Wakefield
A view of Wakefield
Wakefield shown within West Yorkshire
Population	79,885
OS grid reference	SE335205
Metropolitan borough	City of Wakefield
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WAKEFIELD
Postcode district	WF*
Dialling code	01924
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
European Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Wakefield
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Coordinates: 53°40′48″N 1°29′31″W / 53.6801, -1.492

Wakefield is a city by the River Calder in West Yorkshire, England. West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government The City of Wakefield is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and Metropolitan borough Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of Subdivisions of England used for the purposes of Local government outside Greater London West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine government office Regions of England. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The, also known as the Wakefield postcode area, is a group of postal districts around Batley, Castleford, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. West Yorkshire Police is the Home Office Police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the county-wide statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the Metropolitan county of West The Yorkshire Ambulance Service is the NHS Ambulance service covering most of Yorkshire in England. Yorkshire and the Humber is a Constituency of the European Parliament. This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election Wakefield is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a list of cities, Towns and Villages in the historic English county of Yorkshire. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status For other Rivers Calder see River Calder (disambiguation. The River Calder is a River in West Yorkshire, in northern West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It forms the urban core and administrative centre of the wider City of Wakefield metropolitan district. Administrative centre (in Norwegian administrativt senter; in Portuguese centro administrativo) is often used in several countries to refer to The City of Wakefield is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and Metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England covering urban areas within metropolitan counties.

Its population was 76,886 in 2001. 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 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Recent history 3 Transport 4 Education 4.1 Further Education 5 Prisons 6 Social Housing 7 Culture 7.1 Music 7.1.1 Notable songs about Wakefield 7.2 Film and Television 7.3 Museums and the arts 7.4 Parks and historical sites 7.5 Festivals 7.6 Night Life 8 Sport 9 Media 10 Development 10.1 City Centre 10.2 Waterfront 10.3 Westgate 11 Notable people born in or near Wakefield 12 Sister cities 13 Trivia 14 Location Grid 15 References 16 External links

Etymology

The name "Wakefield" is often said to derive from "Waca's field" - the field belonging to Waca. 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. The Domesday Book (ˈduːmzdeɪ bʊk also known as Domesday, or Book of Winchester) was the record of the great survey ^[3] also as Wachefelt.

History

Much of what is now Wakefield, including Lupset, was held by William Earl Warenne, Earl of Surrey, as conferred on him by King William I. ^[4] As early as 1203 William Earl Warenne received a grant to have a market in Wakefield. Wakefield and its environs formed the caput of an extensive baronial holding by the Warennes that extended to Cheshire and Lancashire. The Warennes, and their feudal sublords, continued to hold the area until the 14th century, when it passed to Warenne heirs. ^[5] Those Norman tenants also holding land in the region, and particularly at Lupset, included the Lyvet (Levett) family, who had given their name to the nearby hamlet of Hooton Levitt. Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial Surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy ^[6][7]

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 Wars of the Roses (1455–1485 were a series of dynastic Civil wars fought in England between supporters of the Houses of Lancaster and York The Battle of Wakefield took place at Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, on 30 December 1460 and was one of the major actions of the Wars of the Roses. Sandal Castle is a ruin on the edge of the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire and overlooks the River Calder and Pugneys Country Park. 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. Municipal boroughs were a type of Local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974 in Northern Ireland from 1840 to The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Wm IV c76 - sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act - required members of town councils ( Municipal corporations

Wakefield Cathedral is a 14th century parish church, which was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century. A parish church, in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a Parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches Sir George Gilbert Scott ( 13 July 1811 &ndash 27 March, 1878) was an English Architect of the Victorian Age There is also a 14th century Chantry Chapel, one of only four remaining in England. ^[8] The chapel tops a buttress on a bridge over the River Calder. For other Rivers Calder see River Calder (disambiguation. The River Calder is a River in West Yorkshire, in northern

The town was a centre for cloth dealing and had its own Piece Hall. A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. 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. The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England.

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 National Coal Board (NCB was the Statutory Corporation created to run the nationalised Coal mining industry in Britain. The city was also surrounded by pit villages, but also by the old mill towns of Batley, Dewsbury and Ossett to the west. A Mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories (usually Cotton mills

Wakefield is known as the capital of the Rhubarb Triangle, an area notable for its early forced rhubarb. The Rhubarb Triangle is a nine square mile triangle in West Yorkshire, England located between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell. Wakefield is one of the points of the triangular area with the neighbouring towns of Morley and Rothwell as the other two. Morley is a Market town suburb and Civil parish in the City of Leeds Metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England Rothwell is a Market town in the south east of the City of Leeds Metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, situated between Oulton 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. Margaret Hilda Thatcher Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925 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 miners' strike of 1984 – 1985 was a major Industrial action affecting the British coal industry. 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 is the mainline Railway station for the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England Doncaster is a large town in South Yorkshire, England and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England The East Coast Main Line ( ECML) is the electrified high-speed railway link between London and Edinburgh connecting Yorkshire, North East King's Cross station is a major railway terminus opened in 1852 Wakefield Kirkgate Railway Station is a Railway station in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, and west of Doncaster Castleford is one of the five towns within the Metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. Sandal and Agbrigg railway station serves the Wakefield suburbs of Sandal and Agbrigg in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield Westgate station is maintained by National Express East Coast (NXEC), who operate the Leeds-London service, and is manned with facilities such as secure car parking, ticket office and shops. National Express East Coast is the name under which the Train operating company NXEC Trains Ltd operates the InterCity East Coast rail franchise which 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 grade 2 listed^[9] pub opposite, "The Wakefield Arms", has stood derelict for the last 3 years. ^[10] Kirkgate station is operated by Northern Rail. Northern Rail (often referred to simply as Northern) is a Train operating company that has operated local passenger services in the north of England A second service to London is provided by East Midlands Trains with trains running via Sheffield, Leicester and into St Pancras International. East Midlands Trains ( EMT) is a train operating company operating in the United Kingdom. Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England Leicester (ˈlɛstə is the largest city and Unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and is the traditional St Pancras railway station is a major railway station situated in the St Pancras area of Central London between the British Library and King's Cross

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. FreeCityBus or FreeTownBus is a family of free bus services which are operated in the centres of several cities and towns in the English county of Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England FreeCityBus or FreeTownBus is a family of free bus services which are operated in the centres of several cities and towns in the English county of Huddersfield ( is a large Market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, 190 miles (306km north Zero-fare Public transport services are funded in full by means other than collecting a Fare from passengers ^[11] 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. ^[12]

Education

See List of schools in Wakefield

Further Education

Wakefield College is the major provider of further education in the area, with around 3,000 full-time and 10,000 part-time students,^[13] and campuses in both the city centre and surrounding towns. The following is a partial list of currently operating Schools in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. Further education (often abbreviated "FE" is Post-secondary Education (in addition to that received at Secondary school) that is distinct from The college has a 6th form, and in addition to A-levels also offers GCSE courses and a wide range of vocational qualifications. The sixth form, in the English, Welsh and Northern Irish education systems Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Belize

The Wakefield district has several other 6th form colleges, including the Outwood Grange College 6th form in Outwood and the NEW College 6th Form in Pontefract. Outwood Grange College is a modern Comprehensive school and Sixth Form in Outwood, near Wakefield, England. Outwood is a district to the north of Wakefield, a city in West Yorkshire, England. Pontefract is a Market town in West Yorkshire, England near the A1 (or Great North Road the M62 motorway, and Castleford.

Wakefield City Council has recently announced that it is planning in co-operation with Wakefield College, to establish the University Centre of Wakefield, which would offer students in the Wakefield district a new local university as an option to the offer by the University of Leeds.

Prisons

Wakefield is less celebrated, but nevertheless well known, for its prisons. Its combined prison population was 1,657 in 2001. 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. HM Prison Wakefield is located in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Harold Frederick "Fred" Shipman (14 January 1946 &ndash 13 January 2004 was an English General practitioner and convicted Serial killer Charles Bronson (born 6 December 1952) is the adopted name of Michael Gordon Peterson, a British criminal who is referred to in the British press 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. This article is about the traditional nursery rhyme and song For the film see Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (film, for the song by Traffic see " 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. A sex offender is a person who has been criminally charged and convicted of or has pled guilty to or pled Nolo contendere to a Sex crime. The current governor is David R. Thompson, Director-General elect of Her Majesty's Prison Service. "HM Prison" redirects here For prisons in Australia see List of Australian prisons.

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, the registered charity Wakefield and District Housing (WDH)^[14], although the properties concerned are still often referred to as "council houses". Public housing is a form of Housing tenure in which the property is owned by a Government authority which may be central or local Wakefield itself contains seven ex-council estates. The 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 Wakefield's Metropolitan District Council, to invest over £700 m regenerating the district and improving the houses. Improvements have been taking place since 2005 and to date over £150 m has been spent improving homes. In August 2007 WDH completed the first in a programme of new Social Housing developments, 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. At its recent Audit Commission inspection WDH was awarded the highest level of award, three stars with excellent prospects for improvement. This was only the third time this award has been granted, and WDH were the first Northern Housing Association to receive it.

Culture

Music

The indie-punk band The Cribs are from Wakefield. In Popular music, independent music, often abbreviated as indie, is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels and an autonomous The Cribs are an English 4-piece Indie rock band from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Prior to their emergence, Jane McDonald was the most celebrated Wakefield born contributor to the music industry. Jane McDonald (born 4 April 1963) is an English Singer, Actress and Television personality. Jane regularly mentions Wakefield when acting as a panellist on ITV1's Loose Women, for various reasons, usually when talking about her childhood. This article deals with the ITV1 brand name as it is broadcast at present Loose Women, sometimes known as Live Talk or Loose @ 530, is an award-winning British, televised Talk show, which was first broadcast in 1999

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. Evening Prayer is a Liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion (and other churches in the Anglican tradition such as the Continuing Anglican Movement and The girls perform Evensong on Wednesday evenings and Parish Eucharist on Sunday mornings. The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names is a Christian Sacrament by which in a common interpretation those The boys and men also sing at Choral Eucharist and Evensong on Sundays. The girls, on occasion, sing choral Eucharist or Evensong with the Lay Clerks on Thursday or Friday evenings. Once each term, the boys and the girls swap their Sunday duties.

The choir, directed by Jonathan Bielby and 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'. Songs of Praise is a BBC television programme based around traditional Christian Hymns With an average of nearly 3 million viewers weekly it

Notable songs about Wakefield

• "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" - "may have begun life as a song or chant by inmates of Wakefield prison"^[15]
• "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). This article is about the traditional nursery rhyme and song For the film see Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (film, for the song by Traffic see " Jail, or gaol (especially in Canada, Australia and NZ[http //www The Grand Old Duke of York is a children's Nursery rhyme, which in its most common version is The grand old Duke of YorkHe had ten thousand men

Film and Television

The film, This Sporting Life is set in Wakefield and depicts the hard realities of the mines and Rugby League. This Sporting Life is also a radio program in Australia See This Sporting Life (radio program This Sporting Life is a 1963 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. Kes is a British film from 1969 by director Ken Loach and producer Tony Garnett. This article is about the film The Full Monty is a 1997 British Comedy film. Rita Sue and Bob Too is a 1986 British film directed by Alan Clarke about two West Yorkshire schoolgirls who have a sexual fling

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. Most Haunted is a British Paranormal television programme based on investigating purported Paranormal activity although 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 city museum. These will be added to by a Barbara Hepworth gallery is being built as part of the rejuvenation of the city centre's waterfront. Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE (January 10 1903 &ndash May 20 1975 christened Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth) was a major British

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 with the metropolitan area. The National Coal Mining Museum for England (an Anchor Point of ERIH The European Route of Industrial Heritage) is based on the site of the old Caphouse Colliery The European Route of Industrial Heritage ( ERIH) is a network of the most important Industrial Heritage sites in Europe The Yorkshire Sculpture Park ( is an open-air art organisation showing work by UK and international artists including notably Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth

The Wakefield Theatre Royal hosts a variety of performing arts. The Theatre Royal Wakefield is a Theatre in Wakefield, England, which dates back to 1894. 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. Mystery plays and Miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in Medieval Europe. Corpus Christi ( Latin for Body of Christ) is a Christian feast.

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 and nearby Bretton Hall
• Wakefield Cathedral
• Nostell Priory, a 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. Pugneys Country Park is a 250 acre park located on the A636 between Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England and Junction 39 of the M1 motorway Sandal Castle is a ruin on the edge of the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire and overlooks the River Calder and Pugneys Country Park. The National Coal Mining Museum for England (an Anchor Point of ERIH The European Route of Industrial Heritage) is based on the site of the old Caphouse Colliery Walton Hall is a Stately home in the County of West Yorkshire, England, near Wakefield. Charles Waterton ( June 3, 1782 - May 27, 1865) was an English naturalist and explorer. The Yorkshire Sculpture Park ( is an open-air art organisation showing work by UK and international artists including notably Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth Bretton Hall is a Stately home in West Bretton in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near Wakefield. Nostell Priory is a Palladian house located in Nostell, not far from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, approached by the Doncaster

Clarence Park Festival is held annually in Thornes Park, playing free live music for the 16th time in 2008.

Night Life

The area of Westgate was historically held to have the largest number of adjacent pubs in England. The Westgate Run attracts drinkers from across the region.

Sport

Wakefield is known for its rugby league club, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional Rugby league club that plays in the National Leagues. 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. However with a Challenge Cup Semi Final appearance on the 26th of July, the clubs first since 1979, bigger, brighter things could be just around the corner for "the Wildcats" in 2008!

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 RFC was an English rugby union club founded in 1901 and which dropped out of the English leagues in 2004 as a result of the effects of professionalism Sandal RFC are now the area's largest rugby union club.

Wakefield F.C. play their football in the Unibond League First Division after their merger and move from the village of Emley in 2001. Wakefield FC is an English football club based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Emley is a small village in West Yorkshire, England between Huddersfield and Wakefield with a population of 1867 according to the 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, Wakefield RFC's former ground.

Wakefield is the largest town in England without a team in the Football league.

Wakefield Harriers A. C. is the athletics club located at Thornes Park Athletics Stadium and is home to international athletes including Martyn Bernard, Emily Freeman and Charlene Thomas.

There are a number of Cricket and amateur rugby league teams that play in many of the villages around the city. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games One other notable team was skater hockey's Wakefield Warriors, which during their short life, were crowned British and European Champions.

Wakefield has two successful current senior international swimmers (Ian Perrell and Rachel Jack). Swimming is the movement by humans or animals through Water, usually without artificial assistance

West Yorkshire Canoe Club is a canoe club bases in Wakefield, they have sessions in Wakefield, Batley & Pontefract throughout the week. The club is well known in the kayaking world because of 2 of there members; Joe Morley, GB Slalom paddler & 5th In Premier Division , and Russell Johnson, GB U23 Slalom Paddler Hopefull & 27th in Division 2.

Media

Wakefield has its own newspapers, The Wakefield Express ^[16], the Wakefield Guardian, and radio station Ridings FM. The Wakefield Express is the newspaper serving the District of Wakefield. Ridings FM is the Independent Local Radio station serving Wakefield and the Five Towns area since October 3 1999. It also has a number of free magazines including Excelle, Solo and The Wakefield Review

Development

Wakefield is currently undergoing major development and re-development projects, aiming to bring new life into the city.

City Centre

• Trinity Walk - A £175 m development to the south-east of Wakefield city centre that will see original market hall and surrounding area demolished and replaced with a new indoor market, retail units and library. Work began in autumn 2007,^[17] with the entire project scheduled for completion in 2010. ^[18]
  • 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.

• ABC Cinema Flats - The original ABC cinema, which closed in 1997, has been given a new lease of life and a £13. 5 m redevelopment converting the cinema into flats. ^[19]

• Ings Road - Plans to demolish most of the current Ings road shopping park and redevelop into a "city centre like" shopping plaza, also to re-route the "motorway like" Ings road to leave a un-congested street.

• 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. ^[20]

• 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. Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional Rugby league club that plays in the National Leagues. 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. Keepmoat Stadium is a multi-use Stadium in Doncaster, England. ^[21]

Waterfront

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

• Chantry Waters - Adjacent to the development at Wakefield Waterside, Chanty Waters is a regeneration of Calder Island alongside Vauxhall. Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE (January 10 1903 &ndash May 20 1975 christened Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth) was a major British Phase one is completed and Chantry Waters Flats were completed in February 2007. Phase Two includes office blocks and begins in 2008.

Westgate

• Westgate Station - A regeneration of the station by the city council and the English Cities Fund, moving the station down the railway line, extending the platform and building a new hotel. ^[22]

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

• Wakefield Theatre Royal - The theatre is to be extended for the inclusion of new facilities including studio space, bar/restaurant and an education suite. ^[23]

Notable people born in or near Wakefield

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. Junior Chamber International ( JCI) is a worldwide federation of young leaders and Entrepreneurs. David Malcolm Storey (born 13 July 1933) the son of a miner is an English Playwright, Screenwriter, award winning Novelist Paul Sykes ( May 23, 1946 - March 7, 2007) was an English Heavyweight boxer. Michael James Tindall, MBE (born October 18, 1978 in Otley, near Leeds, West Yorkshire) is a Rugby union footballer Jane Emily Tomlinson, CBE ( née Goward; 21 February 1964 &ndash 3 September 2007 was an Amateur English athlete who became Robert Ullathorne (born October 11, 1971 in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England) is former a professional Footballer, most recently PLEASE NOTE This section is the introduction Please do not add too much detail here PLEASE NOTE This section is the introduction Please do not add too much detail here Charles Waterton ( June 3, 1782 - May 27, 1865) was an English naturalist and explorer. Castres ( Castras in the Languedocian dialect of Occitan language) is a town and commune of Languedoc in south-western France This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Hénin-Beaumont is a commune and chief town of a canton in the Pas-de-Calais département in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Herne (ˈhɛʁnə is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Belgorod (Бе́лгород is a city in western Russia, situated on the Seversky Donets river just 40 km north from the Ukrainian border at. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Konin is a town on the Warta river in central Poland. It is the capital of Konin County. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland
• The Vicar of Wakefield, protagonist of the influential novel of that name by Oliver Goldsmith, lives there in the first chapters. The Vicar of Wakefield is a novel by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. The Protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 or 1728 &ndash 4 April 1774 was an Anglo-Irish writer poet and Physician known for his Novel The Vicar
• The Big Brother 2007 contestant Chanelle Hayes is from a village, Middlestown, near Wakefield. There were 24 housemates in total in the eighth series of Big Brother in the UK where they were observed by television viewers 24 hours a day and each week one or
• The M. Night Shyamalan film Signs mentions a Crop Circle in Wakefield in a TV report. Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan (ˈʃaməˈlan ( Malayalam: മനോജ് നെല്ലിയട്ടു ശ്യാമളന്‍ Tamil: மனோஜ் நெல்லியட்டு Signs is a 2002 Science fiction Thriller film written produced and directed by M Crop circles are patterns created by the flattening of crops such as Wheat, Barley, Rapeseed (also called "canola" Rye
• Helene Speight and Claire Young who were both in the final of The Apprentice 2008 are from Wakefield. The following is a list of candidates from the British Reality television series ''The Apprentice''. The following is a list of candidates from the British Reality television series ''The Apprentice''. Series Four of The Apprentice was a reality British Television series, which was won by Lee McQueen

Location Grid

	North: Leeds
West: Ossett	Wakefield	East: Pontefract
	South: Barnsley

References

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

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