; later the title would be merged with that of the King of England. Much of the modern day symbolism of Yorkshire , such as the White Rose of York, is derived from the Yorkists,^[174] giving the house a special affinity within the culture of Yorkshire. Especially celebrated is the Yorkist king Richard III who spent much of his life at Middleham Castle in Yorkshire.^[37]^[175] Since that time the title has passed through the hands of many, being merged with the crown and then recreated several times. The title of Duke of York remains prestigious and is given to the second son of the British monarch.^[176]}}}}}}}}}

Yorkshire:Culture,Architecture and others

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Culture

The culture of the people of Yorkshire is an accumulated product of various different civilisations who have directly controlled its history, including; the Celts (Brigantes and Parisii), Romans, Angles, Norse Vikings and Normans amongst others.^[78] The western part of the historicNorth Riding had an additional infusion of Breton culture due to the Honour of Richmond being occupied by Alain Le Roux, grandson ofGeoffrey I, Duke of Brittany.^[79] The people of Yorkshire are immensely proud of their county and local culture and it is sometimes suggested they identify more strongly with their county than they do with their country.^[80] Yorkshire people have their own distinctive dialect known asTyke, which some have argued is a fully fledged language in its own right.^[81] The county has also produced a unique set of Yorkshire colloquialisms, which are in use in the county. Among Yorkshire's unique traditions is the Long Sword dance, a traditional dance not found elsewhere in England. The most famous traditional song of Yorkshire is On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at ("On Ilkley Moor without a hat"), it is considered the unofficial anthem of the county.^[82]

Architecture

Throughout Yorkshire many castles were built during the Norman-Breton period, particularly after the Harrying of the North. These included Bowes Castle, Pickering Castle, Richmond Castle,Skipton Castle, York Castle and others.^[83] Later medieval castles at Helmsley, Middleham andScarborough were built as a means of defence against the invading Scots.^[84] Middleham is notable because Richard III of England spent his childhood there.^[84] The remains of these castles, some being English Heritage sites, are popular tourist destinations.^[84] There are several stately homes in Yorkshire which carry the name "castle" in their title, even though they are more akin to a palace.^[85] The most notable examples are Allerton Castle and Castle Howard,^[86] both linked to the Howard family.^[87] Castle Howard and the Earl of Harewood's residence, Harewood House, are included amongst the Treasure Houses of England, a group of nine English stately homes.^[88]

^{There are numerous other Grade I listed buildings within the historic county including public buildings such as Leeds Town Hall, Sheffield Town Hall,Ormesby Hall, the Yorkshire Museum and Guildhall at York. Large estates with significant buildings were constructed at Brodsworth Hall, Temple Newsam and Wentworth Castle. In addition to this there are properties which are conserved and managed by the National Trust, such asNunnington Hall, the Rievaulx Terrace & Temples and Studley Royal Park.^[89] Religious architecture includes extant cathedrals as well as the ruins of monasteries and abbeys. Many of these prominent buildings suffered from the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII; these includes Bolton Abbey, Fountains Abbey, Gisborough Priory, Rievaulx Abbey, St Mary's Abbeyand Whitby Abbey among others.^[90] Notable religious buildings of historic origin still in use include York Minster, the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe,^[90] Beverley Minster,Bradford Cathedral and Ripon Cathedral.^[90]
Literature and art
When Yorkshire formed the southern part of the kingdom of Northumbria there were several notable poets, scholars and ecclesiastics, including Alcuin, Cædmon and Wilfrid.^[91] The most esteemed literary family from the county are the three Brontë sisters, with part of the county around Haworth being nicknamed Brontë Country in their honour.^[92] Their novels, written in the mid-19th century, caused a sensation when they were first published, yet were subsequently accepted into the canon of great English literature.^[93] Among the most celebrated novels written by the sisters are Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.^[92]Wuthering Heights was almost a source used to depict life in Yorkshire, illustrating the type of people that reside there in its characters, and emphasising the use of the stormy Yorkshire moors. Nowadays, the parsonage which was their former home is now a museum in their honour.^[94] Bram Stoker authoredDracula while living in Whitby^[95] and it includes several elements of local folklore including the beaching of the Russian ship Dmitri, which became the basis of Demeter in the book.^[96]
^{The novelist tradition in Yorkshire continued into the 20th century, with authors such as J. B. Priestley,Alan Bennett and Barbara Taylor Bradford being prominent examples.^[97]^[98] Taylor Bradford is noted for A Woman of Substance which was one of the top-ten best selling novels in history.^[99] Another well known author was children's writer Arthur Ransome who penned the Swallows and Amazons series.^[98] James Herriot, the best selling author of over 60 million copies of books about his experiences of some 50 years as a veterinarian in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, the town which he refers to as Darrowby in his books^[100] (although born in Sunderland), has been admired for his easy reading style and interesting characters.^[101] Poets include Ted Hughes, W. H. Auden, William Empson and Andrew Marvell.^[98]^[102]^[103] Two well known sculptors emerged in the 20th century; contemporaries Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Some of their works are available for public viewing at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.^[104] There are several art galleries in Yorkshire featuring extensive collections, such as Ferens Art Gallery, Leeds Art Gallery, Millennium Galleries and York Art Gallery.^[105]^[106]^[107] Some of the better known local painters are William Etty and David Hockney;^[108] many works by the latter are housed at Salts Mill 1853 Gallery in Saltaire.^[109]
Sport
Yorkshire has a long tradition in the field of sports, with participation in football, rugby league,cricket and horse racing being the most established sporting ventures.^[110]^[111]^[112]^[113] Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county in the domestic first class cricket County Championship; with a total of 30 championship titles, 12 more than any other county, Yorkshire is the most decorated county cricket club.^[112] Some of the most highly regarded figures in the game were born in the county^[114] amongst them Geoff Boycott, Len Hutton and Herbert Sutcliffe.^[114]England's oldest horse race, which began in 1519, is run each year at Kiplingcotes near Market Weighton.^[113] Continuing this tradition in the field of horse racing, there are currently nine established racecourses in the county.^[115] Britain's oldest organised fox hunt is the Bilsdale, originally founded in 1668.^[116]^[117] Yorkshire is officially recognised by FIFA as the birth-place of club football,^[118]^[119] as Sheffield FC founded in 1857 are certified as the oldest association football club in the world.^[120] The world's first inter-club match and local derby was competed in the county, at the world's oldest ground Sandygate Road.^[121] The Laws of the Game which are now used worldwide were drafted by Ebenezer Cobb Morley from Hull.^[122]
^{The most successful football clubs founded in Yorkshire are Barnsley, Bradford City, Doncaster Rovers, Huddersfield Town, Hull City, Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday,^[123] four of which have been the league champions with Huddersfield being the first club to win three consecutive league titles.^[124] Middlesbrough F.C. recently came to prominence by reaching the 2006 UEFA Cup Final^[125] and winning the 2004 League Cup.^[126] Noted players from Yorkshire who have had an impact on the game include World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks^[127] and two time European Footballer of the Year award winner Kevin Keegan,^[128] as well as prominent managers Herbert Chapman, Brian Clough, Bill Nicholson, George Raynor and Don Revie.^[129] The Rugby Football League and with it the sport of rugby league was founded in 1895 at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, after a North-South schism within the Rugby Football Union.^[130] The top league is the engage Super League and the most decorated Yorkshire clubs are Huddersfield Giants, Hull FC, Bradford Bulls, Hull KR, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Castleford Tigers and Leeds Rhinos.^[131] In total six Yorkshiremen have been inducted into theRugby League Hall of Fame amongst them is Roger Millward, Jonty Parkin and Harold Wagstaff.^[132] In the area of boxing "Prince" Naseem Hamed from Sheffield achieved title success and widespread fame,^[133] in what the BBC describes as "one of British boxing's most illustrious careers".^[133] Yorkshire also has an array of racecourses, in North Yorkshire, there is Catterick, Redcar, Ripon, Thirsk and York in the East Riding of Yorkshire there is Beverley, in West Yorkshire there is Pontefract and Wetherby, while in South Yorkshire there is Doncaster.}}}

Yorkshire:Economy and Transport

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Yorkshire largely has a mixed economy. City of Leeds is Yorkshire's largest city and the main centre of trade and commerce. Leeds is one of the UK's largest financial centres. Leeds' traditional industries have been mixed between the service-based industries as well as textile manufacturing and coal mining to the south and east of the city. Sheffield traditionally has had heavy industrial manufacturing such as coal mining and the steel industry. Since the decline of such industries Sheffield has attracted tertiary and administrative businesses including a growing retail trade, particularly with the development of Meadowhall. However, whilst Sheffield's heavy industry has declined the region has reinvented itself as a world renowned centre for specialist engineering. A cluster of hi-tech facilities including The Welding Institute, the Boeing partnered Advanced Materials Research Centre^[69] have all helped to raise the regions profile and to bring significant investment into Yorkshire. Bradford, Halifax, Keighley andHuddersfield are traditional centres of wool milling. These have since declined, and in areas such as Bradford,Dewsbury and Keighley have suffered a decline in their local economy. North Yorkshire has an established tourist industry with two national parks (Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire Moors National Park, Harrogate,York and Scarborough, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and such an industry is growing in Leeds. Kingston upon Hull is Yorkshire's largest port and has a large manufacturing base, its fishing industry has however declined somewhat in recent years. The North still has an agricultural backdrop, although this is much more diversified than once was the case, with tourism to help support local businesses.

Many large British companies are based in Yorkshire such as Morrisons (Bradford), Comet, (Hull), Jet2.com (Leeds), Ronseal (Sheffield),Optare (Leeds), Wharfedale (Leeds), Plaxton (Scarborough), Little Chef (Sheffield), Halifax Bank (Halifax) and McCains (Scarborough).

Transport

The most prominent road in Yorkshire, historically called the Great North Road, is known as the A1.^[70] This trunk road passes through the centre of the county and is the prime route from Londonto Edinburgh.^[71] Another important road is the more easterly A19 road which starts in Doncaster and ends just north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne at Seaton Burn. The M62 motorway crosses the county from east to west from Hull towards Greater Manchester and Merseyside.^[72] The M1carries traffic from London and the south of England to Yorkshire. In 1999 about 8 miles (13 km) was added to make it swing east of Leeds and connect to the A1.^[73] The East Coast Main Linerail link between Scotland and London runs roughly parallel with the A1 through Yorkshire and theTrans Pennine rail link runs east to west from Hull to Liverpool via Leeds.^[74]

Leeds Bradford International Airport, Yorkshire's largest airport

Before the advent of rail transport, seaports of Hull and Whitby played an important role in transporting goods. Historically canals were used, including the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which is the longest canal in England. Nowadays mainland Europe (the Netherlands and Belgium) can be reached from Hull via regular ferry services from P&O Ferries.^[75] Yorkshire also has air transport services from Leeds Bradford International Airport. This airport has experienced significant and rapid growth in both terminal size and passenger facilities since 1996, when improvements began, until the present day.^[76]South Yorkshire is served by the Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, based in Finningley.^[77]Sheffield City Airport opened in 1997 after years of Sheffield having no airport, due to a council decision in the 1960s not to develop one because of the city's good rail links with London and the development of airports in other nearby areas. The newly opened airport never managed to compete with larger airports such as Leeds Bradford International Airport and East Midlands Airport and attracted only a few scheduled flights, while the runway was too short to support low cost carriers. The opening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, effectively made the airport redundant and it officially closed in April 2008.

Yorkshire:Geography

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Historically, the northern boundary of Yorkshire was the River Tees, the eastern boundary was theNorth Sea coast and the southern boundary was the Humber Estuary and River Don and River Sheaf. The western boundary meandered along the western slopes of the Pennine Hills to again meet the River Tees.^[55] It is bordered by several other historic counties in the form of County Durham, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Lancashire and Westmorland.^[56] In Yorkshire there is a very close relationship between the major topographical areas and the geological period in which they were formed.^[55] The Pennine chain of Hills in the west is ofCarboniferous origin. The central vale is Permo-Triassic. The North York Moors in the north-east of the county are Jurassic in age while the Yorkshire Wolds to the south east are Cretaceous chalk uplands.^[55]

^{Yorkshire is drained by several rivers. In western and central Yorkshire the many rivers empty their waters into the River Ouse which reaches the North Sea via the Humber Estuary.^[57] The most northerly of the rivers in the Ouse system is the River Swale, which drains Swaledale before passing throughRichmond and meandering across the Vale of Mowbray. Next, draining Wensleydale, is the River Ure, which joins the Swale east of Boroughbridge. The River Nidd rises on the edge of theYorkshire Dales National Park and flows along Nidderdale before reaching the Vale of York.^[57]
^{The Ouse is the name given to the river after its confluence with the Ure at Ouse Gill Beck. TheRiver Wharfe, which drains Wharfedale, joins the Ouse upstream of Cawood.^[57] The Rivers Aireand Calder are more southerly contributors to the River Ouse and the most southerly Yorkshire tributary is the River Don, which flows northwards to join the main river at Goole. In the far north of the county the River Tees flows eastwards through Teesdale and empties its waters into the North Sea downstream of Middlesbrough. The smaller River Esk flows from west to east at the northern foot of the North York Moors to reach the sea at Whitby.^[57] The River Derwent rises on the North York Moors, flows south then westwards through the Vale of Pickering then turns south again to drain the eastern part of the Vale of York. It empties into the River Ouse at Barmby on the Marsh.^[57] To the east of the Yorkshire Wolds the River Hull flows southwards to join the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. The western Pennines are served by theRiver Ribble which drains westwards into the Irish Sea close to Lytham St Annes.^[57]}}

^{Natural areas

The countryside of Yorkshire has acquired the common nickname of God's Own County.^[4]^[8] In recent times, North Yorkshire has displaced Kent to take the title Garden of England according toThe Guardian.^[58] Yorkshire includes the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks, and part of the Peak District National Park. Nidderdale and the Howardian Hills are designatedAreas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.^[59] Spurn Point, Flamborough Head and the coastal North York Moors are designated Heritage Coast areas,^[60] and are noted for their scenic views with rugged cliffs^[61] such as the jet cliffs at Whitby,^[61] the limestone cliffs at Filey and the chalk cliffs at Flamborough Head.^[62]^[63] Moor House - Upper Teesdale, most of which is part of the former North Riding of Yorkshire, is one of England's largest national nature reserves.^[64]
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds runs nature reserves such as the one at Bempton Cliffs with coastal wildlife such as the Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin and Razorbill.^[65] Spurn Point is a narrow, 3 miles (4.8 km) long sand spit. It is a National Nature Reserve owned by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and is noted for its cyclical nature whereby the spit is destroyed and re-created approximately once every 250 years.^[66] There are seaside resorts in Yorkshire with sand beaches; Scarborough is Britain's oldest seaside resort dating back to the spa town-era in the 17th century,^[67] while Whitby has been voted as the United Kingdom's best beach, with a "postcard-perfect harbour"}

Yorkshire:Wars of the Roses

2010-10-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

When King Richard II was overthrown in 1399, antagonism between the House of York and theHouse of Lancaster, both branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, began to emerge. Eventually the two houses fought for the throne of England in a series of civil wars, commonly known as the Wars of the Roses. Some of the battles took place in Yorkshire, such as those atWakefield and Towton, the latter of which is known as the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil.^[38] Richard III was the last Yorkist king.

Henry Tudor of the House of Lancaster, defeated and killed Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He then became King Henry VII and married Elizabeth of York daughter of Yorkist Edward IV, ending the wars.^[39] The two roses of white and red, emblems of the Houses of York and Lancaster respectively, were combined to form the Tudor Rose of England.^[a]^[40] This rivalry between the royal houses of York and Lancaster has passed into popular culture as a rivalry between the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire, particularly manifested in sport - for example the Roses Match played in County Cricket, or the Roses Tournament between the Universities ofYork and Lancaster.

Yorkist king Richard III grew up at

Saints, Civil War and textile industry

The wool textile industry which had previously been a cottage industry centred on the old market towns moved to the West Riding where budding entrepreneurs were building mills that took advantage of water power gained by harnessing the rivers and streams flowing from the Pennines. The developing textile industry in general helped Wakefield and Halifax grow.^[41]

The English Reformation began under Henry VIII and the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 led to a popular uprising known as Pilgrimage of Grace, started in Yorkshire as a protest. SomeCatholics contingent in Yorkshire continued to practice their religion and those caught were executed during the reign of Elizabeth I. One such person was a York woman named Margaret Clitherow who was later canonised.

During the English Civil War, which started in 1642 between king and parliament, Yorkshire had divided loyalties; Hull famously shut the gates of the city on the king when he came to enter the city a few months before fighting began, while the North Riding of Yorkshire in particular was strongly royalist.^[43]^[44] York was the base for Royalists, and from there they captured Leeds and Wakefield only to have them recaptured a few months later. The royalists won the Battle of Adwalton Moor meaning they controlled Yorkshire (with the exception of Hull). From their base in Hull the Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") fought back, re-taking Yorkshire town by town, until they won the Battle of Marston Moor and with it control of all of the North of England.^[45]

In the 16th and 17th centuries Leeds and other wool industry centred towns continued to grow, along with Huddersfield, Hull and Sheffield, while coal mining first came into prominence in the West Riding of Yorkshire.^[46] Canals and turnpike roads were introduced in the late 18th century. In the following century the spa towns of Harrogate and Scarborough also flourished, due to people believing mineral water had curing properties.

Modern Yorkshire

The 19th century saw Yorkshire's continued growth, with the population growing and the Industrial Revolution continuing with prominent industries in coal, textile and steel (especially in Sheffield). However, despite the booming industry, living conditions declined in the industrial towns due to overcrowding, this saw bouts of cholera in both 1832 and 1848.^[48]Fortunately for the county, advances were made by the end of the century with the introduction of modern sewers and water supplies. SeveralYorkshire railway networks were introduced as railways spread across the country to reach remote areas.^[49] County councils were created for the three ridings in 1889, but their area of control did not include the large towns, which became county boroughs, and included an increasing large part of the population.^[50]

^{During the Second World War, Yorkshire became an important base for RAF Bomber Command and brought the county into the cutting edge of the war.^[51] In the 1970s there were major reforms of local government throughout the United Kingdom. Some of the changes were unpopular,^[52] and controversially Yorkshire and its ridings lost status in 1974^[53] as part of the Local Government Act 1972.^[54] The East Riding was resurrected with reduced boundaries in 1996 with the abolition of Humberside. With slightly different borders, the government office entity which currently contains most of the area of Yorkshire is the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England.^[53]This region includes a northern slice of Lincolnshire, but omits Saddleworth (now in Greater Manchester); the Forest of Bowland (Lancashire);Sedbergh and Dent (Cumbria); Upper Teesdale (County Durham) as well as Middlesbrough, and Redcar and Cleveland.^[52]}

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Contents

[edit]History

[edit]Governance

[edit]Geography and environment

[edit]Boundaries

[edit]Physical geography

[edit]Climate

[edit]Waste management and sustainability

[edit]Demographics

[edit]Historical population records

[edit]Economy and industry

[edit]Culture

[edit]Arts

[edit]Architecture

[edit]Sport and leisure

[edit]Media

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[edit]Transport

[edit]Twin cities

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[edit]Literature and philosophy

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[edit]Christianity

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Edinburgh (2)

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[edit]New Town

[edit]South side

[edit]Leith

[edit]Urban area

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[edit]Demography

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