North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire was formed on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, and covers most of the lands of the historic North Riding, as well as the northern parts of the West Riding as well as northern and eastern East Riding and the former county borough of York.

York became a unitary authority independent of county authority on 1 April 1996.[8] Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and areas of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees south of the River Tees also became part of the county, having been part of Cleveland for twenty two years, from 1974 to 1996 and North Riding before that.

The two major rivers in the county are the River Swale and the River Ure. The Swale and the Ure form the River Ouse which flows through York and into the Humber Estuary. The River Tees forms part of the border between North Yorkshire and County Durham and flows from upper Teesdale through Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough and to the coast.

North Yorkshire contains a small section of green belt in the south of the county, just north of Ilkley and Otley along the North and West Yorkshire borders. It extends to the east to cover small communities such as Huby, Kirkby Overblow, and Follifoot before covering the gap between the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough, helping to keep those towns separate.

The belt meets with the Yorkshire Dales National Park at its southernmost extent, and also forms a border with the Nidderdale AONB. It extends into the western area of Selby district, reaching as far as Tadcaster and Balne. The belt was first drawn up from the 1950s.

The city of York has an independent surrounding belt area affording protections to several outlying settlements such as Haxby and Dunnington, and it too extends into the surrounding districts.

North Yorkshire has a temperate oceanic climate, like most of the UK. However, there are large climate variations within the county. The upper Pennines border on a Subarctic climate, whereas the Vale of Mowbray has an almost Semi-arid climate. Overall, with the county being situated in the east, it receives below-average rainfall for the UK, but the upper Dales of the Pennines are one of the wettest parts of England, where in contrast the driest parts of the Vale of Mowbray are some of the driest areas in the UK. Summer temperatures are above average, at 22 °C, but highs can regularly reach up to 28 °C, with over 30 °C reached in heat waves. Winter temperatures are below average, with average lows of 1 °C. Snow and Fog can be expected depending on location, with the North York Moors and Pennines having snow lying for an average of between 45 and 75 days per year.[10] Sunshine is most plentiful on the coast, receiving an average of 1650 hours a year, and reduces further west in the county, with the Pennines only receiving 1250 hours a year.

The non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire is administered by North Yorkshire County Council, a cabinet-style council.[13] The full council of 72 elects a council leader, who in turn appoints up to 9 more councillors to form the executive cabinet. The cabinet is responsible for making decisions in the non-metropolitan county. The county council has its offices in County Hall in Northallerton.

Scarborough Town Hall

The county is divided into a number of local governing districts of Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby.[14]

The Department for Communities and Local Government considered reorganising North Yorkshire County Council's administrative structure by abolishing the seven district councils and the county council to create a North Yorkshire unitary authority. The changes were planned to be implemented no later than 1 April 2009.[15][16] This was rejected on 25 July 2007 so the County Council and District Council structure remained.[17] In 2020 the government announced another structural review with the intention of implementing unitary local governance across all of North Yorkshire with an overarching elected executive mayor.[18]

Middlesbrough Town Hall

Parts of the county are administered independently of the county council, having their own unitary authorities: the City of York Council, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. Uniquely for England, the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is split between two counties: North Yorkshire and County Durham.

Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees are also located within the Tees Valley sub-region of North East England. York is a constituent of the Leeds City Region.[19][20]

Settlements in italics lie only within one of the four county unitary authorities.

Holy Trinity, Wensley, a 13th-century church built on eighth-century foundations

Some settlements of North Yorkshire, italics denote a place in one of the unitary authorities apart from settlements of Middlesbrough:

• Acomb, Alne, Ampleforth, Appleton-le-Moors, Appleton Wiske
• Bedale, Bishopthorpe, Bolton, Boroughbridge, Borrowby (Hambleton), Borrowby (Scarborough), Brompton (Hambleton), Brotton, Buckden
• Castleton, Catterick, Catterick Garrison, Cawood, Clapham, Conistone, Copmanthorpe
• Dalton (Hambleton), Dalton (Richmondshire), Danby Wiske, Drax, Dunnington
• Easby, Easingwold, Egton, Elvington, Eston, Ebberston
• Filey, Folkton, Flixton
• Giggleswick, Gilling East, Gilling West, Glasshouses, Goathland, Grangetown, Grassington, Great Ayton, Grosmont, Guisborough, Ganton, Glaisdale
• Harrogate, Hawes, Haxby, Hebden, Helmsley, High Bentham, Hornton, Hunmanby, Huntington, Hutton Rudby
• Ingleton, Ingleby Arncliffe, Ingleby Barwick, Ingleby Greenhow
• Kettlewell, Kilnsey, Kirkbymoorside, Knaresborough
• Leyburn
• Malham, Malton, Masham, Marske, Middleham, Middlesbrough, Middleton, Ryedale, Muston
• New Marske, Normanby, Northallerton, Norton, North Grimston,
• Osmotherley, Ormesby
• Pateley Bridge, Pickering
• Raskelf, Redcar, Reeth, Riccall, Richmond, Rievaulx, Rillington, Ripon, Robin Hood's Bay, Romanby
• Saltburn, Scagglethorpe, Scampston, Scarborough, Scorton, Selby, Settle, Sherburn, Sheriff Hutton, Shipton, Skelton (Redcar and Cleveland), Skelton (Richmondshire), Skelton (York), Skinningrove, Skipton, Sowerby, Stillington, Stokesley, Streetlam, Sutton, Swinton
• Tadcaster, Teesville, Thirsk, Thornaby
• Whale Hill, Wheldrake, Whitby, Westow, Wintringham
• Yarm, York, Yedingham

The East Coast Main Line (ECML) bisects the county stopping at Northallerton, Thirsk and York. Passenger services on the ECML within the county are operated by London North Eastern Railway, TransPennine Express and Grand Central. TransPennine Express run services on the York to Scarborough Line and the Northallerton–Eaglescliffe Line (for Middlesbrough) that both branch off the ECML.

Northern operate the remaining lines in the county, including commuter services on the Harrogate Line, Airedale Line and York & Selby Lines, of which the former two are covered by the Metro ticketing area. Remaining branch lines operated by Northern include the Yorkshire Coast Line from Scarborough to Hull, the Hull to York Line via Selby, the Tees Valley Line from Darlington to Saltburn and the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough to Whitby. Last but certainly not least, the Settle-Carlisle Line runs through the west of the county, with services again operated by Northern.

Current and former railway routes in eastern North Yorkshire

The county suffered badly under the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. Places such as Richmond, Ripon, Tadcaster, Helmsley, Pickering and the Wensleydale communities lost their passenger services. Notable lines closed were the Scarborough and Whitby Railway, Malton and Driffield Railway and the secondary main line between Northallerton and Harrogate via Ripon.

Heritage railways within North Yorkshire include: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, between Pickering and Grosmont, which opened in 1973; the Derwent Valley Light Railway near York; and the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. The Wensleydale Railway, which started operating in 2003, runs services between Leeming Bar and Redmire along a former freight-only line. The medium-term aim is to operate into Northallerton station on the ECML, once an agreement can be reached with Network Rail. In the longer term, the aim is to reinstate the full line west via Hawes to Garsdale on the Settle-Carlisle line.

York railway station is the largest station in the county, with 11 platforms and is a major tourist attraction in its own right. The station is immediately adjacent to the National Railway Museum.

The main road through the county is the north–south A1(M), which has gradually been upgraded in sections to motorway status since the early 1990s. The only other motorways within the county are the short A66(M) near Darlington and a small stretch of the M62 motorway close to Eggborough.[14] The other nationally maintained trunk routes are the A168/A19, A64, A66 and A174.

Coach and bus

Long-distance coach services are operated by National Express and Megabus. Local bus service operators include Arriva Yorkshire, Harrogate Bus Company, Scarborough & District (East Yorkshire Motor Services), Yorkshire Coastliner, First York and the local Dales & District.

There are no major airports in the county itself, but nearby airports include Teesside International (Darlington), Newcastle, Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield and Leeds Bradford.