South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire in the north of England is a landlocked county surrounded by the counties of Derbyshire, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

South Yorkshire has a population of around 1,400,000 people. The county town is Barnsley with other large populations at the steel city of Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham.

The landscape of South Yorkshire is a rolling landscape of hills, moorland and valleys filled with flowing streams bearing the fading scars of the mining and steel industries against a backdrop of the Pennines and Peak District National Park.

South Yorkshire wasn’t officially created until 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act of 1972, though the history of the area dates back to at least 8000 BC.

Industry has a left a heavy footprint on the history of South Yorkshire with coal mining, iron ore extraction and the steel industry benefitting from the county’s rivers the main powerhouse of the area. The county’s industrial past remains visible today and helps to support a tourist industry with a number of heritage attractions.

South Yorkshire is readily accessible by road – the M1 and A1(M) run through the county from north to south, whilst the A623 crosses the Peak District National Park to Manchester.

The county is well served by train with both East Midlands Trains and Virgin operating services from London St. Pancras and Kings Cross respectively to Sheffield.