West Yorkshire

Infobox England county
name = West Yorkshire
motto =


status = Metropolitan county &
Ceremonial county
origin = 1974
(Local Government Act 1972)
region = Yorkshire and the Humber
arearank = Ranked 29th
area_km2 = 2029
adminarearank =
adminarea_km2 =
adminhq = Leeds
county seat = Wakefield
iso =
ons = 2F
nutscode = 3
nuts3 = UKE4
poprank = Ranked 4th
popestdate = 2005
pop = 2,161,200
density_km2 = 1044
adminpoprank =
adminpop =
ethnicity = 88.6% White
8.7% S.Asian
council = "No county council since 1986."
mps =
*Ed Balls (L)/(Co-op)
*John Battle (L)
*Hilary Benn (L)
*Colin Burgon (L)
*Colin Challen (L)
*Yvette Cooper (L)
*Mary Creagh (L)
*Ann Cryer (L)
*Philip Davies (C)
*Fabian Hamilton (L)
*Shahid Malik (L)
*Christine McCafferty (L)
*Kali Mountford (L)
*George Mudie (L)
*Greg Mulholland (LD)
*Linda Riordan (L)/(Co-op)
*Terry Rooney (L)
*Barry Sheerman (L)/(Co-op)
*Marsha Singh (L)
*Gerry Sutcliffe (L)
*Jon Trickett (L)
*Paul Truswell (L)
*Mike Wood (L)
subdivname = Metropolitan Boroughs
subdiv

subdivs =
#Leeds
#Wakefield
#Kirklees
#Calderdale
#Bradford

West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. [Arnold-Baker, C., "Local Government Act 1972", (1973)]

West Yorkshire, which is landlocked, consists of five metropolitan boroughs (City of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, City of Leeds and City of Wakefield) and shares borders with the counties of Derbyshire (to the south), Greater Manchester (to the south-west), Lancashire (to the north-west), North Yorkshire (to the north and east) and South Yorkshire (to the south-east).

West Yorkshire County Council was abolished in 1986, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now effectively unitary authorities. However, the metropolitan county, which covers an area of convert|2029|km2|mi2|lk=on, continues to exist in law, and as a geographic frame of reference. [ [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/ons_geography/Gazetteer_v3.pdf Office of National Statistics] - Gazetteer of the old and new geographies of the United Kingdom, p. 48. Retrieved 14 December 2006.] [ [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/metropolitan.asp Metropolitan Counties and Districts] , Beginners' Guide to UK Geography, "Office for National Statistics", 17 September 2004. Retrieved 11 January 2007.] [ [http://www.boundarycommittee.org.uk/your-area/yorkshire-humber.cfm Yorkshire and Humber Counties] , The Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 14 February 2007.]

West Yorkshire encompasses the West Yorkshire Urban Area, which is the most built-up and biggest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire.

Divisions and environs

West Yorkshire is divided into five local government districts; they are the City of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, the City of Leeds and the City of Wakefield.

Places of interest

Historic environment

*Bretton Hall
*Cliffe Hall, also known as Cliffe Castle, Keighley
*East Riddlesden Hall
*Esholt Hall, Esholt
*Firsby Hall
*Harewood House
*Kershaw House
*Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
*Kirklees Hall/Priory
*Kirkstall Abbey
*Roman Lagentium (Castleford)
*Ledston Hall, Ledston
*Linthwaite Hall, Linthwaite
*Linton Hall
*Lotherton Hall
*Nostell Priory
*Oakwell Hall
*Oulton Hall, Oulton
*Pontefract Priory, Pontefract
*Queen's Park, Castleford
*Saltaire, a model village
*Sandal Castle
*Scarcroft Watermill, Scarcroft
*Shelley Hall, Shelley
*Shibden Hall
*Tong Hall, Tong
*Wetherby Castle, Wetherby

Museums

*Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth
*Colne Valley Museum
*Colour Museum [http://www.sdc.org.uk/museum/mus.htm] , Bradford
*Leeds City Museum
*National Coal Mining Museum for England (Netherton)
*National Media Museum, Bradford
*Pennine Farm Museum, Ripponden
*Pontefract Museum
*Royal Armouries museum, Leeds
*Tolson Museum, Dalton (Huddersfield)
*Wakefield Museum, Wakefield
*West Yorkshire Folk Museum, Shibden Hall
*Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton

Natural environment

*Emley Moor, site of the tallest self-supporting structure in the UK (a TV mast)
*Harewood Estate - Leeds Country Way public footpath runs through the estate, beautiful landscaped gardens and home to Red Kites amongst many other birds
*New Swillington Ings Nature Reserve
*Otley Chevin - extensive wooded parkland on high ground with extensive views North over Wharfedale and South as far as the Peak District
*RSPB Fairburn Ings - wetland centre for birds
*Seckar Woods LNR, a Local Nature Reserve
*Walton Hall, West Yorkshire, home of naturalist Charles Waterton and the world's first nature reserve

Waterways

*Scammonden Reservoir, Deanhead Reservoir - both in the moors near Ripponden
*River Aire, River Calder, River Hebble, River Spen, River Worth
*Aire and Calder Navigation
*Calder and Hebble Navigation
*Huddersfield Broad Canal
*Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Standedge Tunnel
*Leeds and Liverpool Canal
*Knottingley & Goole Canal
*Rochdale Canal

ee also

* The Kingdom of Elmet
* West Yorkshire Urban Area
* West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service
* West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own)

References