Doncaster has always benefited from its location. It stands on the Great North Road, superseded by the A1, the primary route for all traffic from London to Edinburgh, and due to its strategic geographical importance it emerged as an industrial centre in the mid-nineteenth century. Beneath the town lies a huge coal seam and it was this that prompted Doncaster’s exponential population growth. In the early part of the twentieth century Doncaster became one of the largest coal-mining areas in ...

Wakefield city centre has undergone a complete makeover during the twentieth century, something that still continues today as it tries to come to terms with modern building regulations, commercial and consumer needs, and the requirements of the motorist. Dubbed the ‘Merrie City’ in the Middle Ages, the city has a long history as a prominent market town and epicentre for the wool trade. Wakefield then developed further in the eighteenth century, thanks to its links with the corn, coal minin...

The South Yorkshire town of Barnsley first described as ‘Berneslai’ in the Domesday Book has an illustrious history and has long been associated with the glass-making and coal-mining industries. There are no longer remnants of the previously ever-present Barnsley British Co-operative Society instrumental in aiding the area’s growth as a mining community. Much of the town centre was reconstructed in the 1960s and development continues to this day. Some attractive older buildings still survi...

The majority of South Yorkshire's twenty-first century residents are oblivious to the unique and fascinating Sand House that graced Doncaster from the mid-1850s until the Second World War. It was created by excavating the ground from around a massive block of sandstone and then hollowing out rooms within, in order to create a 40-metre-long, 12-metre-wide residence equipped with all the mod cons that a wealthy Victorian businessman would want. And yet there is nothing to be seen now of this...

This walk is one of twelve walks in John Wilks' Walks Through History - Birmingham series which contains twelve walks within the city. The whole book is available as an ebook or physical book or you could try this one out first. The book is a celebration of the beauty and poetry of the county. Each walk in this book has been chosen not only because it is a pleasant walk in its own right, but also because it goes past sites which reveal the rich and varied history of the county. Each walk i...

In 1963 Dr Beeching's infamous report signalled the end for over 15,000 miles of track, a third of Britain's stations, and for 70,000 jobs, as well as making irrevocable changes to the way of life of many consumers. Much misery was caused and Beeching's name was muddied, but in hindsight the report probably did more than any other single factor to preserve the nation's railway heritage. Without the Beeching cuts, much of the locomotives, stock, tracks, signals and signs wo...

For the last 150 years, every Londoner, tourist, and visitor uses the tube to explore and enjoy London. But behind the facade of ox-blood brick buildings and colourful diagrams lies a wealth of history and interesting facts. This book tests your knowledge in this area with 250 questions (and answers) about this incredible network.

Battersea has grown to be a fashionable and vibrant district of south-west London. Referred to as Patricesy in the Domesday Book, Battersea was historically best known for market gardening, providing fruit, vegetables and flowers for the City of London. However, the area moved from rural to urban with the coming of the railways, industry and large-scale housing from the 1840s, provoking a population growth from 4,000 to 120,000 by the beginning of the twentieth century. Glimpses of the pas...

The railway came to Oxfordshire during the 1840s, the core of the present-day local railway network being completed by 1853. Other lines were subsequently constructed and, despite some branch line closures during the 1960s, these Victorian railways are still serving the public during the first decades of the twenty-first century. Their longevity is a tribute to the energy and vision of the nineteenth-century entrepreneurs who brought the railway system into existence over 160 years ago. Th...

The railway network within Birmingham has long been important for the movement of passengers and freight to serve the centre and its suburbs, and as the road network around Birmingham has become more congested, the railways in the city have, once more, taken on an important role. As the network declined in the twentieth century, trains were regarded as shabby and also suffered from poor punctuality and stations became unkempt and many had no staff, although the majority of the network rema...

Merthyr Tydfil is a beautiful and historically fascinating area of Wales. Rich landscapes, scenery and heritage mark out this town, which was once the iron capital of the world. The rich industrial heritage forged by ironmasters and mining has left indelible marks on the surroundings, in the form of housing, historic buildings and areas of outstanding beauty. Some buildings still stand and some areas remain as they have always looked, but in a resilient town with pride in its heritage, the...

Belfast (Irish: Beal Feirste ‘mouth of the sandbank ford’) is the capital city of Northern Ireland. The site of Belfast has been described as ‘not built on a perfect site’ given that the original settlement was located on low-lying land on the Co. Antrim side of the River Lagan. It was during the Victorian period that wealthy business owners moved out of the old town and built grand villas on the hills surrounding the city. There are views of big houses, grand public buildings and churches...