North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county in that region and also partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 ^[1] it covers an area of 8,654 km², making it the largest county in England.

Divisions and environs

The area under the control of the county council, or shire county, is divided into a number of local government districts; they are Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby.^[2]

The Department for Communities and Local Government did consider reorganising North Yorkshire County Council's administrative structure by abolishing the seven district councils and the county council to create a North Yorkshire unitary authority. The changes were planned to be implemented no later than 1 April 2009.^[3][4] This was rejected on 25 July 2007 so the County Council and District Council structure will remain.^[5]

The largest settlement in the administrative county is Harrogate, while in the ceremonial county it is York.

York, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland are unitary authority boroughs which form part of the ceremonial county for various functions such as the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, but do not come under county council control. Uniquely for a district in England, Stockton-on-Tees is split between North Yorkshire and County Durham for this purpose. Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, and Redcar and Cleveland boroughs form part of the North East England region.^[6]

The area including the unitary authorities, or ceremonial county, borders East Riding of Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and County Durham.

Physical features

Within North Yorkshire are the North York Moors and most of the Yorkshire Dales; two of eleven areas of countryside within England and Wales to be officially designated as a national park. The highest point is Whernside, on the Cumbrian border, at 2,414 feet (736 m).

History

North Yorkshire was formed on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, and covers most of the lands of the historic North Riding, as well as the northern half of the West Riding, the northern and eastern fringes of the East Riding of Yorkshire and the former county borough of York.

York became a unitary authority independent of North Yorkshire on 1 April 1996,^[7] and at the same time Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and areas of Stockton-on-Tees south of the river became part of North Yorkshire for ceremonial purposes, having been part of Cleveland from 1974 to 1996.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added for North Yorkshire at current basic prices published (pp. 240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Education

North Yorkshire LEA has a mostly comprehensive education system with 42 state schools (not including sixth form colleges) and 12 independent schools, including Ampleforth College and Harrogate Ladies' College.

Towns and villages

Italicised locations lie outside the current North Yorkshire shire county.

• Ampleforth, Appleton-le-Moors
• Bedale, Bolton-on-Swale, Boroughbridge, Borrowby (Hambleton), Borrowby (Scarborough), Brompton (Hambleton), Brotton, Buckden
• Castleton, Catterick, Catterick Garrison, Cawood, Clapham, Conistone
• Dalton (Hambleton), Dalton (Richmondshire), Danby Wiske
• Easby (Hambleton), Easingwold, Egton
• Filey
• Giggleswick, Glasshouses, Goathland, Grassington, Great Ayton, Grosmont, Guisborough
• Harrogate, Hawes, Hebden, Helmsley, Horton in Ribblesdale, Hunmanby, Huntington
• Ingleton
• Kettlewell, Kilnsey, Kirkbymoorside, Knaresborough
• Leyburn
• Malham, Malton, Masham, Marske-by-the-Sea, Middleham, Middlesbrough,
• New Marske, Northallerton, Norton-on-Derwent
• Osmotherley
• Pateley Bridge, Pickering
• Redcar, Reeth, Richmond, Rievaulx, Ripon, Robin Hood's Bay, Romanby
• Saltburn, Scarborough, Scorton, Selby, Settle, Sheriff Hutton, Skelton, Skipton, Sowerby, Stokesley, Streetlam, Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe
• Tadcaster, Thirsk, Thornaby-on-Tees
• Whitby,
• Yarm, York

Places of interest

Italicised locations lie outside the current North Yorkshire shire county.

Bolton Abbey

• Ampleforth College
• Bolton Abbey
• Byland Abbey - English Heritage (EH)
• Bolton Castle
• Catterick Garrison
• Cleveland Hills
• Drax
• Duncombe Park - stately home
• Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway
• Falconry UK Ltd. Birds of Prey and Conservation Centre
• Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo
• Fountains Abbey
• Castle Howard and the Howardian Hills
• Helmsley Castle - EH
• Lightwater Valley
• Malham Cove
• Middleham Castle
• Mount Grace Priory - EH
• North Yorkshire Moors Railway
• Ormesby Hall - Palladian Mansion
• Richmond Castle
• Rievaulx Abbey - EH
• Selby Abbey
• Shandy Hall - stately home
• Skipton Castle
• Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications - EH
• Studley Royal Park
• Wharram Percy
• Whitby Abbey
• York Minster
• Yorkshire Air Museum

Transport

There are only two motorways that run through North Yorkshire and they are the A1(M) and the A66(M). The other main non-motorway routes are the A1, the A19 and the A66. The East Coast Main Line, the North TransPennine and the newly-formed Grand Central London to Sunderland line are the major railway lines that run throughout the county. York is the largest station in the county with 11 platforms. Bus services also run daily; most are controlled by Arriva and the local Dales & District, in York. FirstGroup run a park and ride service as well as normal bus routes around the city. There are no major airports in the county itself but Durham Tees Valley in County Durham, Newcastle Airport and Leeds Bradford International Airport are the closest.

Sports

North Yorkshire is home to several football clubs, the most successful of which is Middlesbrough FC who play in the FA Premier League; others include York City FC who have played in the Football League but today play in the Conference National. No notable Rugby Union teams hail from the county but York City Knights are a Rugby league team and play in the Rugby League National League 2. North Yorkshire is home to many racecourses; these include Catterick Bridge, Thirsk and Ripon. It also has one motor racing circuit, Croft Circuit; the circuit holds meetings of the British Touring Car Championship, British Superbike and Pickup Truck Racing race series. Yorkshire County Cricket Club, play a number of fixtures at North Marine Road, Scarborough.

References

External links

• North Yorkshire Guide Guide from NorthYorks.com
• BBC North Yorkshire North Yorkshire features, videos & pics from the BBC

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