City Guides
Wakefield
Introduction
Wakefield is the principle city in a metropolitan borough, with a population of just under eighty thousand people. The borough comprises more than forty towns and villages, including historical woodlands and rolling countryside.
A city with a long and documented history, Wakefield received a mention in the Domesday Book as “Wachefield” and was dubbed “The Merrie City” in the Middle Ages – a name that has stuck as a result of the proliferance of drinking establishments in the area!
The city prides itself on its historical buildings and sites, with the ruins of a fifteenth century castle painstakingly excavated and open to the public, as well as a city centre Cathedral dating back at least five hundred years. There are other museums and heritage centres in and around the city, including a mining museum based on the site of the UK’s oldest working mine.
Wakefield is a busy, modern city, with bustling shopping facilities and a thriving nightlife attracting a huge amount of weekend tourism to the city. There are cosmopolitan, international restaurants, sleek and stylish clubs and bars, and a grand Grade II listed theatre. The city is also home to the (in)famous Westgate Run, a 500-yard pub crawl along the Westgate road in the city.
There are £100 million plans already underway for the development of a new art gallery (The Hepworth, named after the ex-resident and sculptor Barbara Hepworth) as part of the Waterfront Regeneration Scheme; as well as plans to radically overhaul the city centre and district markets. With five leisure centres, a dozen golf course, the Superbowl, go-karting tracks and watersports at the Pugneys Country Park, there is always plenty to do in the city.
With two train stations, regular bus services in and out of the city and well-placed for the Leeds-Bradford airport, traveling in and out of the city is getting easier as more reasons to visit are provided!
A city with a long and documented history, Wakefield received a mention in the Domesday Book as “Wachefield” and was dubbed “The Merrie City” in the Middle Ages – a name that has stuck as a result of the proliferance of drinking establishments in the area!
The city prides itself on its historical buildings and sites, with the ruins of a fifteenth century castle painstakingly excavated and open to the public, as well as a city centre Cathedral dating back at least five hundred years. There are other museums and heritage centres in and around the city, including a mining museum based on the site of the UK’s oldest working mine.
Wakefield is a busy, modern city, with bustling shopping facilities and a thriving nightlife attracting a huge amount of weekend tourism to the city. There are cosmopolitan, international restaurants, sleek and stylish clubs and bars, and a grand Grade II listed theatre. The city is also home to the (in)famous Westgate Run, a 500-yard pub crawl along the Westgate road in the city.
There are £100 million plans already underway for the development of a new art gallery (The Hepworth, named after the ex-resident and sculptor Barbara Hepworth) as part of the Waterfront Regeneration Scheme; as well as plans to radically overhaul the city centre and district markets. With five leisure centres, a dozen golf course, the Superbowl, go-karting tracks and watersports at the Pugneys Country Park, there is always plenty to do in the city.
With two train stations, regular bus services in and out of the city and well-placed for the Leeds-Bradford airport, traveling in and out of the city is getting easier as more reasons to visit are provided!
Entertainment