Yorkshire Society
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The Yorkshire Society is a non-political organisation founded in December 1980 to encourage people born, working or living in the County of Yorkshire to join to help improve several aspects of the area. The patron of the Yorkshire Society is the Duke of York.
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[edit] Goals
- To improve the beauty, attraction and amenities in the Yorkshire countryside, towns, villages, historic houses and monuments of all kinds by encouraging and assisting local branches of the Society to prepare, fund and carry through projects in their own areas.
- Working with other established organisations in their efforts to generate and promote tourism in the County.
- Supporting efforts to study and solve some of the industrial, commercial and unemployment problems in the area.
- Drawing together in fellowship Yorkshire folk by mounting regional and local events and providing a forum for discussion and debate.
[edit] Charitable Works
The Yorkshire Awards, held in Autumn each year, generate substantial funds for many charities.
The Society co-sponsors the annual Yorkshire Awards alongside Yorkshire Television, Joshua Tetley, Asda, Aon, Bain Hogg, Yorkshire Electricity and the Yorkshire Bank.
The Society's award category is the Yorkshire Lifetime Achievement Award. To date recipients have included Lawrence Batley, Ken Morrison, Victor Watson, Lord Harewood, Roy Mason, Baron Mason of Barnsley, Professor Tom Kilburn, and Brian Rix, Lord Rix.
[edit] Commemorating Yorkshire History
The erecting of Yorkshire Rose plaques to mark the contributions of famous Yorkshire men and women.
To date plaques have commemorated:
- Percy Shaw, inventor of cats eyes
- Thomas Spencer, joint founder of Marks & Spencer
- Henry Moore, Sculptor
- Christopher Saxton, Cartographer to Queen Elizabeth I of England
- The former Lord St. Oswald, first ever Vice President of the Society
- Colonel North, for granting Kirkstall Abbey and grounds to the people
- Viscount Herbert Henry Asquith, former Prime Minister
- Sir Donald Bailey, inventor of the Bailey Bridge
- Herbert Smith, aircraft designer
- Benjamin Latrobe, architect of the United States Capitol, Washington DC
- Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, former Prime Minister
- Benjamin Shaw, 'shoddy' manufacturer
- Sir Martin Frobisher, explorer
- Kit Calvert, "saviour of Wensleydale cheese" (turned the Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes into a farmers' cooperative when it was threatened with closure in the 1930s)
[edit] Yorkshire Day
The Yorkshire Society also convenes the civic celebration of Yorkshire Day, which is held on the 1st of August each year.
[edit] External links
- Page about the Yorkshire Society and Yorkshire Day 2004
- Official homepage of the Yorkshire Society (lots of Flash, little content)
