_yorkshire
Amongst the picture-postcard villages of the Moors and Dales and in once-industrial cities like Leeds and Sheffield, resilient, salt-of-the-earth folk toil and triumph. The seat of the industrial revolution, the area once provided steel, coal and textiles to the world. The steel and textile mills have largely closed and the mines now abandoned. Finance, hi-tech and tourism have replaced the region's gritty industrial past. Immigration has similarly altered the cultural landscape bringing diversity to the once-homogeneous county.
Through these changes, Yorkshire(wo)men tightly embrace their heritage. It is one of labor, thrift, bluntness, stubbornness and pride... traits reinforced by growing up on the wrong side of the tracks in England's northern and, some would say, neglected nether-regions. I'm proud to enjoy the blue-collar lineage and, yes, the stereotypes apply!
As a kid growing up here, I never saw my surroundings as particularly photogenic nor did I regard the people as inspiring. As an adult growing up everywhere else, I've come to realize that with age comes wisdom. I have now a fondness for my simple and humble roots and am beginning to see the beauty in my heritage.
