Some history on the county of Yorkshire

Yorkshire

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The North Riding is bounded on the north by the river Tees; on the east by the German ocean; on the south by the Ainsty of York and the East and West Ridings; and on the west by the county of Westmorland. The boundaries of the East Riding are, the Derwent to the north; the Ouse to the west; the Humber to the south; and the German ocean to the east.

In tracing the Roman roads of Yorkshire, the course of the great road, called Watling Street, running from south to north, shown to extend from Bawtry, where it enters the county of York, to the Tees, where it crosses into the county of Durham. Another military road, running east and west, from Manchester to York, proceeding still eastward, advanced to Melton, where it was divided into two branches, the first called Wade's causeway, leading to Dunsley Bay, the Dunus Sinus of Ptolemy; and the other to Scarborough and Filey. The straight course of a Roman road may be traced over the high grounds of the Wolds, from York to Bridlington Bay, the Gabrantovicorum Sinus Portiosus, or Salutaris; a branch of this road has also been discovered, tending towards Hunmanby. Another line may also be followed in a direction to Patrington, [Practorium] and the Spurn point, which appears to, be the Ocellum Promontorium of Ptolemy, and where was once the noted seaport of Ravenspurn, now engulphed in the ocean. From Lincoln a Roman road may be traced to the south bank of the Humber, near Wintringham, where are still seen vestiges of the station ad Abum. On the north bank Brough indicates the position of another ancient station, from which it is probable that a branch of road communicated with York, From this sketch it will appear that the military roads of the Romans converged in every direction, from the extremities of the province of Eboracum to York, their common centre, which, as will be seen from the sub-joined history of that ancient city, was so long the head quarters of the Roman army.

The East Riding of Yorkshire, although it displays a great variety of aspect, is far less conspicuously marked with the bold features of nature than the other parts of the county; but if it contains no scenery that can be called truly romantic, some parts of the Riding are beautifully picturesque, and afford very extensive and even magnificent prospects, especially when the sea or the Humber enters into view. From its topographical appearance, this Riding may be considered as three different districts, the Wolds forming one of them, and the other two lying, one to the east and the other to the west, of that elevated region. The Wolds consist of an assemblage of chalky hills, extending from the northern to the southern extremity of the East Riding. The soil is commonly a free and rather light loam, with a mixture of chalky gravel, in some parts very shallow; it also contains a deeper and more kindly loam, and a light sandy mixture. On the Wolds very extensive improvements have taken place during the last forty years, and a district, which, in the middle of the last century, was a complete waste - fit only for the production and support of rabbits, by the encouragement given to agriculture between the years 1790 and 1815, has been brought into a state of prosperous cultivation. The eastern division, above referred to, extends from Filey, to Spurn Head; in some parts of this extensive tract, particularly between Filey and Bridlington, the face of the country is much diversified, and throughout the whole district clay and loam are the predominant soils. The improvements in agriculture have here also been very extensive, and a judicious system of drainage has accomplished wonders. The third natural division of the East Riding extends from the western foot of the Wolds to the boundaries of the North and West Ridings; this tract of land is called Levels, and, as its name imports, it is every where flat and unpicturesque, but by no means unproductive.

In the North Riding the face of the country is, much more diversified. Along the coast, from Scarborough to Cleveland, it is hilly and bold, the cliff being generally from 60 to 150 feet high, and in some places, as at Stoupe Brow, seven miles from Whitby, it rises to the stupendous height of 893 feet. From the cliff the country rises in most places very rapidly, and a little further inland successive hills rising one above another, form the elevated tract of the Eastern Moorlands. The cultivated dales situated amongst these moors are pretty extensive, some of them containing from five to ten thousand acres, and Eskdale and Bilsdale much more. The level lands at the bottom of the valleys are seldom more than two or three hundred yards in breadth, but the land is generally cultivated to a considerable distance up the sides of the hills. Most of the dales partake more or less of the following soils : a black moor earth upon a clay, a sandy soil, in some places. intermixed with stones; and a light loam upon a grit rock. In some instances, as in the neighbourhood of Hackness, there is on the side of the hills a stiff loam upon limestone, and a deep sandy loam upon a whinstone; and in the bottom a light loam upon grave or freestone. The interior parts of the Eastern Moorlands present a bleak and dreary aspect, and little wood is to be seen, except in the dales or on the declivities of some of the more fertile of the hills. Passing into Cleveland, the country is lightly featured with hills, and the soil is generally clay; in some cases a clayey loam, and in others fine red sandy soil. The vale of York, more in the interior, is not confined within any determinate boundaries, but is rather marked out by the face of the country. This extensive vale has, from the river Tees, a general slope, though interrupted by some irregularities of surface, and some bold swells, as far as York, where it sinks into a perfect flat. The northern part a this tract has the Eastern Moorlands on one side, and the Western Moorlands on the other. The soil in that part of the vale of York which lies within the North Riding is described by Mr. Tuke, in his survey, to be of different degrees of fertility, and to be very differently composed; generally it is a clayey loam, and few parts of the country can excel this celebration vale in fertility.

The Western Moorlands differ greatly from those in the eastern part of the Riding. They are generally calcareous, and although their altitude is considerably higher, they are much more fertile than the Eastern Moorlands, which consist mainly of gritstone and free-stone rock. Many of the dales which intersect the western Moorlands are extremely fertile; of these Wensleydale may be ranked as the first, both in extend and fertility. On the south several small dales open into the dale of Wensley. The soil of this master dale, on the banks of the river, is generally a rich loamy gravel, and on the sides of the hills a clayey loam upon a substratum of limestone. Swaledale is a little inferior to Wensley in extent, though it call far short of it in beauty, but by some it is esteemed more romantic, and by all it must be admired. In fertility it is pretty much upon a par with its neighbour. The smaller dales, which are very numerous, are in general similar to these in appearance and production. Even the mountains here, some of which are of considerable altitude, as will be seen from the Map of the East and North Ridings, seldom exhibit marks of unconquerable sterility, but are many of them covered to their summits with the sweet grass, bent or rushes ....

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"Several Yorkshire road accidents were reported during the weekend, including one fatality. William Garner [51], farm labourer, Branton, near Doncaster, died in Doncaster Infirmary yesterday. While cycling on the Great North Road, near Rossington Bridge, he was knocked down by car and died shortly after admission to the Infirmary. Henry Bond [73], woolsorter, Whitefield Place, Bradford, was knocked down by a tramcar in Thornton Road, on Saturday night, and is detained at the Royal Infirmary suffering from a suspected fracture of the base of the skull. James Moore [19]. colliery worker, School Road, Langold, near Worksop, while cycling in Doncaster, near St. James' Bridge, yesterday, was involved in a collision with a motor-car, and was taken to Doncaster Infirmary suffering from shock and cuts on the face."
"Yorkshire Cyclst Killed"
Leeds Mercury : July 22nd 1934 Page 7