h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

South Yorkshire

Yorkshire is one of the biggest counties in England and South Yorkshire makes up one part of this, the others being North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and The East Riding of Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire is in the northern third of England and borders Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, The East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire.

In 1974, South Yorkshire became one of the six Metropolitan Counties of England, which meant having its own regional council to administrate certain public services. The main cities and towns of this metropolitan county were Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley. In 1986 the metropolitan county councils were abolished but the areas are still used in government statistics.

Before 1974, Yorkshire was divided into three areas, called the North, East and West Ridings of Yorkshire. The current county of South Yorkshire could then be found in the area known as the West Riding of Yorkshire.

The trans-pennine trail (http://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk), a multi-user route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders, passes through all four of the main cities and towns in South Yorkshire.

The area was a mixture of agricultural, coal mining and manufacturing industries, although the mines are largely no longer active. Recent history saw Yorkshire playing a major part in the events surrounding the miners’ strikes of the 1980s and the once famous steel industry of Sheffield has been greatly scaled-down.

Key Cities and Towns

Sheffield
The city of Sheffield
is the biggest urban area in the county and locals like to boast that, like Rome, it’s built on seven hills! It is the fourth biggest city in England. It is a useful gateway to the Peak District, which is only five miles from the city centre (one third of the city is inside the Peak District National Park).
Sheffield is famous for its steelworks and silver manufacturing industries. The steel industry has been associated with Sheffield since the eighteenth century and both crucible steel
and stainless steel were invented there. Regarding silverware, there has been an Assay Office in Sheffield since 1773.
Due to producing munitions, Sheffield suffered targeted bombings in the Second World War and a lot of its architecture now dates from after that period. One of the stories of the air raids is told here

Sheffield also has some sweeter memories, being the birthplace of Bertie Bassett (the production of liquorice allsorts has taken place in the city for over 100 years) and Thornton’s Chocolatiers.
Famous sons and daughters of Sheffield include Helen Sharman (astronaut) Michael Palin (comic actor) Sean Bean (actor), Prince Naseem Hamed (boxer) and Sebastian Coe (athlete). A number of musicians and bands come from the city, including Pulp, Joe Cocker, Def Leppard and the Human League.

Doncaster

Doncaster is one of the oldest market towns in England. It was the site of a Roman fort and has a stretch of Roman road running through it. The Romans knew Doncaster as ‘Danum’.

Doncaster has a racecourse and the St.Leger, the oldest classic horse race, is run there every year.

Nearby is Conisbrough Castle
, which has one of the best-preserved Norman keeps in England. This was used as a setting in the novel ‘Ivanhoe’ by Sir Walter Scott.

The new Robin Hood airport recently opened near Doncaster, on the site of the old RAF Finningley airbase. Finningley opened in 1936 and has a runway of just under two miles. It closed in 1996.

Famous people from Doncaster include Kevin Keegan (footballer), John Parr (singer), Lesley Garrett (Opera Singer) and Jeremy Clarkson (TV presenter). The Royal Air Force pilot, Douglas Bader, who was decorated for his service during the Battle of Britain
despite having had both legs amputated years earlier, was also born in Doncaster.

Rotherham

Rotherham has been a market town for 900 years and also has Roman origins.

It has a Country Park (Rother Valley) and the ruins of a cisterian monastery dating back to 1147 (Roche Abbey). There is also Magna, a science adventure centre with hands-on activities which include operating a JCB digger.

From a social perspective, it is interesting that Rotherham has a higher than average number of unpaid carers, i.e. people looking after relatives or friends who are ill or elderly. On the 2001 census, Rotherham came 14th in this category out of 376 local authority areas in England and Wales. Rotherham is also often named as the place with the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country.

Well-known Rotherham folk include William Hague (former leader of the Conservative Party), Michael Parkinson (TV interviewer), Paul Shane (actor), The Chuckle Brothers (comedians), David Seaman (footballer) and Jive Bunny (music producers).


Barnsley

Barnsley’s main industries were coal-mining and iron production and it grew rapidly during the Victorian era. Its May Day Green market dates from 1249.

Although born in Sheffield, the railway engineer Joseph Locke moved to Barnsley when he was five and the town still celebrates his story. Locke studied under George Stephenson and was involved in building the country’s railway network. He was also an MP and became the President of the Institute of Civil Engineers.

Barnsley also boasts the 18th Century Wentworth Castle Gardens (“One of the nation's most sublime parkland estates.” Griff Rhys-Jones), which appeared on the BBC’s ‘Restoration’ series and is now part of a major project to save it. The estate has over 26 listed monuments and also cares for National Plant Collections of Magnolias, Rhododendrons, and Camellias.

Life in South Yorkshire today
According to the census of 2001, the population of South Yorkshire has fallen over the past decade. Many residents are apparently moving to the South-East of England to find employment. The population is currently around 37,500.
Although some of the steel production has ceased, South Yorkshire still has, on average, more people employed in manufacturing compared to the rest of the country.
In 2005, the average cost of a house in Yorkshire was £141,188.
















No - hold it, I've dunnit!!!!!!!!!

(But thanks)

There was a stray - way down the page after the Entry

Oh POO - sorry - posted it anyway

There, I said posting it here would help!

Is it sorted?

B

Er...no. Nearly.

Some of the headers look too, headery. The town names. Dunno what to use instead.

Also I want to put other people on as contributors and can't find the box.

So I've put it here for now:http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A6838806

Nooooooooo some of my EG links are missing too!

Right, bedtime for me Will sort tomorrow.

Thanks for your help thus far,

Jules

Try using tags for the towns instead of ones, that might help.

Contributers? 'seasy. Scroll down the edit page and you should find another box marked 'contributers' or something like that. Add the U numers, (just the numbers, not the U) of the contributers and then click 'set contributers' (I think it's called), and *then* click 'save entry'. Two buttons, two clicks is what makes it confusing.

Let me know if that helps.

B

'm off to bed now, but I'll take a look at it in the morning.



G'night.

B

Your h2g2 links should be in the form:

The bit you want linked

and for external stuff:

The bit you want linked

Thanks, Mr Desk, that really helped, I copied & pasted to my heart's content (or summat) just then!

Thanks, Ben for hosting the messy version

It's now in PR A6838806,

Jules