Portal:Yorkshire

Middleton is a largely residential suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England and historically a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is situated on a hill 4 miles (6 km) south of Leeds city centre and 165 miles (266 km) north north-west of London. In 2001 the population of the Middleton Park ward of Leeds City Council was 27,487.

Middleton was occupied before the Norman Conquest and recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. It developed as a manorial estate and its owners began to exploit the coal seams which outcropped within its boundaries. At the start of the Industrial Revolution a wooden wagonway was built to link the coal pits to Leeds. The colliery agent, John Blenkinsop designed an iron railway and its first steam-powered locomotive which was built by Matthew Murray in Holbeck. The coal mines on which the local economy was based lasted until 1967 and the railway is a preserved and run by a trust after operating for 200 years.

Middleton Park, a remnant of the manorial estate, contains a large area of ancient woodland and parts of it, where coal was mined, are designated a scheduled ancient monument. It was the location of Middleton Hall and Middleton Lodge homes to the local gentry.

The village developed along Town Street, a school, chapel and church were built in the 19th century but after the land was acquired by Leeds Council in 1920 a large council housing estate was built on the flatter land to the south, completely changing the rural nature of the settlement. (read more . . . )

Shaun Mark Bean (born 17 April 1959) is an English film and stage actor. Bean has also acted in a number of television productions as well as performing voice work for computer games and television adverts. Bean was born Shaun Mark Bean in the Handsworth district of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, the son of Rita and Brian Bean. As an actor, he adopted the Celtic spelling "Sean" of his first name.

Bean has played a wide range of roles, from villains to heroes. He graduated from RADA in 1983 having won the Silver Medal for his performance in Waiting for Godot. His first successful role was his portrayal of Richard Sharpe in the United Kingdom television series Sharpe. Since then he has become well known internationally for his roles as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, Martin Septim in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion video game, James Bond's adversary Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye, Nicolas Cage's competitor Ian Howe in National Treasure, IRA fringe terrorist Sean Miller out for revenge on Harrison Ford in Patriot Games, Captain Rich in Flightplan with Jodie Foster, and Odysseus in Troy. (read more . . . )

Sheffield United Football Club is an English association football club based at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, who currently compete in the EFL Championship. Founded in 1889, they played only friendlies during their first year in existence before being elected to the Midland Counties League for the 1890–91 season. The football committee (who ran the club at the time) were unhappy with the quality of the Midland Counties League and so resigned in the summer of 1891. However, United were refused entry into The Football League amidst an acrimonious dispute with local rivals The Wednesday who had lobbied against their application. Instead United joined the newly formed Northern League which mainly consisted of teams from the North East of England, resulting in their nearest away fixture being at Darlington, some 85 miles away. Sheffield United again applied for election to The Football League the following year, this time being successful, and were admitted to the new Second Division in 1892. Despite the club's desire to be part of the Football League some committee members felt it may not last and so United remained with the Northern League for one more season, thus competing in two leagues concurrently during the 1892–93 season. Since that time United have remained in either the Football League, or at times the Premier League (during the 1992–93, 1993–94 and 2006–07 seasons), although changing fortunes have meant that they have competed in all four of the top divisions in England at some stage.

Sheffield United played their inaugural league fixture as part of the Midland Counties League on 13 September 1890 against the now defunct Burton Wanderers. Since that game they have faced 115 different sides in league football with their most regular opponent having been Blackburn Rovers, against whom United have played on 142 occasions since their first meeting on 15 January 1894. As such United have registered more wins against the Lancashire side than any other, triumphing on 55 occasions. The most league defeats suffered by United have come against West Midlands team Aston Villa who have beaten them on 59 occasions, while the most draws have been registered against cross-city rivals Sheffield Wednesday with whom they have shared the points in 39 games. The most recent new league opponents for Sheffield United have been AFC Wimbledon, who they first met on 10 September 2016 in a League One fixture. (Full article...)

• ... that six Pre-Raphaelite artists designed the set of stained glass panels (pictured) illustrating scenes from the story of Sir Tristram and la Belle Isoude as told in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur?
• ... that Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey discusses both issues of the fair treatment of governesses and the ethical claim of animals to human protection?
• ... that the Kirklees Priory in West Yorkshire is the supposed site of Robin Hood's grave?