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Trolleybuses in Leeds

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44-652: The Leeds trolleybus system served the West Riding of Yorkshire city of Leeds in England between 1911 and 1928. In May 2016, plans to construct a new system, the New Generation Transport (NGT) project, were refused approval from the UK Department for Transport , following a negative report from the planning inquiry. The original system was one of the first two trolleybus systems in

88-521: A Mesolithic "house" (a circle of stones in the shape of a hut-base) dating to around 8000 BC, found at Deepcar , in the northern part of Sheffield. Evidence of even earlier inhabitation in the wider region exists about 3 miles (5 km) over the county boundary at Creswell Crags in Derbyshire , where artefacts and rock art found in caves have been dated by archaeologists to the late Upper Palaeolithic period, at least 12,800 years ago. The region

132-690: A county; rural districts , Urban districts and municipal boroughs were under the administrative county while county boroughs were in the wider geographic county. The term "West Riding" continues to be used by organisations based in the historic area of the riding, such as the West Riding Sailing Club, the Ramblers , the West Riding County Football Association , and the Freemasons . It

176-622: A large rural area to the north including part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (the remainder of the park being in the North Riding). The subdivision of Yorkshire into three ridings or "thirds" ( Old Norse : Þriðungr ) is of Scandinavian origin. The West Riding was first recorded (in the form West Treding ) in the Domesday Book of 1086. Unlike most English counties, Yorkshire, being so large,

220-435: A population of 1,402,918. The largest settlements after Sheffield (556,500) are the city of Doncaster (113,566), Rotherham (109,697), and Barnsley (96,888). The east and west of the county are more rural. The county is governed by four metropolitan boroughs : Barnsley , City of Doncaster , Rotherham , and City of Sheffield . They collaborate through South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority . South Yorkshire lies on

264-447: A rolling landscape with hills, escarpments and broad valleys. In this landscape, there is widespread evidence of both current and former industrial activity. There are numerous mine buildings, former spoil heaps and iron and steel plants. The scenery is a mixture of built up areas, industrial land with some dereliction, and farmed open country. Ribbon developments along transport routes including canal, road and rail are prominent features of

308-602: A section of the city centre loop linking these two lines. The government did not approve funding for the East Route or a full city centre loop. The DfT approved the Holt Park - Stourton route on 5 July 2012. The planned scheme was subject to a public Inquiry in 2014. Following a negative report from the public Inquiry, the proposed scheme was cancelled in May 2016. West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire

352-545: Is also retained in the name of some British Army squadrons, such as the 106 (West Riding) Field Squadron, and some historical re-enactment groups. A flag designed to represent the West Riding was registered with the Flag Institute charity in 2013. 53°52′N 1°09′W  /  53.86°N 1.15°W  / 53.86; -1.15 South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in

396-632: Is the only county that counts as a full region in the Spiritualists' National Union . The Local Government Commission for England presented draft recommendations, in December 1965, proposing a new county—York and North Midlands—roughly centred on the southern part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and northern parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The review was abolished in favour of the Royal Commission on Local Government before it

440-729: The Dearne Valley which covers Barnsley and surrounding area; the Sheffield urban area which covers Sheffield, Rotherham and surrounding area; and the Doncaster urban area which covers Doncaster and surrounding area. The South Yorkshire County Council was abolished and its districts effectively became unitary authorities; they are the City of Sheffield , the City of Doncaster , the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and

484-640: The East Riding of Yorkshire , Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire . The terrain of the county is mostly distinguished by the Pennines and its foothills which rise in the west of the county and gradually descend into the Humberhead Levels in the east of the county. Geologically, the county lies largely on the carboniferous rocks of the Yorkshire coalfield in the outer Pennine fringes, producing

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528-516: The Local Government Act 1888 , and covered the historic West Riding except for the larger urban areas, which were county boroughs with the powers of both a municipal borough and a county council . Initially there were five in number: Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, and Sheffield. The City of York (also a county borough) was included in the county for census and lieutenancy purposes. The number of county boroughs increased over

572-451: The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham . In 1986, throughout England the metropolitan county councils were abolished. The ceremonial county with a Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire and a High Sheriff was retained. The county remains defined as metropolitan , functions of the county council devolved to the boroughs with many functions administered by joint authorities (such a passenger transport executive ) containing representatives of

616-587: The United Kingdom , along with Bradford . Both systems commenced operation on 20 June 1911, but public service in Bradford did not start until four days later. The Leeds system had three routes, and closed on 26 July 1928. The original Leeds route, operated by Leeds Tramways, was from City Square to Moor Top via Lower Wortley and Farnley . The route was launched at Thirsk Row, off Wellington Street on 20 June 1911. The first of two buses to set off on

660-462: The Yorkshire and the Humber region of England . It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire to the east, Nottinghamshire to the south-east, and Derbyshire to the south and west. The largest settlement is the city of Sheffield . The county is largely urban, with an area of 1,552 km (599 sq mi) and

704-516: The Dark Peak and Yorkshire coalfield are distinguished by many steep valleys, and a transition from uplands and rural landscape to lowlands and urban landscape towards the east of the county. Major rivers which cross the area are the Dearne , Rother and Don . To the east, in the Doncaster area the landscape becomes flatter as the eastward dipping carboniferous rocks of the coalfield are overlain by

748-739: The Labour government in February 1970. Although the Redcliffe-Maud Report was rejected by the Conservative government after the 1970 general election , there was a commitment to local government reform, and the idea of a metropolitan county of South Yorkshire. The Local Government Act 1972 reformed local government in England by creating a system of two-tier metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties and districts throughout

792-586: The Regional Transport Board in June 2007. The NGT trolleybus vehicles would likely have been single-articulated single-deck vehicles with multiple doors (typically three or four sets). They would have been fully DDA-compliant with low floors to allow through movement by wheelchair users and those with pushchairs and prams. Three initial routes were planned, to north, south and east Leeds: Several buildings were set to be demolished to accommodate

836-656: The area although some remnants of the pre industrial landscape and semi-natural vegetation still survive. The Pennines in the west of the county are mostly inside the Peak District National Park and also contain carboniferous rocks, with the underlying geology primarily being millstone grit sandstones of the Dark Peak rising from the Yorkshire coalfield and the terrain is mostly moorland plateaus and gritstone edges. The inner Pennine fringes between

880-660: The country. As one of the least prosperous areas in Western Europe, South Yorkshire has been targeted for funding from the European Regional Development Fund . This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of South Yorkshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. However, the county has experienced a recent growth in the services sector. In the FDI European Cities and Regions of

924-541: The country. The act formally established South Yorkshire on 1 April 1974, although South Yorkshire County Council (SYCC) had been running since elections in 1973 . The leading article in The Times on the day the Local Government Act came into effect noted that the "new arrangement is a compromise which seeks to reconcile familiar geography which commands a certain amount of affection and loyalty, with

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968-587: The county council was abolished, South Yorkshire remains a metropolitan and ceremonial county with a Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire and a High Sheriff . South Yorkshire lies within the Sheffield City Region with Barnsley also being within the Leeds City Region , reflecting its geographical position midway between Yorkshire's two largest cities. The metropolitan county borders Derbyshire , West Yorkshire , North Yorkshire ,

1012-568: The county. In 1986, throughout England the metropolitan county councils were abolished. The functions of the county council were devolved to the boroughs; joint-boards covering fire, police and public transport; and to other special joint arrangements. The joint boards continue to function and include the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive . The South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner also oversees South Yorkshire Police . Although

1056-570: The edge of the Pennines , and the west of the county contains part of the Peak District National Park . The River Don rises in these hills, and flows through Sheffield, Rotherham, and Doncaster before reaching the flat Humberhead Levels in the east of the county. While the county of South Yorkshire was created in 1974, the history of its constituent settlements and parts goes back centuries. Prehistoric remains include

1100-420: The entirety of Todmorden with the West Riding administrative county, and also in its lieutenancy area ("county"), though the postal address for Todmorden was Lancashire. Other boundary changes in the county included the expansion of the county borough of Sheffield southward in areas historically in Derbyshire such as Dore . Fingerposts erected in the West Riding until the mid-1960s had a distinctive style. At

1144-824: The first official run was driven by the Lord Mayor, William Middlebrook , and the second by his deputy, Frederick James Kitson. Both buses went on a round trip to Farnley, four miles from Leeds, returning 45 minutes later. When the original route commenced operation, it had four trolleybuses. They were manufactured by the Railless Electric Traction Company, and powered by Siemens motors. They had solid rubber tyres and carried 28 passengers, who paid their fares when boarding. Known officially as "trackless cars" to distinguish them from trams, they ran on rural routes, to which trams were not suited. In 1915 two further routes were opened, unconnected to

1188-443: The first route and operated from an existing tram depot at Guiseley , constructed from stone, which still exists. These were feeder routes to the tram system. The three routes were: The system was not hugely successful. There was controversy between Leeds Corporation and the various councils over several issues relating to its operation. As time passed, internal combustion engined buses became more competitive. They soon replaced

1232-549: The four councils. The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority was established in 2014 to bring the leaders of the four councils to give the county a main statutory body. It is led by the directly elected Mayor of South Yorkshire . In the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union , South Yorkshire voted 62% leave and 38% remain, making it one of the most heavily Leave areas in

1276-511: The industrial region, other urban districts included Bingley , Bolton on Dearne , Castleford , Cleckheaton , Elland , Featherstone , Handsworth , Hoyland Nether , Liversedge , Mexborough , Mirfield , Normanton , Rawmarsh , Rothwell , Saddleworth , Shipley , Skipton , Sowerby Bridge , Stanley , Swinton , Thornhill , Wath-upon-Dearne , Wombwell and Worsborough . Outside the industrial region were Goole , Ilkley , Knaresborough , Otley and Selby . The West Riding also contained

1320-724: The lacustrine deposits of the Humberhead Levels. South Yorkshire contains green belt throughout the county, surrounding its four districts to large extents. It was first drawn up from the 1950s. The western edge of the Sheffield and Barnsley districts directly form with the boundary of the Peak District National Park. The table below outlines many of the county's settlements, and is formatted according to their metropolitan borough. Of these settlements above, South Yorkshire has three main urban areas:

1364-399: The old style still survive within the West Riding boundaries. By 1971 1,924,853 people (or 50.85% of the West Riding's population) lived in the administrative county, against 1,860,435 (or 49.15%) in the ten county boroughs. In the Domesday Book of 1086 they were eleven wapentakes, these were as follows: In the end of regular use, the wapentakes were: During the West Riding's time as

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1408-547: The part of the East Riding of Yorkshire around Goole and southwest of the River Ouse . The West Riding encompassed 1,771,562 acres (7,169 km ) from Sheffield in the south to Sedbergh in the north and from Dunsop Bridge in the west to Adlingfleet in the east. The southern industrial district, considered in the broadest application of the term, extended northward from Sheffield to Skipton and eastward from Sheffield to Doncaster , covering less than one-half of

1452-471: The riding. Within this district were Barnsley , Batley , Bradford , Brighouse , Dewsbury , Doncaster , Halifax , Huddersfield , Keighley , Leeds , Morley , Ossett , Pontefract , Pudsey , Rotherham , Sheffield , Todmorden (partly in Lancashire until 1888, when fully incorporated into Yorkshire) and Wakefield . Major centres elsewhere in the riding included Harrogate and Ripon . Within

1496-634: The scale of operations on which modern planning methods can work effectively". South Yorkshire initially had a two tier structure of local government with a strategic-level county council and four districts providing most services. In 1974, as part of the South Yorkshire Structure Plan of the environment, conservation and land use, South Yorkshire County Council commissioned a public attitudes survey covering job opportunities, educational facilities, leisure opportunities, health and medical services, shopping centres and transport in

1540-762: The scheme, all of these lie on the Northern leg of the route. The buildings are as follows: A 'Major Scheme Business Case' was submitted to the Department for Transport in October 2009 In March 2010, the Government announced that the proposal had been awarded 'Programme Entry Approval'. Funding was approved for the North Route to Bodington and an extension to Holt Park, the South Route to Stourton and

1584-507: The steel industry that is concentrated in Sheffield, Stocksbridge and Rotherham. The proximity of the iron and coal also made this an ideal place for steel manufacture. Although Christian nonconformism was never as strong in South Yorkshire as in the mill towns of West Yorkshire, there are still many Methodist and Baptist churches in the area. Also, South Yorkshire has a relatively high number of followers of spiritualism . It

1628-403: The top of the post was a roundel in the form of a hollow circle with a horizontal line across the middle, displaying "Yorks W.R.", the name of the fingerpost's location, and a grid reference. Other counties, apart from Dorset , did not display a grid reference and did not have a horizontal bar through the roundel. From 1964, many fingerposts were replaced by ones in the modern style, but some of

1672-608: The trolleybuses, which closed on 26 July 1928. Following the failure of plans for a Leeds Supertram network, which was rejected by the Department of Transport as being too costly in November 2005, the public transport provider Metro proposed the construction of an electric bus network, at an estimated cost of £300 million. The trolleybus system would be similar to that operating in the French city of Lyon , and gained support from

1716-698: The years; Rotherham gained this status in 1902, Barnsley and Dewsbury in 1913, Wakefield in 1915 and Doncaster in 1927. The boundaries of existing county boroughs were also widened. Beginning in 1898, the West Riding County Council was based at the County Hall in Wakefield, which was inherited by the West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council in 1974. The Local Government Act 1888 included

1760-485: Was able to issue a final report. The Royal Commission's 1969 report, known as the Redcliffe-Maud Report, proposed the removal of much of the then existing system of local government. The commission described the system of administering urban and rural districts separately as outdated, noting that urban areas provided employment and services for rural dwellers, and open countryside was used by town dwellers for recreation. Redcliffe-Maud's recommendations were accepted by

1804-404: Was divided first into the three ridings ( East , North and West) and, later, the city of York (which lay within the city walls and was not part of any riding). Each riding was then divided into wapentakes , a division comparable to the hundreds of southern and western England and the wards of England's four northernmost historic counties. The administrative county was formed in 1889 by

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1848-517: Was on the frontier of the Roman Empire during the Roman period. The main settlements of South Yorkshire grew up around the industries of mining and steel manufacturing. The main mining industry was coal which was concentrated to the north and east of the county. There were also iron deposits which were mined in the area. The rivers running off the Pennines to the west of the county supported

1892-516: Was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire , England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding . The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York and as such was named "West Riding of the County of York and the County of the City of York". The riding ceased to be used for administrative purposes in 1974, when England's local government

1936-612: Was reformed. Contemporary local government boundaries in Yorkshire largely do not follow those of the riding. All of South Yorkshire (except Finningley ) and West Yorkshire were historically within its boundaries, as were the south-western areas of North Yorkshire (including Ripon ), the Sedbergh area of Cumbria , the Barnoldswick and Slaidburn areas of Lancashire , the Saddleworth area of Greater Manchester and

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