James Herriot said it was the “Finest View in England” – do you agree?
Well it wasn’t really James Herriot who made the statement, but Yorkshire vet Alf Wight – the author who wrote the famous books under his...
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Culture
This section of my Blog covers Yorkshire's diverse culture. So included in this area I will be writing about everything from Yorkshire's many film and TV locations, Yorkshire's literary heritage, sports teams and their homes, theatre and dance, live music and festivals as well as cultural events.
Plus as there are so many famous Yorkshire Folk who have made their mark on the world - just think of the Bronte Sisters, David Hockney & James Herriot for starters, we will feature people who were born or predominantly lived in the county and who have left their mark on Yorkshire over the last 2,000 years.
I hope you enjoy the blog articles below - please feel free to share the content and let me have any feedback...
timbarber
- Sep 8
- 2 min
York Unlocked Weekend returns for 2023
York Unlocked 2023 on the weekend of 7 and 8 October 2023 will see the doors thrown open to around 70 fabulous buildings FREE of charge....
40 views0 comments
timbarber
- Aug 9
- 2 min
8 Miles to the Pub - the Story of 3 Pensioners Rambling from Derby to Malton...
I have met one of the authors of this book (Steve Mullins) on a couple of occasions at Yorkshire Society events and whilst discussing my...
26 views0 comments
timbarber
- Jul 31
- 3 min
Paul Czainski and the Staithes Painted Illusion Trail
Paul Czainski is a world famous Trompe l’Oeil artist who was born in Yorkshire in 1954, studying at Jacob Kramer College of Art in Leeds....
223 views0 comments
timbarber
- Jul 4
- 11 min
Walking the Six Dales Trail – 38 miles between Otley and Middleham
I had heard what a great walk this was from a couple of friends who had both walked the 6 Dales Trail, so myself and my wife took a...
144 views2 comments
timbarber
- May 15
- 5 min
The Day we bumped into James Herriot in Arncliffe
With the new series of All Creatures Great and Small proving so popular, not just in the UK but also across the globe, I have been...
664 views1 comment
timbarber
- May 2
- 4 min
Baugh Fell – a difficult hike up the twelfth highest peak of the #YorkshireDales30
I’m gradually working my way through the #Yorkshire30 – the 30 Highest Peaks in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Whilst with boundary...
59 views1 comment
timbarber
- Apr 30
- 8 min
Transforming Grassington into Darrowby for the filming of All Creatures Great & Small
Every year in April or May, the Yorkshire Dales town of Grassington is transformed over a few days into a film set for the popular TV...
1,917 views0 comments
timbarber
- Apr 21
- 2 min
Toast Art on display in Haworth
I regularly stop at St.Michael & All Angels Church in Haworth on my Bronte tours. The church is next to the Bronte Parsonage Museum, but...
273 views0 comments
timbarber
- Mar 1
- 5 min
Buckden Pike Circular – a hike up Yorkshire’s 7th Highest Peak
As I’m off in May to the Highlands of Scotland for a few days walking with some old friends, it has motivated me for the need to get a...
146 views0 comments
timbarber
- Feb 20
- 2 min
Circle – Richard Farrington’s Giant Charm Bracelet on the Cleveland Way
Whilst not technically in Yorkshire, I am including this artwork in my blog as its position along the Cleveland Way between Saltburn and...
817 views1 comment
timbarber
- Jan 3
- 2 min
Yorkshire Rewilding Network – enabling rewilding throughout Yorkshire
I recently met with the Yorkshire Rewilding Network to find out about the thriving community of members and some of the interesting...
52 views0 comments
timbarber
- Dec 30, 2022
- 6 min
All Creatures Great & Small – Filming locations from Series 3
Back in 2021, when series 1 of the remake of All Creatures Great and Small first aired I blogged about the locations used in the TV...
2,956 views1 comment
timbarber
- Dec 13, 2022
- 3 min
The symbolism behind the stunning mural on Bolton Priory’s East Wall
At the heart of the Bolton Abbey Estate lies Bolton Priory (often referred to incorrectly as Bolton Abbey). It was originally the home of...
88 views0 comments
timbarber
- Dec 12, 2022
- 2 min
The Dales Detective Agency – gentle murder mysteries set in the Yorkshire Dales
Yorkshire has many links to the classic crime novel – as well as each year in July the Theakston’s Crime Writing Festival being held in...
523 views0 comments
timbarber
- Nov 15, 2022
- 5 min
Ravenscar to Robin Hood’s Bay Coastal Loop Walk
This is one of my favourite coastal walks – following the Cinder Track along the old railway line from Ravenscar to Robin Hood’s Bay and...
680 views0 comments
timbarber
- Jul 11, 2022
- 2 min
The Tansey Beetle – the Jewel of York
Running driver guiding business, most of my client pick-ups are in York. I must drive past this mural of a bright green beetle, three or...
136 views0 comments
timbarber
- Jul 4, 2022
- 3 min
The Norber Erratics and Sulber Nick from Austwick
We headed out from Austwick to explore the surrounding limestone pavement and one of Yorkshire’s other famous geological features – The...
178 views0 comments
timbarber
- Apr 2, 2022
- 2 min
Masham and its Swifts...
Masham, the town on the edge of the Dales next to the River Ure, famous for its two breweries is also famous for its swifts! Come May...
123 views1 comment
timbarber
- Mar 8, 2022
- 1 min
Huge artwork depicting David Hockney made out of nails in Little Germany
Whilst doing a recce of Little Germany in Bradford with a fellow guide recently, we stumbled upon a huge artwork up on a wall showing one...
222 views0 comments
timbarber
- Mar 3, 2022
- 4 min
Dodd Fell, Wether Fell & the old Roman Road
As part of my mission to climb Yorkshire’s 30 Highest Peaks, we had found a route on Jonathan Smith’s great Where2Walk website which...
264 views0 comments
timbarber
- Feb 13, 2022
- 3 min
Is Yorkshire the most romantic place to celebrate Valentine’s Day?
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner – I decided to give some thought as to why Love and Yorkshire go hand in hand, plus how and...
41 views0 comments
timbarber
- Feb 7, 2022
- 3 min
The Yorkshire Wolds - soon to get Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and UNESCO Geopark status?
A guest blog article by my friend, Yorkshire Society colleague and acclaimed author Colin Speakman Even amongst people who love...
168 views0 comments
timbarber
- Jan 28, 2022
- 5 min
Circular walk from Thixendale to the deserted medieval village of Wharram Percy
The Yorkshire Wolds is often over looked in favour of Yorkshire’s better known National parks – The Yorkshire Dales & North York Moors....
1,168 views0 comments
timbarber
- Dec 25, 2021
- 12 min
The Yorkshire’s festive celebrations through the ages
Winter Solstice We have to look back much further than the nativity to start exploring the origins of winter festive celebrations. In...
282 views1 comment
timbarber
- Dec 20, 2021
- 2 min
The Miner’s Bait Table sculpture on the Cleveland Way at Boulby
A few weeks back whilst walking a stretch of the Cleveland Way with my dog, I came across a strange piece of land art in the shadow of...
423 views0 comments
timbarber
- Dec 18, 2021
- 4 min
Ridge Walk – Gauber to Ingleborough via Simon’s Fell with stunning views
I’d walked on part of Simon’s Fell during my Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge in May but never actually reached its summit. As it’s one of the...
87 views0 comments
timbarber
- Dec 9, 2021
- 3 min
The Great British Talkshow Host – Sir Michael Parkinson
With Sir Michael Parkinson due to receive his Lifetime Achievement Award at the Yorkshire Awards in March 2022, it seemed like a good...
155 views0 comments
timbarber
- Aug 5, 2021
- 2 min
Enclosure Rights – an artwork inspired by the cultural landscape of the Yorkshire Wolds
On a recent walk along the Yorkshire Wolds Way from Wintringham, I stumbled upon a wonderful public artwork. The walk started in...
182 views0 comments
timbarber
- Jul 8, 2021
- 3 min
Ratcatcher Yorkshire Tweed Clothing – Designed, Woven and Made in Yorkshire
I recently came across Ratcatcher when I was tasked with ordering 100 flat caps for a corporate team building event in Ilkley which...
352 views0 comments
timbarber
- Jun 11, 2021
- 3 min
The Gallows Pole – The story of the Cragg Vale Coiners
Nothing to do with the Led Zeppelin song of the same name, I stumbled on the book The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers in a book store in...
2,135 views0 comments
timbarber
- May 31, 2021
- 2 min
The Ilkley Moor Alien
Living in Burley in Wharfedale, I spend a lot of time on Ilkley Moor with my dog and love exploring the wild moorland. So when a friend...
8,887 views1 comment
timbarber
- May 14, 2021
- 2 min
War Horse - a powerful tribute to Featherstone's first world war fallen
On my way to do an interview with Farmer Copley’s Farm, one of the few places in Yorkshire to still grow liquorice, I passed a huge...
536 views0 comments
timbarber
- Apr 30, 2021
- 5 min
Walk along The Yorkshire Wolds Way from Wintringham
After deciding to go out for a day’s walking with my old mate Wardy, we decided for a change to visit The Yorkshire Wolds. Even though...
790 views0 comments
timbarber
- Apr 21, 2021
- 4 min
Peaky Blinders in Yorkshire
The British period drama Peaky Blinders created by Steven Knight follows the exploits of the Shelby crime family and is loosely based on...
934 views1 comment
timbarber
- Mar 14, 2021
- 3 min
Bridgerton in Yorkshire
Riding on the coat tails of smash-hit period dramas such as BBC’s Downtown Abbey and ITV’s Victoria, Netflix released its own romp...
419 views0 comments
timbarber
- Feb 19, 2021
- 3 min
The Story of Wool – Grade II listed Public Art Sculpture in Ilkley
One of my first jobs after leaving University was for the Clothing Industry Training Board (CAPITB), which used to be based in Pudsey,...
478 views1 comment
timbarber
- Feb 17, 2021
- 6 min
Exploring the locations from Channel 5’s new All Creatures Great & Small
James Herriot’s books and the original BBC TV series of All Creatures Great and Small, about life as a Yorkshire vet, were massively...
4,851 views2 comments
timbarber
- Feb 4, 2021
- 3 min
Percy Shaw – the Yorkshire inventor of the “Cat’s Eye”
The “Cat’s Eye” was invented in 1934 by Yorkshireman Percy Shaw and has no doubt saved thousands of lives on the roads over the years....
2,976 views1 comment
timbarber
- Jan 4, 2021
- 3 min
Did you know Britain’s tallest ever man was a Yorkshireman?
William Bradley – often known as “The Yorkshire Giant” or “Bradley the Giant” was born in Market Weighton in the East Riding in 1787 and...
373 views0 comments
timbarber
- Dec 22, 2020
- 3 min
So what is the link between an elephant, the artist JMW Turner and Otley Chevin?
On one of my favourite dog walking routes on Otley Chevin there is a wood carving by local sculptor and teacher Shane Green of an...
497 views1 comment
timbarber
- Nov 12, 2020
- 5 min
The worrying decline of The Curlew – are we hearing their last calls
“Never heard the solitary whistle of curlew on a summer noon…without feeling an elevation of the soul” So said Robbie Burns. But worrying...
240 views0 comments
timbarber
- Nov 2, 2020
- 3 min
The Story of the Yorkshire Flag
My good friend and Yorkshire author, Colin Speakman has written an article for The Real Yorkshire Blog on the history of the Yorkshire...
520 views0 comments
timbarber
- Nov 1, 2020
- 3 min
Guy Fawkes and his Yorkshire connections
With Bonfire Night approaching on 5th November, families this year will enjoy their own socially distanced fireworks & garden bonfires,...
793 views1 comment
timbarber
- Sep 20, 2020
- 4 min
Sir George Cayley – “the father of aerial navigation”
In my previous life running a marketing agency, I had the pleasure of working with a local precision engineering company called Produmax...
133 views0 comments
timbarber
- Aug 22, 2020
- 4 min
All Creatures Great and Small – Channel 5 revives the James Herriot TV drama
One of my most popular driver guided tours is James Herriot Country and it is amazing how many people from all over the world still have...
324 views0 comments
timbarber
- Aug 20, 2020
- 3 min
Kes – an iconic piece of Yorkshire cinema now ranked 7th in the BFI Top 10 British Films list
My sons girlfriend turned up at the house last week wearing a T-shirt with a picture of young Billy Casper from the film Kes sticking two...
236 views1 comment
timbarber
- Aug 4, 2020
- 4 min
Thomas Chippendale – “The Shakespeare of Furniture”
If you ask people to name a famous furniture designer – Thomas Chippendale would be one of the first names that sprang to mind. This...
63 views0 comments
timbarber
- Jul 27, 2020
- 3 min
The background behind Yorkshire Day and its celebrations
The 1st August – sees Yorkshire Day celebrated nationwide. But how long has it been going on and what is the background behind the annual...
793 views2 comments
timbarber
- Jul 13, 2020
- 3 min
Red Kites thriving in Yorkshire
Whilst driving around Yorkshire you’ll often see the shape of a large bird of prey hovering overhead with its distinctive forked tail....
216 views0 comments
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