York celebrates Yorkshire Day

“God’s own County” has celebrated Yorkshire Day, and in the ancient City of York, the county town, people have joined in with gusto.

The Yorkshire Ridings Society registered this, one of three common versions of the Yorkshire flag, in 2008 with the Flag institute ©The Yorkshire Ridings Society and The Flag Institute; Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Before 1974 when administrative county boundaries were changed, the county of Yorkshire was England’s largest, and as befits such a vast part of the country, there is much that is unique and worth celebrating within the old boundaries. Technically the county remains intact as an entity, although all its administrative functions have ceased.

One of the things Yorkshire is best known for is food, and in “the chocolate city” it was inevitable some new creations would appear.

CHOCOLATE – York’s Sweet story have celebrated with four new chocolate flavours, available until the 5th of August.

The flavours are: Yorkshire Blue, white chocolate and rhubarb, tea and fruitcake and Wensleydale cheese and apple. They will be offered to all those taking a tour of the city’s chocolate history.

Elsewhere in York the Minster has been recreated as a Pork Pie and further afield special Yorkshire Day dining trains are running on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and Scarborough is hosting a five day “Festival of Yorkshire”.

The Yorkshire Ridings society, which promotes the identity of Yorkshire as a county despite its administrative abolition, has held its annual parade around the city, stopping at each Bar to read the Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity which according to the society serves “to remind as many people as possible that Yorkshire is, still, the wonderful county it has been for hundreds of Years.”

As ever the Yorkshire flag took pride of place in the celebrations. The design is based on the Emblem of the House of York which fought in the Wars of the Roses of the 15th Century. It is flown above the Mansion House in York all day on Yorkshire Day.

Yorkshire Day is held on August the 1st as it is the anniversary of the Battle of Minden (Britain vs France), one of several battles of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759, during the seven years war, when the soldiers marched to battle with roses picked from the local fields in their uniforms.

On the anniversary ever since the 51st Foot, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and now the Light Infantry, have worn white roses to commemorate the Victory. The Annus Mirabilis also saw General Wolfe take Quebec, his parents being of a noted York family, who lived in what is now the Black Swan pub in York, although the General was born down south.

Yorkshire day was first held in 1975, the year when the new boundaries came into effect and many maps were altered to remove Yorkshire.