West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire in the north of England is a landlocked county bordered by Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and North Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire has a population of around 3,300,000 people. The county town is Wakefield with other large populations at the city of Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Halifax and Batley.

The landscape of West Yorkshire contains the eastern Pennines, river valleys, moorland villages and large conurbations.

The history of West Yorkshire is a mixture of agriculture and industry. You can see the evidence of industrial history in the mill towns, whilst the coal mining, iron ore and woollen trades and the supporting infrastructure of canals, railways and roads are part of the fabric of the county.

Today the tourism industry is important to West Yorkshire with thousands of visitors enjoying the blend of scenery, history, regenerated areas, and numerous activities.

West Yorkshire is readily accessible by road – the M1 and A1(M) run through the county from north to south, whilst the M62 traverses the Pennines linking West Yorkshire to Manchester.

The county is well served by train with Leeds one of the busiest stations in the country facilitating main line trains from London – the fastest in under 2 hours and Scotland.