The three Ridings of Yorkshire have their own traditions in flying the white rose flag of the county.
In the North and West Ridings it is flown with a petal at the top. In the East Riding it is flown with a sepal at the top.
To me, it seems a bit strange that we can’t get a consensus. But the recent debate caused Liz Sharp, of Netherton, to pose another question: “Are the Ridings in West and North Yorkshire now obsolete?”
The Ridings came into existence in 889 and lasted for almost 1,000 years until the Government introduced the modern administrative county councils of west, north and east in 1974. Further administrative changes were made but the three Ridings still exist historically and as cultural identities.
Boundary changes meant that some places were co-opted into different areas. Saddleworth, for instance, which was historically part of the West Riding, became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham and thus part of Greater Manchester in 1974.
Liz says: “When I lived in Saddleworth in the 1950s and 1960s, women supposedly had homebirths rather than go into Oldham in case they had a son so he could play cricket for Yorkshire.
“Feelings still run high over there and the local high school in Uppermill has the Yorkshire rose as the badge on the blazer.
“Please don’t ask me which way up.”
