Yorkshire Day at York Saturday 1st August 2015

Members of the Yorkshire Ridings Society (YRS) will meet at Micklegate Bar at 11.15 am to lead the 39th annual walk around the ‘Bar Walls’ of York carrying the Yorkshire flag.

The Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity will be read at the 4 Bars (Gates) starting at Micklegate Bar (West Riding) 11.40 followed by Bootham Bar (North Riding) Monk Bar (City) and Walmgate Bar (East Riding).

The time 11.40 am for the first reading coincides with the number of years since the first written reference to the Ridings of York in the Anglo Saxon Chronicles. Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity will be read in the four languages used in the area since that time. Latin, Old Norse, Old English, and Modern English.

The ceremonial party then moves on to St Helen’s Square for an afternoon of entertainment in cooperation with York City Council. The Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity in Modern English will be read at 1pm and there will be a reading of Doreen Brigham’s popular poem A Song for Yorkshire by Mrs Judith Preston Anderson, President of YRS and YRS York member Mr Peter Hindle (pictured above at Walmgate Bar).

The Yorkshire Flag presented to the City of York by the Yorkshire Ridings Society after it was
registered by them in 2008 will be flown from the Mansion House on Yorkshire Day.

Fun for all on Yorkshire Day in Redcar

Yorkshire Day (1st August) this year falls on a Saturday and organisers are hoping for a bumper turnout on the day for the celebrations, which take place at the Redcar town clock on the High Street from 10 am.

Leading the proceedings as usual will be actor Chris Foote-Wood who will read the Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity (a statement of allegiance to Yorkshire) at 11.40 am. This equates to 1140 years since the first written reference to Yorkshire appeared in the Anglo Saxon Chronicles of 876.

Chris, who turns up as a different character each year, is pictured as this year’s character, Samuel Plimsoll "The Sailors' Friend" who is said to have been inspired to invent the Plimsoll Line, a safety mark for loading ships, in 1876, while staying in a house on Redcar High Street and now marked by a blue plaque. There will be stalls and other attractions for all the family.

Latex white roses are sold, price £1, for people to wear on Yorkshire Day and all proceeds will be shared between Redcar Lifeboat and Zetland Lifeboat Museum.

Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity 2015

"I, Chris Foote-Wood standing here in the North Riding of Yorkshire declare:

That Yorkshire is three Ridings and the City of York, with these Boundaries of 1140 years standing; 

That the address of all places in these Ridings is Yorkshire; 

That all persons born therein or resident therein and loyal to the Ridings are Yorkshiremen and women; 

That any person or corporate body which deliberately ignores or denies the aforementioned shall forfeit all claim to Yorkshire status. 

These declarations made this Yorkshire Day 2015.

Yorkshire forever,

 God Save the Queen!”