The West Yorkshire city of Wakefield sits on the eastern edge of the pennines, next to the river Calder. In the middle ages,
the county town was known as the 'Merrie City', and it's plentiful trade routes meant it quickly became a successful market
town and inland trading port. Not so many of it's modern day 77,500 inhabitants are still in the wool, grain and coal exporting
business, however.
By the industrial revolution, Wakefield had become a wealthy inland trading port through exporting wool and grain.
Once the site of a decisive clash in the War of the Roses (the battle of wakefield), the city is now a more harmonious place, home
to over 77,500 yorkshiremen and women. Today, the city's cultural heritage lives on through a wealth of museums and galleries,
and is the beating heart of the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle.
Today, Wakefield's economy is primarily driven by tourism, and through the strong sports and arts scene.
The city is home to two of the country's top Rugby League sides; wakefield trinity and the castleford tigers. It's potentially
the regions favourite past time, so it's well worth catching a game if you've got the time.
In recent times the city has really pushed on in a cultural sense, with a lot of money invested in an art's led regeneration
of sorts. With both the hepworth museum of contemporary art and sculpture and being the heart of the yorkshire culture triangle.
This gives those impassioned with architecture two of the Nation's best attractions, which serves as more than just a salve for
the overall lack of beauty in the city itself.
Wakefield has a good range of activities for those looking to move to the historic county town, the rough and tumble of the
cities beloved rugby league teams balanced perfectly against the local art scene. With a bit of forward planning, a move can
be completed as smoothly as the curves of a contemporary sculpture in the hepworth museum.
Pivotal in the battle of Wakefield and the setting of a Shakespearean scene, the ruins are now a top visitor attraction.
Gives visitors the chance to delve deep into one of the UK's oldest working coal mines, and take part in varied exhibitions and events.
A gallery for both art, sculpture and architecture, it's been described as one of the best contemporary art museums in Europe.
There's all manner of events on at the UK's leading open air gallery; it's well worth checking the online calendar.
The city is home to 2 of the UK's super league clubs, so why not catch 80 minutes of West Yorkshire's favourite contact sport (bonus points if you manage to catch the hotly contested derby).
As mentioned previously, In times past Wakefield was a wealthy, well connected market town, enjoying the riches exporting coal, textiles and grain brought. However, after the closure of the coal mines in the latter quarter of the 19th century-and the decline of other traditional manufacturing industries-unemployment was high until the early 2000's, which saw the economy begin to recover, and the government invest in regenerating the area. There is also a lot of firms offering removals Wakefield, also tens of Wakefield man and van firms operating in the town. You should easily find help in case you are moving from or moving to Wakefield. Regardless the type of the removal companies you are looking for, you can compare removals quotes via our website. It's free!
As an old market town, the city of Wakefield still has many traditional watering holes in which thirsty tourists can find a local
pint of ale and a cosy spot to read the paper. For those looking for a slightly more upbeat evening of entertainment, the city has
an array of modern bars and nightclubs open til the early hours.
While some may be tempted to travel to nearby Leeds or Manchester, with both Trinity Walk and The Ridings shopping centres in the
city, locals and tourists alike can still scratch their shopping itch without navigating a motorway. The Trinity Walk shopping
centre was one of the major regeneration projects in the city, opening in 2011 and giving the city new department stores, high
street fashion and independent shop units. The council went on to refurbish the older Ridings shopping centre, too, making
Wakefield's shoppers spoiled for choice.
Between Sandal castle and Yorkshire Sculpture park Wakefield has both historical interest and contemporary art to absorb,
so there's plenty to see for the culture vultures visiting the city.
Sandal Castle, now found in the suburbs of the city, was first built out of timber in the early 1100's, with stone
fortifications thought to have been added late in the latter half of the century. Richard Plantegenet and his army were
out numbered and overcome by Queen Margaret's army during the War of the Roses, ad the castle provides the backdrop for
Shakespeare's Henry VI Part 3. Today, visitors are welcomed to wander around the grounds taking in the ruins themselves,
or enjoy a guided tour.
The Hepworth gallery and Yorkshire sculpture park both reside within Wakefields limits, and make up half of the venues
in the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle. The latter is the largest open air gallery in the UK, spread over 500 acres of
parkland, there's even a kennel block if you fancy taking your canine companion along. It's not all green grass and
wind in your hair, though, as the park also include five indoor galleries, all of which enjoy a varied calendar of
exhibitions throughout the year.
Just 20 minutes drive from Leeds, and about an hour's drive from Manchester, Stockport, Sheffield or Wakefield seems like a small city flanked by metropolitan centres with much more to offer: this is not the case. The sculpture park and Hepworth gallery are like nothing that can be found in Manchester, and indeed the city offers different historical intrigue than Manchester or Leeds. Perhaps not the most obvious northern city to visit, but Wakefield is well worth seeing all the same.
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