West Yorkshire
Metropolitan county of northeast England, created 1974; in 1986, most
of the functions of the former county council were transferred
to the metropolitan borough councils
Area:
2,040 sq km/787 sq mi
Towns and Cities:
Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield (administrative centres for districts of
the same name), Halifax (administrative centre of Calderdale district),
Huddersfield (administrative centre of Kirklees district)
Physical:
Ilkley Moor, Haworth Moor; high Pennine moorlands in the west, Vale
of York to the east; rivers : Aire, Calder, Colne, Wharfe
Features:
Haworth Parsonage; part of the Peak District National Park; British
Library, Boston Spa (scientific, technical, and business documents)
Industries:
Woollen textiles, financial services; coal mining is in decline.
Population:
(1995) 2,105,700
Famous People:
The Brontės, J B Priestley, Henry Moore, David Hockney
Industrial Past
Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, and Wakefield were
formerly all built-up manufacturing centres. The coal that was
extensively mined in the vicinity of these towns in the 19th century
provided a foundation for West Yorkshire's prosperity. The area
already had a long-established domestic clothing industry. The
application of steam power to carding, combing, spinning, and
weaving led to a rapid transformation of the wool textiles industry,
and to a certain degree of specialisation in several centres.
The local coal-pits met the textile manufacturers coal needs,
and the huge supplies of soft water required in the manufacturing
process could be obtained from moorland reservoirs. The coal measures
were also exploited for ironstone (a type of iron ore) which gave
rise to the production of crude and pure forms of iron. These,
in turn, contributed to the development of textile machinery and
other engineering products.
Inevitably, the coal seams were exhausted; iron smelting, which
reached its zenith about 1875, had disappeared by 1930. Fortunately,
the mechanical and electrical engineering trades continued to
expand and are found in all the major centres. The wool textile
industry transformed itself into an industry dealing in all types
of textile, but its importance has declined and many old mills
have been demolished or been converted for other purposes.
The Landscape
West Yorkshire's landscape was mainly industrial, with much of the
of the county (203,914 ha/503,658 acres) remaining semi-rural
in character. In the west, there are unspoilt heather-clad moorlands,
such as Ilkley Moor and Haworth Moor, intertwined with valleys
along which sprawl textile villages; and in the east, arable and
pastoral land is interspersed with former coal-mining villages.
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