Romans, and Vikings, and Normans, Oh, My! (Part 3)

York is the city in the middle of Yorkshire and, in fact, that’s how the Shire got its name. Like other Shires (Buckinghamshire, Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire, etc.) Yorkshire is the Shire in which York is found but Yorkshire is a very large shire and York is only part of it. It’s worth the time to visit some other areas in Yorkshire, not just York.

Yorkshire is divided into ridings—“Riding” is a word taken from Viking term for third part—so logically, Yorkshire is divided into three ridings. Take a look at the map of the Yorkshire ridings:

As a curiosity, the name York is also a derivative of a Danish word, “Jorvik,” which is an old Danish attempt at the pronunciation of the middle English pronunciation of the Roman name of the city, which was Eboracum. However it got the name, the area around York was divided by the Danes into three ridings: the North, East and West Riding, and the names have stuck to this day for some purposes. There are some interesting places in these ridings.

First is Harrogate, a lovely town, less than an hour’s drive west of York, and mostly known as a spa town for the mineral waters discovered there in the 16^thcentury. For most folks, the town may also be known for the association with tea. Taylors of Harrogate is a huge exporter of tea, and Betty’s Tea Rooms are internationally famous for their service of tea. Also in West Riding is the village of Haworth, Keighley, where Anne, Emily and Charlotte Brontë grew up and were inspired to write such works as Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. There is also a Brontë Museum housed in the parsonage where they grew up.

To the east of York, in North Ridings, is the town of Whitby a coastal town from which a 14-year old James Cook first went to sea. He later became famous for his explorations of the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia. As that 14-year-old boy, Cook lived in a house in Whitby owned by the Quaker owners of that first ship. That house is now a museum documenting the history of Captain James Cook. Also in Whitby is a fish and chips restaurant, the Magpie Cafe, which won a prize as the best fish and chips shop in England a few years ago. It is in a great location with views of some of the colorful row homes in the town as well as the Whitby Abbey that was made famous in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula and used for location filming for a number of movies. The fish and chips certainly did live up to their billing as well.

Magpie Fish and Chips ©2018 englandforallreasons.com

Between Whitby and York is Castle Howard, used as the setting for the movie “Brideshead Revisited” as well as a television mini-series of the same name. It is open for public tours and is well worth a stop to see the castle’s grandeur inside as well as the gardens and grounds outside.  It also has a lovely giftshop.

Castle Howard ©2018 englandforallreasons.com

And just to the north of York is the town of Thirsk, the home village of the real veterinarians who were immortalized by James Herriot in his book All Creatures Great and Small, and the subsequent volumes recounting the adventures of a young vet in the Yorkshire dales. There is a wonderful museum there, with the sets from the BBC television show and even the Austin 7 car that was driven around the countryside.

One more point of trivia: in the TV series, “Downton Abbey,” the fictional Abbey was portrayed as being in Yorkshire, although none of the fictional townsfolk spoke with a Yorkshire accent and the actual location used for the Abbey, Highclere Castle, is in Hampshire, much closer to London.