Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/915

Rh YORKSHIRE. 903 YORKSHIRE. Eastern Moorlands from the Yorkshire Wolds, -which latter form the continuation of the high lands on the E. side of the valley of the Ouse. The ascent of the Wolds, except on their eastern side, is generally eteep, but they seldom rise to more than 600 feet, the highest point being Wilton Beacon, 809 foet above the sea-level ; and they are not unfrequently broken by deep winding valleys. The line of dill's which marks the eastern extremity of the Wolds commences in the N. at Speeton Cliff, and terminates in the S. near the Humber, in- cluding Flamborough Head, the most conspicuous point on the coast, and Bempton Cliff, rising to 436 feet above the sea. The plain lying between this range on the N. and W., the German Ocean on the E., and the Humber on the S., comprises the low-lying district of Holderness, the highest point of which is only 150 feet above the sea, and includes Hornsea Mere, the largest lake in the county, being 2 miles long by three-quarters of a mile broad. The western portion of this district, known by the local appellation of " The Cars," is still fenny, but the greater part of the land has been drained, under several Acts of parliament, besides which considerable tracts of marsh-land have been reclaimed from the Humber, and are now under cultivation. On the western side of the great valley of the Ouso rise the heights of the Pennine chain, which form the Western Moorlands, and are sometimes styled " the backbone of England," extending southward into the adjoining counties of Derby and Stafford. The highest point of this chain is at Cross Fell, 1,901 feet above the sea, near the north- western angle of the county, where it joins Westmore- land and Durham. From the great Pennine range spurs are thrown off in various directions one range of hills forming the eastern side of the valley of the Eden, an- other the Cambrian mountains, and a third the district of Craven, including the summits of Bow Fell, with an elevation of 2,911 feet; Ingleborough, 2,361 feet; Peny- ghent, 2,270 feet; Wharnside, 2,384 feet; Great Wharn- dide, 2,263 feet, and Cam Fell, 2,245 feet. The principal valleys of this district are Nidderdalo, Wharfedale, and Airedale, so named from the streams by which they are traversed, and with their richly-wooded slopes present a contrast to the bleak moors around them. From the above description of the valley of the Ouse a general idea is at once obtained of the course of that stream and its affluents, which drain at least seven-ninths of the whole area of the county. Of these the chief are tho Ure, or Yore, and the Swale, which, uniting their waters a little below Boroughbridge, form tho main stream of the Ouse, itself an affluent of the Humber. Flowing in a south-easterly direction, the Ouse receives on the left bank the Linton, with its tributaries, and on the right the Nidd, which gives name to Nidderdale, or Nether- dale, where it disappears underground for about 2 miles, entering the earth by a wide and rocky cavern called Goydon-Pot-Hole, and again emerging, finally joins the Ouse at Nun Monkton, At York the Ouse receives the Foss which has been made navigable to Sheriff Hutton Bridge, a distance of 12 J miles on the left bank, near the S. side of the castle. Inclining a little to the west- ward, the Ouse forms the boundary between the Ainsty and the East Hiding to near Cawood, where it receives on the right bank the stream of tho Wharfe, which rises in the Western Moorlands, near tho source of the Ribhle, and flowing by Barden Tower and Bolton Abbey, be- comes navigable at Tadcaster. For the remaining part of its course the Ouse constitutes the boundary between the East and West Ridings, receiving successively tho waters of the Derwent on the left, and of the Aire with its tributaries on the right. This last-named river rises in Malham Tarn, a lake situated among the West Moor- lands, and flowing for some distance through a subter- ranean passage, issues again at Malham Oove, and makes its way along tho valley of Airedale to Leeds, where it becomes navigable, and receiving the Calder from the westward, and the Don from the S., finally joins the Ouse at Assleby Island, near Howden. From this point the Ouso pursues a tortuous course, passing by tho modsrn port of Goole to its confluence with the Trent at Faxfleet, whence the united stream under tho name of the Humber pursues an easterly course to the German Ocean. Of the other rivers belonging entirely to York- shire, but not tributary to the Ouse, the principal are the Hull and the Esk : the former rises at the eastern foot of the Wolds, in tho East Riding, and being joined by the Old How Drain, becomes navigable to its confluence with the Humber at Kingston-upou-Hull, more fami- liarly known as Hull ; while tho Esk, rising near Rose- berry Topping, in the eastern moorlands, and swollen by numerous small streams or mountain torrents, flows eastward through the narrow valley of Eskdale to the sea at Whitby. The rivers which flow partly within the county, but do not belong exclusively to Yorkshire, are the Torne, the Ribble, and the Tees, with its nume- rous branches ; besides these are the Blythe, which rises in Yorkshire to the E. of Rotherham, but soon crosses tho border into Lincolnshire, where it joins the Idle; the Tamo, a tributary of the Mersey ; the Wenniug, which flows westward into Lancashire, where it joins the Lune ; the Greta, also a tributary of the LUHU ; tho Dee, which rises under Wharnside, and flowing through Dentdale enters Westmoreland, where it joins the Lune ; and the Rother, the second river of that name in York- shire, which rises near tho sources of the Eden, on the north-western boundary, and entering Westmoreland joins the Dee. The canals which intersect this county, contributing greatly to the progress of manufactures and industry, have been constructed at enormous cost, owing to the engineering works which have had to bo under- taken in order to effect navigable communications between the eastern and western sides of the island across tho central mountain chain, which stretches from N. to S. on the western side of the county, towards Lancashire. Nearly the whole of these works are con- fined to the West Riding, which abounds in large manu- facturing towns, the canals in the East Riding being few and unimportant, and scarcely any within the North Riding. Of the difficulties to be surmounted in the construction of these works and the extent of the inland navigation some idea may be formed by inspect- ing the section given by Priestly of tho artificial channel connecting the ports of Liverpool, on the Irish Sea, and Goole and Hull, on the German Ocean, by means of the river Mersey, tho Duke of Bridgewater's and Rochdale canals, the Culder and Hebble and Aire and Calder navigations, and the rivers Ouse and Humber, altogether a distance of 258J miles. Other lines of water communication connecting the two oceans are formed by the more circuitous route of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, with the Aire and Calder navigation, and by the more direct cut of the Ashton-under-Lyne and Hudders- field canals, which communicate with the Calder and Hebble navigation through Sir James Ramsdeu's canal. Numerous other connecting canals traverse the West Riding, which is likewise intersected by a network of railways, chiefly pertaining to the systems of tho Great Northern, North-Eastern, London and North- Western, Midland, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and North British, by all of which lines the city of York may be approached, as may also Hull, in the East Riding, with the addition of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire, and Hull and Hornsea lines. The climate of this county naturally varies greatly in its different portions, according to the elevation, exposure, and underlying strata which charac- terise each division, and even in the same parish some differences may be observed ; but some general conclu- sions may be drawn applying with tolerable accuracy to tho three ridings. In the sheltered valleys, with a southerly or south-westerly aspect, the climate is mild and genial, and the seasons early, while on the uplands the air is cold and bracing, and the atmosphere fre- quently disturbed by tempests, and in the marshy level districts mists are frequent ; but the county is not un- healthy. The West Riding, or West Yorkshire, as it is now frequently designated, is by far the largest and most important of the three divisions, occupying the inland portion of the county, and chiefly celebrated for its manufactures, 26 per cent, of the population living by