20 of the best photos take you back to Yorkshire in 1979

1979 is the year and Yorkshire the destination for this wonderful trip down memory lane.

By Andrew Hutchinson

Published 20th Mar 2024, 04:45 GMT

The photos turn back the clock to showcase the stories which were making the news around God's own county at the end of the 1970s. Locations in focus include Wakefield, Castleford and Dewsbury in West Yorkshire as well as Whitby on the east coast and the majesty of the Yorkshire Dales. The images have been plucked from the YEP archive and aim to capture the essence of life around the region. READ MORE: 19 photo gems showcase the wonder of Yorkshire in 1982 YEP NEWSLETTERS: Sign up for free news and sport emails

Hard times for 15-month-old Tammy Clarke among the broken glass and debris of Queen Street in July 1979.

1. Grimethorpe

Hard times for 15-month-old Tammy Clarke among the broken glass and debris of Queen Street in July 1979. Photo: YPN

Angry traders demonstrate outside Kirkgate Market in
January 1979 when it was closed because of the National Union of Public Employees' strike.

2. Leeds

Angry traders demonstrate outside Kirkgate Market in January 1979 when it was closed because of the National Union of Public Employees' strike. Photo: YPN

June 1979 and the captain of York Minster bell-ringers, David Potter, gives a guiding hand to Our George, an 'owd lad' from Halifax with plenty of brass, but a slight weight problem. The ten cwt. tenor bell was given originally by George Taylor Ramsden of Illingworth near Halifax, to his local church. St. Mary's in 1936.

3. York

June 1979 and the captain of York Minster bell-ringers, David Potter, gives a guiding hand to Our George, an 'owd lad' from Halifax with plenty of brass, but a slight weight problem. The ten cwt. tenor bell was given originally by George Taylor Ramsden of Illingworth near Halifax, to his local church. St. Mary's in 1936. Photo: YPN

A licensee was pulling out all the stops in April 1979 to help the village church opposite his public house at Worsbrough. The organ as St. Mary's Church is being renovated and the job may take three months to complete. Brian Bingham
heard that a piano would have to be used for services, weddings and funerals and made an offer - the church could borrow the electronic organ used in his public house. Mr. Bingham gets help moving the organ after a service.

4. Barnsley

A licensee was pulling out all the stops in April 1979 to help the village church opposite his public house at Worsbrough. The organ as St. Mary's Church is being renovated and the job may take three months to complete. Brian Bingham heard that a piano would have to be used for services, weddings and funerals and made an offer - the church could borrow the electronic organ used in his public house. Mr. Bingham gets help moving the organ after a service. Photo: YPN

A team of 30 Army cyclists riding old "sit-up-and-beg" machines set out from Driffield in July 1979 dressed like ghost riders from the Flanders battlefields on a 286-mile trip to Aldershot. The soldiers from Alamein Barracks, faced a four-and-a-half day ride, and were due tp spend eight hours a day on the road, resting overnight.

5. Driffield

A team of 30 Army cyclists riding old "sit-up-and-beg" machines set out from Driffield in July 1979 dressed like ghost riders from the Flanders battlefields on a 286-mile trip to Aldershot. The soldiers from Alamein Barracks, faced a four-and-a-half day ride, and were due tp spend eight hours a day on the road, resting overnight. Photo: YPN

The tape go up and Castleford's speedway career gets under way for the second time in July 1979.

6. Castleford

The tape go up and Castleford's speedway career gets under way for the second time in July 1979. Photo: YPN

West Yorkshire Whitby Dewsbury Castleford

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