WAKEFIELD

'Wakefield' is a city by the River Calder, in the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England.
Its population was 76,886 in 2001, of which 1,657 were prisoners. The city's boundaries are subject to a wide range of definitions,^[1] and it is not clear what definition the census was using in its calculations.
Wakefield was dubbed the "Merrie City" in the Middle Ages.

Contents

Etymology

History

Recent history

Transport

Prisons

Culture

Music

Famous songs regarding Wakefield

Sport

Media

Museums and the arts

Parks and historical sites

Festivals

Night Life

Development

City Centre

Pontefract

Castleford

Famous people born in or near Wakefield

Sister cities

Trivia

Location Grid

References

External links

Etymology

The name "Wakefield" is often said to derive from "Wacca's field" - the field belonging to Wacca. However, it is more likely to have evolved from Old English ''wacu'', meaning "a watch or wake", and ''feld'', an open field in which a wake was held.^[2] In the Domesday Book of 1086, it was listed as Wachefeld.^[3]

History

In 1460, during the Wars of the Roses, the Duke of York was defeated near the city (then a town) in the Battle of Wakefield at Sandal Castle. The ruins of the castle can still be visited, and are a popular walking spot for locals.
Wakefield was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1848 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.
Wakefield Cathedral is a 14th century parish church, which was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century. There is also a 14th century Chantry Chapel, one of only four remaining in England.^[4] The chapel tops a buttress on a bridge over the River Calder.

The town was a centre for cloth dealing and had its own Piece Hall. For much of the 18th and 19th century, Wakefield had an unusually diverse economy for Yorkshire, but it was a much smaller town during that period. Textile mills grouped around the River Calder, and a large glass works in the east of the city was a large employer. There were several collieries around the outskirts of the town, and engineering works in the centre that had strong links to mining. The Eastmoor area was once home to large brickyards. Its position as the seat of local government for the West Riding also provided many local jobs in the councils, courts and prison.
In the early 20th century, large areas of council housing were built on the fields that surrounded the town, and the formerly independent villages of Sandal Magna, Belle Vue and Agbrigg became suburbs of Wakefield. As many of the new council estates depended on the expansion of coal-mining for their employment, the National Coal Board eventually became Wakefield's largest employer. The city was also surrounded by pit villages, but also by the old mill towns of Batley, Dewsbury and Ossett to the west.
Wakefield is known as the capital of the Rhubarb Triangle, an area famous for its early forced rhubarb. Wakefield is one of the points of the triangular area with the neighbouring towns of Morley and Rothwell as the other two. In July 2005 a statue was erected to celebrate this facet of Wakefield.

Recent history

As with most industrial areas, Wakefield suffered many years of decline. The glass and textile industries faded out in the 1970s and 1980s. Margaret Thatcher's contraction of the coal industry began with a particular focus on Wakefield: all six pits within a two mile radius of the centre were closed between 1979 and 1983. By the time of the 1984 Miners' Strike, there were still 15 pits in the rest of the district, and demonstrations in support of the strike frequently took place in the city. The city suffered a double blow through the closure of local pits and the abolition of West Yorkshire County Council, which had been based in Wakefield; many local people had been employed in administration ever since the establishment of the old West Riding council. The city long remained a depressed area, but fortunes have risen recently and unemployment is now around the national average.

Transport

There are two railway stations in the city centre, Wakefield Westgate (trains mainly to Leeds, Doncaster, Sheffield and stations on the East Coast Mainline, including the terminus at London King's Cross) and Wakefield Kirkgate (trains to Barnsley, Meadowhall, Sheffield, Normanton, Pontefract, Knottingley, Leeds and Castleford) - as well as the "Sandal & Agbrigg" station on the East Coast Mainline, just to the south of the main Westgate station. Wakefield Westgate station is maintained by Great North Eastern Railways (GNER), who operate the Leeds-London service, and is manned with facilities such as secure car parking, ticket office and shops. In contrast, Wakefield Kirkgate station is unmanned, and there is no ticket office or machine. Most of the windows at the front of the station are boarded-up, and the pub opposite, "The Wakefield Arms", has stood derelict for the last 3 years [1]. Kirkgate station is operated by Northern Rail. A second service to London is provided by Midland Mainline who's trains run via Leicester and into St Pancras, soon to be International station.
Following the success of the FreeCityBus in Leeds, and the FreeTownBus in Huddersfield, a six month trial of a zero-fare Wakefield FreeCityBus scheme began on 23rd April 2007.^[5] The route connects key locations in the city including the bus station, railway stations, retail parks and shopping areas. The service runs every 10 minutes between 7:30am to 7:00pm, Monday to Friday and 8:30am to 5:00pm on Saturdays. Four hundred and fifty passengers used the service on its first running day.^[6]

Prisons

Wakefield is less celebrated, but nevertheless well known, for its prisons.
Wakefield Prison is a maximum security prison, one of the most secure in Britain, and has included many notorious inmates including Ian Huntley, Harold Shipman and Charles Bronson. Wakefield was originally built as a house of correction in 1594. The former governor R.S. Duncan has suggested that the well know nursery rhyme “here we go round the mulberry bush” finds its origins at the prison. During its days as a female prison, the women convicts would supposedly take their children on exercise with them and sing the now well-known tune. The original tree is claimed to be still there today. The current prison was designated a dispersal prison in 1966 (longest of remaining original group). It is now a lifer main centre with the focus on serious sex offenders. The current governor is David R. Thompson, Director-General elect of Her Majesty's Prison Service.
The nearby HMP New Hall is a multi-use prison for women, young female offenders and girls on Detention and Training Orders (DTOs).
==Social Housing==
In 2004, Wakefield's council tenants voted to transfer the entire council housing stock to a new registered social landlord (a registered charity called Wakefield and District Housing (WDH)^[7]), although the properties concerned are still often referred to as "council houses". Wakefield itself contains seven ex-council estates. The city's largest estate is Lupset, in the west; the others are Flanshaw, Plumpton, Peacock, Eastmoor, Portobello [known affectionately as "bella"] and Kettlethorpe.
WDH are working with partners such as WDMC, to invest over £700m regenerating the District and improving the houses. Improvements have been taking place since 2005 and to date over £150m has been spent improving homes. In addition WDH has recently (AUG 2007) completed the first of a programme of new Social Housing. These are located at Chiltern Avenue in Whitwood.
WDH is building a reputation for excellent customer care, with the latest survey reporting 83% of tenants satisfied with the service being provided and 79% believing the services provided offer value for money.

Culture

Music

Jane McDonald was the most celebrated Wakefield born contributor to the music industry, until recently when indie punk band The Cribs came along in 2003 and had a large cultural impact on the UK indie scene, with their first 2 records paving the way for the recent Yorkshire renaissance in indie rock music, and becoming arguably one of the most influential indie rock bands of recent memory. Jane regularly mentions Wakefield, when acting as a panellist on ITV1's Loose Women, for various reasons, usually when talking about her childhood.
Indie punk band The Cribs are from Wakefield.
Tim Booth, Lead singer of Manchester band James was born in Wakefield in 1960.
The following went to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield:

★ Kenneth Leighton, classical and Anglican church music composer.

★ John Scott, famous choirmaster and organist.
The '''Wakefield Cathedral Choir''' consists of boys, girls and men who perform at religious services, concerts and recitals at the cathedral. Choral Evensong with the boys is on Tuesdays and on Thursdays the boys are joined by the men. The girls perform Evensong on Friday evenings and Parish Eucharist on Sunday mornings. The boys and men also sing at Solemn Eucharist and Evensong on Sundays.
The choir, directed by Jonathan Bielby assisted by Thomas Moore, is one of the most successful cathedral choirs in the UK, but paradoxically has also been described by many as 'Wakefield's best kept secret'. The choir have had appearances on BBC 1's 'Songs of Praise' and BBC Radio 3's 'Choral Evensong'.

Famous songs regarding Wakefield

★ "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" - "may have begun life as a song or chant by inmates of Wakefield prison"^[8]

★ "The Grand Old Duke of York" - commonly attributed to be written about the battle of Wakefield, referring to Richard, the Grand Old Duke (of York).

★ I've Tried Everything, a track from The Cribs' third album, Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever is about growing up in Wakefield

Sport

Wakefield is known for its rugby league club, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. Formed in 1873, the club has had a chequered history, with their glory period in the 1960s with Neil Fox, Derek 'Rocky' Turner, Keith Holliday and Harold Poynton under coach Ken Traill.
They now play in the elite Super League division of the sport.
Playing as the Wildcats, Wakefield's best season was in 2004 when they reached the Super League playoffs defeating Hull F.C and narrowly losing to Wigan Warriors.
Wakefield RFC was the city's rugby union club from 1901 to 2004 when the club ceased playing after relegation and lack of funding.
Wakefield F.C. play their football in the Unibond League First Division after their move from the village of Emley in 2001. They played at Belle Vue as tenants of Trinity until the end of the 2005/6 season following their relegation. They have moved to College Grove for the start of the 2006/7 season.
Cricket and amateur rugby league are played in many of the villages around the city.
One other notable team was skater hockey's Wakefield Warriors, which during their short life, were crowned British and European Champions.
Recently Swimming has become successful in Wakefield with two current senior international swimmers Ian Perrell and Rachel Jack living in the Wakefield area.

Media

Wakefield has its own newspapers, the Wakefield Express, the Wakefield Guardian, and radio station Ridings FM.
The film, "This Sporting Life (1963)" is set in Wakefield and depicts the hard realities of the mines and Rugby League. It was directed by Lindsay Anderson, written by David Storey and starred Richard Harris. Many of the images of the city centre are very different from how it is today, yet the Belle Vue area, which surrounds the rugby ground, has not changed nearly as much. The film is now something of a relic; it is not closely identified with Wakefield in the way that, say, ''Kes'' is with Barnsley, ''The Full Monty'' is with Sheffield or ''Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' is with Bradford.
In June 2005 Wakefield was the scene of the television programme Most Haunted, who hosted a summer solstice special in various locations around the city, including Wakefield Opera House. During the course of the show they attempted to contact the spirit of James Ellison, a former city councilman.

Museums and the arts

Wakefield city-centre is host to a small art gallery and a museum. Both the National Coal Mining Museum for England (an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage) and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, one of Europe's foremost sculpture parks, are situated nearby.
The Wakefield Theatre Royal and Opera House hosts a variety of performing arts.
Wakefield is also known for the Wakefield Cycle, a collection of 32 mystery plays, dating from the 14th century, which were performed as part of the summertime religious festival of Corpus Christi and revived in recent times.

Parks and historical sites

★ Pugneys Country Park offers non-powered watersports and a nature reserve

★ The ruins of Sandal Castle

★ The National Coal Mining Museum

★ Walton Hall is set in what was the world's first nature reserve, created by the explorer Charles Waterton

★ Yorkshire Sculpture Park

★ Wakefield Cathedral

★ There is an art gallery and a museum, and a Barbara Hepworth gallery is being built as part of the rejuvenation of the waterfront by the city centre

★ Nostell Priory (stately home)

★ Anglers Country Park and the Heronry

★ Thornes Park

Festivals

Wakefield hosts an annual Rhubarb Festival to celebrate its historical association as a grower of the plant and consists of various themed tours, talks, exhibitions and markets.
Clarence Park Festival is held anually in Thornes Park playing free live music for the 16th time this year.
There is also a large scale music in the works with the hopes of hosting big acts.

Night Life

The area of Westgate was historically held to have the largest number of adjacent pubs in England. The famous Westgate Run attracts drinkers from across the region. One of the many traditions generally associated with the famous pub crawl is the compulsory downing of a pint of cider at the Smiths Arms pub, generally in the pub car park.

Development

Many developments have been announced involving Wakefield since 2006, all of them will bring Wakefield City Centre into line with some of the best shopping areas in Northern England, with only Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle proving better.

City Centre

★ Trinity Walk - A £175m development of the south-east Wakefield city centre. The original market hall and streets will be demolished and rebuilt. H&M, Sainsburys, Next, New Look & Debenhams have all announced they are taking part in the development.

★ Waterfront Wakefield - £150m Development of the Old Fernandes brewery in Kirkgate. The development will see new retail and industrial units built alongside the Hepworth Gallery, a art gallery built to honour the designs of Barbara Hepworth

★ Westgate Station - A regeneration of the station by GNER moving the station down the railway line, extending the platform and building a new hotel.

★ Westgate Key Development Area - The current station and goods yard will be converted into a retail and commercial hotspot.

★ Marsh Way - Part of the Trinity Walk development, the Wakefield By-Pass or Marsh Way is being re-routed to accommodate Trinity Walk, phase one due to start late September 2007

★ Calder Wharf - Adjacent to the development at Wakefield Waterside, the Calder Wharf is regenerating Calder Island alongside Howerth Timber. Phase one is completed and Calder Wharf Flats were completed in February 2007. Phase Two including Office blocks begins in 2008.

★ ABC Cinema Flats - The original ABC cinema which closed in 1997 has been given a new lease of life and a £13.5m redevelopment converting the cinema into flats.

★ Ridings Shopping Centre - Owners of the centre (Moorfield Real Estate Fund) have announced they are spending several million on revamping the ageing city centre shopping mall by replacing the current doors with a glass front.

★ Community Stadium - Still in the planning stages, the new stadium is the replacement to the old Belle Vue ground the home of the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. The stadium is planned to be built in place of the current Thornes College in Thornes Park. The design is somewhat similar to that of Doncaster's new Keepmoat Stadium.

Pontefract

★ Pontefract GI - Pontefract hospital has embarked on a £311m redevelopment which will also see Wakefields Pinderfields hospital rebuilt, Pontefract Will re-open in 2009 and Pinderfields in 2010, the original hospitals are still open during redevelopment

★ NEW College - Pontefract NEW College is continuously redeveloping to keep it in the top 10% of colleges in the UK.

Castleford

★ Tigers Stadium - The replacement of the Castleford Tigers Stadium has begun in Glasshouten, in which a new hotel, offices and stadium will be built along side the current Xscape complex in Freeport.

★ THE CASTLEFORD PROJECT - A regeneration of Castleford town and the area has begun supported by Wakefield Met Council, C4 Television & Yorkshire Forward.

Famous people born in or near Wakefield

★ Jane McDonald - Singer and television personality

★ Tim Booth - Lead singer for the alternative rock band James

★ Andrew Burt - Actor

★ John Carr - Architect

★ Janet Davies - Actress

★ Jean Fergusson - Actress

★ Helen Fielding - Author, best known for "Bridget Jones Diary" and sequel "The Edge Of Reason"

★ Martin Frobisher - Explorer, found the North-west Passage

★ Noel Gay - Popular composer

★ George Gissing - Novelist and misanthrope

★ John George Haigh - 1940s serial killer known as the Acid Bath Murderer

★ John Harrison - Clockmaker, the genius who solved the longitudinal problem, leading to Sea Power & GMT

★ John Healey - Politician and the present Financial Secretary to the Treasury

★ Barbara Hepworth - Sculptor

★ David Hope - Former Archbishop of York

★ Ryan Jarman, Gary Jarman and Ross Jarman - Indie band The Cribs

★ Kenneth Leighton - Composer

★ Johnny Longden - Champion jockey, founder of Jockey's Guild

★ Anne Elizabeth McCormick - Journalist, first woman to win the Pulitzer prize

★ David Mercer - Playwright

★ Emily Freeman - British female athlete, 100m & 200m.

★ Henry Moore - Sculptor

★ Bill Nelson - Guitarist, songwriter, painter, and founder of 70s progressive rock band Be Bop Deluxe

★ Jonty Parkin - Former rugby league player and England captain

★ Denis Parkinson - Motor Cycle Grand Prix winner and commentator

★ Dave Penney - Former Manager of Doncaster Rovers FC now Manager of Darlington FC

★ Carolyn Pickles - Actress, great niece of Wilfred Pickles

★ John Radcliffe - Scientist and founder of the eponymous library in Oxford

★ Adele Stevens - Erotica Model

★ Richard Stoker - Composer

★ Jonathan M. Stone - 2006 national president of Junior Chamber International (JCI) United Kingdom (formerly known as British Junior Chamber of Commerce)

★ David Storey - Novelist and playwright

★ Paul Sykes - Boxer

★ Mike Tindall - England and Gloucester Rugby Union player

★ David R Thompson - Currently governor of Wakefield Prison

★ Robert Ullathorne - Former Premiership footballer with Norwich City, Leicester City

★ Charles Waterton - Naturalist

★ Jane Tomlinson - Athlete and Cancer Charity Fundraiser

Sister cities

★ Castres, France

★ Hénin-Beaumont, France

★ Herne, Germany

★ Belgorod, Russia

★ Konin, Poland

Trivia

★ Cheapside is the longest continuous street of woolstaplers' warehouses in England.

★ The Vicar of Wakefield, protagonist of the influential novel of that name by Oliver Goldsmith, lives there in the first chapters.

★ The Big Brother 2007 contestant Chanelle Hayes is from a village, Middlestown, in Wakefield.

Location Grid

References

1. Map of Historical Boundaries
2. The origin of English place-names (corrected 3rd pr.), , P.H., Reaney, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964,
3. A dictionary of English place-names (2nd ed.), , A.D., Mills, Oxford University Press, 1998,
4. http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/bridgechapels/bridgechapels.htm
5. Wakefield FreeCityBus due for April 2007
6. Four hundred and fifty passengers used Wakefield FreeCityBus on first day
7. Wakefield and District Housing - About WDH
8. The story of Wakefield Prison & the origin of a nursery rhyme

External links

★ City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council

★ '''first''' Wakefield District Development Agency

★ Wakefield - The Merrie City

★ Wakefield - Polish Forum (Forum Polaków z Wakefield i okolic w Wielkiej Brytani