History and Heritage Yorkshire
@handhyorkshire.bsky.social
Independent researcher/writer/broadcaster in the history, heritage and culture sectors. Editor, History and Heritage Yorkshire Magazine, Also write's on poverty, community and other things. Regular Bylines Network writer. Servant to a Patterdale
Just to let everyone know that the December/Christmas newsletter, The Heritage Letter will be out on Sunday. Don't forget it's available absolutely free of charge should you wish or a donation is welcome. A link will be available on Sunday. #Heritage #Christmas #Yorkshire
November 25, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Just to let everyone know that the December/Christmas newsletter, The Heritage Letter will be out on Sunday. Don't forget it's available absolutely free of charge should you wish or a donation is welcome. A link will be available on Sunday. #Heritage #Christmas #Yorkshire
The fortified manor house that is Spofforth Castle was originally built in the early 14th century on the site of a prior 11th century building. For much of the time it was in in the hands of the Percy Family. During the Civil War, the castle was occupied by
November 25, 2025 at 7:44 AM
The fortified manor house that is Spofforth Castle was originally built in the early 14th century on the site of a prior 11th century building. For much of the time it was in in the hands of the Percy Family. During the Civil War, the castle was occupied by
With all the medical problems I haven't been to Haworth in ages so delighted to be going with my friend John on Wednesday. So looking forward to it. Image Tim Green CC BY-SA 2.0
November 24, 2025 at 12:41 PM
With all the medical problems I haven't been to Haworth in ages so delighted to be going with my friend John on Wednesday. So looking forward to it. Image Tim Green CC BY-SA 2.0
Reposted by History and Heritage Yorkshire
Last pit ponies at Wheldale colliery, Castleford, Yorkshire, 1972, photo by Don McPhee.
November 23, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Last pit ponies at Wheldale colliery, Castleford, Yorkshire, 1972, photo by Don McPhee.
The now Grade II listed headstone of railway fireman Edward Booth is a reminder of the tragic Ulleskelf accident which occurred OTD 24 November in 1906 when in fog, the train on which he was working missed a red signal and crashed into a coal train killing himself and the driver.
November 24, 2025 at 6:44 AM
The now Grade II listed headstone of railway fireman Edward Booth is a reminder of the tragic Ulleskelf accident which occurred OTD 24 November in 1906 when in fog, the train on which he was working missed a red signal and crashed into a coal train killing himself and the driver.
The Undercroft of the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall was never intended for merchants. This vaulted ground-floor chamber served instead as an almshouse for York’s sick and poor. In 1373 Edward III licensed it to care for thirteen “poor and weak persons”, echoing Christ and the apostles. Wall
November 23, 2025 at 3:58 PM
The Undercroft of the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall was never intended for merchants. This vaulted ground-floor chamber served instead as an almshouse for York’s sick and poor. In 1373 Edward III licensed it to care for thirteen “poor and weak persons”, echoing Christ and the apostles. Wall
The almost domestic size St Leonard’s Church at Chapel-le-Dale stands in a quiet Dales churchyard but one with an unexpectedly vast story beneath its turf. Here lie more than two hundred navvies – and their families – who died while carving the Settle–Carlisle line through some of the wildest
November 23, 2025 at 7:52 AM
The almost domestic size St Leonard’s Church at Chapel-le-Dale stands in a quiet Dales churchyard but one with an unexpectedly vast story beneath its turf. Here lie more than two hundred navvies – and their families – who died while carving the Settle–Carlisle line through some of the wildest
I have loved books as Christmas presents ever since I was a small child both giving and receiving. These days bookshops as much as the books are a delight for me from small and intimate to large where I can sit with a coffee like this one. A favourite
November 23, 2025 at 5:55 AM
I have loved books as Christmas presents ever since I was a small child both giving and receiving. These days bookshops as much as the books are a delight for me from small and intimate to large where I can sit with a coffee like this one. A favourite
From the Gott Collection at The Hepworth, Wakefield, an engraving of the Moot Hall in Briggate, Leeds (1816). The Moot Hall was built in 1618, rebuilt in 1710 and finally demolished in 1826. Engraved by Charles Haith, after Thomas Taylor. Image Public Domain
November 22, 2025 at 8:30 PM
From the Gott Collection at The Hepworth, Wakefield, an engraving of the Moot Hall in Briggate, Leeds (1816). The Moot Hall was built in 1618, rebuilt in 1710 and finally demolished in 1826. Engraved by Charles Haith, after Thomas Taylor. Image Public Domain
"Tomorrow is Stir-up Sunday, when the wooden spoons come out,
Fruit and spice are folded in with laughter round about,"
Please enlarge the image below to read the extract from "A Yorkshire Christmas" on the tradition. #Christmas #Yorkshire #Heritage
Fruit and spice are folded in with laughter round about,"
Please enlarge the image below to read the extract from "A Yorkshire Christmas" on the tradition. #Christmas #Yorkshire #Heritage
November 22, 2025 at 2:18 PM
"Tomorrow is Stir-up Sunday, when the wooden spoons come out,
Fruit and spice are folded in with laughter round about,"
Please enlarge the image below to read the extract from "A Yorkshire Christmas" on the tradition. #Christmas #Yorkshire #Heritage
Fruit and spice are folded in with laughter round about,"
Please enlarge the image below to read the extract from "A Yorkshire Christmas" on the tradition. #Christmas #Yorkshire #Heritage
A school facing closure has announced it is auctioning off two 1930s dining tables. Former pupils of Moorlands School in Leeds donated the oak tables and benches crafted by Robert "Mouseman" Thompson and featuring his trademark mice carvings. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leeds school to auction Mouseman furniture after closure
The dining tables donated by ex-pupils in the 1930s could fetch up to £20,000 in the sale.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 11:27 AM
A school facing closure has announced it is auctioning off two 1930s dining tables. Former pupils of Moorlands School in Leeds donated the oak tables and benches crafted by Robert "Mouseman" Thompson and featuring his trademark mice carvings. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I've posted these before around remembrance time before but they are well worth a view at any time of year. Part of the IWM's Women's Work in the War (1914-18) collection, these photograph show female workers at Craddocks Wire Rope Factory in Wakefield. The firm
November 22, 2025 at 8:41 AM
I've posted these before around remembrance time before but they are well worth a view at any time of year. Part of the IWM's Women's Work in the War (1914-18) collection, these photograph show female workers at Craddocks Wire Rope Factory in Wakefield. The firm
Martin Frobisher who died OTD in 1594 was an explorer and privateer from Altofts, near Wakefield. He is best known for his voyages in search of the Northwest Passage to Asia during the late 16th century. Backed by Elizabethan investors, Frobisher embarked on three expeditions to
November 22, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Martin Frobisher who died OTD in 1594 was an explorer and privateer from Altofts, near Wakefield. He is best known for his voyages in search of the Northwest Passage to Asia during the late 16th century. Backed by Elizabethan investors, Frobisher embarked on three expeditions to
Explorer Isabella Bird was born at Boroughbridge Hall in 1831, the home of her grandmother. A precocious but sickly child, doctors prescribed a sea journey and in 1854 her love of travel began with her traveling with her cousins to their home in the US
November 21, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Explorer Isabella Bird was born at Boroughbridge Hall in 1831, the home of her grandmother. A precocious but sickly child, doctors prescribed a sea journey and in 1854 her love of travel began with her traveling with her cousins to their home in the US
The 18th century packhorse bridge located in the shadow of Dent Head Viaduct make a stunning contrast. Construction of the viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle route began in 1869, and was completed in 1875. The viaduct is 596 feet (182 m) long, 100 feet (30 m) high.
November 21, 2025 at 6:54 PM
The 18th century packhorse bridge located in the shadow of Dent Head Viaduct make a stunning contrast. Construction of the viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle route began in 1869, and was completed in 1875. The viaduct is 596 feet (182 m) long, 100 feet (30 m) high.
Winter lays a quiet hand across the woodland fold,
Frost tracing every branch as though the trees were etched in silver cold.
The still pond mirrors silence, holding sky and shadow tight,
Its surface barely trembling in the soft, returning light.
(Image: John Ash Photography CC BY-NC 2.0)
Frost tracing every branch as though the trees were etched in silver cold.
The still pond mirrors silence, holding sky and shadow tight,
Its surface barely trembling in the soft, returning light.
(Image: John Ash Photography CC BY-NC 2.0)
November 21, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Winter lays a quiet hand across the woodland fold,
Frost tracing every branch as though the trees were etched in silver cold.
The still pond mirrors silence, holding sky and shadow tight,
Its surface barely trembling in the soft, returning light.
(Image: John Ash Photography CC BY-NC 2.0)
Frost tracing every branch as though the trees were etched in silver cold.
The still pond mirrors silence, holding sky and shadow tight,
Its surface barely trembling in the soft, returning light.
(Image: John Ash Photography CC BY-NC 2.0)
Adjacent to the iconic Herbert House (lower image) on Pavement in York is the interesting Lady Peckett’s Yard, a York snickelway. Named after Alice, the wife of Lord Mayor John Peckett in 1702. This historical pathway has a significant past. It possibly originates from two
November 21, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Adjacent to the iconic Herbert House (lower image) on Pavement in York is the interesting Lady Peckett’s Yard, a York snickelway. Named after Alice, the wife of Lord Mayor John Peckett in 1702. This historical pathway has a significant past. It possibly originates from two
Middleham Castle Joseph Alfonso Toft (1866–1964)
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
November 20, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Middleham Castle Joseph Alfonso Toft (1866–1964)
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
I have had consultations with many doctors over the last few years but I had one today with a GP at the surgery I am now registered at, that was certainly one of the very best. The doctor only did one test, my blood pressure but we spent almost an hour discussing all my medical problems
November 20, 2025 at 6:56 PM
I have had consultations with many doctors over the last few years but I had one today with a GP at the surgery I am now registered at, that was certainly one of the very best. The doctor only did one test, my blood pressure but we spent almost an hour discussing all my medical problems
This has to be one of of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century from March 1907. Sixteen years old suffragette Dora Thewlis. A poor mill worker from Honley in Huddersfield she was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union At a demonstration in London she is
November 20, 2025 at 6:39 AM
This has to be one of of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century from March 1907. Sixteen years old suffragette Dora Thewlis. A poor mill worker from Honley in Huddersfield she was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union At a demonstration in London she is
Richard Rolle was a hermit, mystic and writer in the first half of the fourteenth century. Believed to have been born in Thornton-le-Dale, he studied at Oxford before returning to Yorkshire where he lived as a hermit in various locations.
November 19, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Richard Rolle was a hermit, mystic and writer in the first half of the fourteenth century. Believed to have been born in Thornton-le-Dale, he studied at Oxford before returning to Yorkshire where he lived as a hermit in various locations.
It feels cold enough out there today to post this. 'A small hiking party, who have been staying at the Youth Hostel in Malham, set off in snow along a country lane towards Wharfedale.' from Youth Hostel- the work of the Youth Hostel Association in Wartime. 1944,
November 19, 2025 at 8:15 AM
It feels cold enough out there today to post this. 'A small hiking party, who have been staying at the Youth Hostel in Malham, set off in snow along a country lane towards Wharfedale.' from Youth Hostel- the work of the Youth Hostel Association in Wartime. 1944,
From a speech by Henry Brougham MP for Yorkshire 1830 on the importance of Yorkshire having representation in parliament. "We don't live in the days of barons, thank God. We live in the days of Leeds, of Bradford, of Halifax, and of Huddersfield - we live in the
November 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
From a speech by Henry Brougham MP for Yorkshire 1830 on the importance of Yorkshire having representation in parliament. "We don't live in the days of barons, thank God. We live in the days of Leeds, of Bradford, of Halifax, and of Huddersfield - we live in the
"Felkirk has several historic buildings, including the Grade I-listed St Peter's Church, believed to be the first stone church commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Harrying of the North in around 1070, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Felkirk: Conservation area plan for Wakefield village
Wakefield Council has proposed turning Felkirk into a conservation area, along with Castleford town centre.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 5:38 PM
"Felkirk has several historic buildings, including the Grade I-listed St Peter's Church, believed to be the first stone church commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Harrying of the North in around 1070, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...