The Berkeley Guides:
Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
Yorkshire
By Irene J. Nexica
Once the largest county in Great Britain, Yorkshire was divided in the mid-'70s for administrative purposes. York plays a major role in the north as a tourist magnet, thanks to its multifaceted past and enormous Minster (cathedral), while Leeds is the most important city in the west. Yorkshire comprises a wide variety of landscapes--from the river valleys cut with limestone known as the Yorkshire Dales, to the dark-bracken-and-heather-covered North York Moors, all dotted with stone walls and buildings that have endured for centuries. Throughout the dales and moors are innumerable sheep. Sometimes the only animals that could be raised due to the area's soil, sheep formed the basis of a farming industry that spun itself into the woolen and textile industry, especially in west Yorkshire.
|
