I honestly can’t believe I haven’t written something about this before! As a marketing and PR tool, having your own ‘day’ is second to none.
And there are so, so many of them. Not that Yorkshire really needs a ‘day’ of course… every day is a day to celebrate Yorkshire.
Yorkshire Day has been around since 1975, the year after local government reforms swept away the ancien regime of shire counties… which have all been re-created or otherwise celebrated in the 40-plus years since.
‘Yorkshire’ is generally agreed to have started in 875, so the year below changes every year. The Declaration should also be read out at that time, so at 11:43 in 2018. Quite what happens in 17 years when we reach 11:60 I’ve no idea.
Declaration of Integrity
I, Gary Taylor1, being resident in the West Riding of Yorkshire2 declare:
That Yorkshire is three Ridings & the City of York with these boundaries of 11433 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 Yorkshire men 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 2018. God Save the Queen!