Scenery and manufacturers promoted among regional highlights in late nineteenth-century Yorkshire guidebook

The talk ‘Scenery, Antiquities and Manufactures: Touring Nineteenth-Century Yorkshire with Murray’s Handbook for Travellers’ was given by Dr Gráinne Goodwin, a Senior Lecturer in Leeds Beckett University’s School of Cultural Studies and Humanities.  

The event formed part of Leeds Cultural Conversations, presented by the University and Leeds City Council, and was held in the Town Hall’s Albert Room.

Speaking ahead of the event, Dr Goodwin, said: “Murray’s Handbook says a great deal about the Yorkshire region in the time it was published. Guidebooks are rich in what they can tell us about the tastes and values of their age, especially when what constitutes a tourist attraction in one era may differ markedly from our own.”

As part of one of the leading British travel brands of the 19th century, the talk considered how Murray’s Yorkshire Handbook constructed national perceptions of the region and how travellers were directed to experience it, from the historical and picturesque delights of Rievaulx Abbey and Flamborough Head to the manufacturing enterprise of Leeds and Bradford.

It also explored how Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Yorkshire promoted industrial tourism through its routes and travel itineraries, as well as considering how established regional highlights were depicted.

The Leeds Cultural Conversation series also includes: ‘W.G.Grace: Cricket Missionary to the North and Hero of 1895 (to Oscar Wilde’s villain)’ with Dr Neil Washbourne on Wednesday 8 February; ‘The trials of Oscar Wilde’s Salome: the Maud Allan libel case’ with Professor Ruth Robbins on Wednesday 8 March; ‘Verdant creativities: urban gardening and sensuous place-making in West Yorkshire with Dr Zoe Tew-Thompson and Dr Lynne Hibberd on Wednesday 5 April and ‘Measuring Morale in Second World War Leeds’ with Henry Irving on Wednesday 10