Happy Yorkshire Day
The 1st of August is officially Yorkshire Day. As Greener Living’s HQ is based in Yorkshire, we thought we’d take this opportunity to wish everyone a massive Happy Yorkshire Day! Yorkshire Day is a yearly celebration of everything Yorkshire, and even though it is not counted as a bank holiday, we will all be celebrating in our own way!
When did Yorkshire Day start?
You may be forgiven if you think that this is a recent celebration, but actually, Yorkshire Day was first celebrated to mark the county’s regiment’s famous win in the Battle of Minden on 1st August 1759, during the “7 Years War” with France and Austria.
It was also a key point of celebration on August the 1st, 1833 which was when the UK formally abolished slavery. This was partially due to the efforts of a famous Yorkshireman named William Wilberforce whose tenacity and determination helped to banish slavery from the UK and all its colonies.
Yorkshire Day has enjoyed its latest renewal in 1975 when a group known as “The Yorkshire Society” revived the celebration in a form of protest when the government at that time changed the boundaries of the counties. This meant that areas on the fringes of Yorkshire, such as Beverley, Hull, Driffield and Bridlington were temporarily made part of Humberside. This prolonged torture of these areas lasted until 1997 until the government finally saw the error of their ways and repatriated the area’s back into Yorkshire, where they belong.
What happens on Yorkshire Day?
Events on Yorkshire Day involve traditional sports such as “Welly Wanging” (seeing who can throw their pair of wellington boots the furthest) and also “Ferret Racing” (I don’t think that one really needs explaining).
In York some years there is an actual “Declaration of Yorkshireness” in which the White Rose flag is raised on all four walls of the city and a declaration to the county is read out stating “That Yorkshire is three Ridings and the City of York with these boundaries of one thousand, one hundred and thirty-nine years standing; That the address of all places in these Ridings is YORKSHIRE; That all persons born therein or resident therein and loyal to the Ridings are Yorkshire men and women; That any person or corporate body which deliberately ignores or denies the aforementioned shall forfeit all claim to Yorkshire status.”
As you can probably tell, we’re pretty passionate about our home town, Sheffield, and all things Yorkshire related. From everyone at Greener Living, we wish you all a very Happy Yorkshire Day this year!
