What the world wants to know about Yorkshire

1st August 2022

To celebrate Yorkshire Day, the SEO team at York-based digital search agency Edge45® has put their skills to use to discover what people across the world wanted to know about Yorkshire. The team looked at search data for the UK, US, Australia, Germany, India and France and analysed the results, focussing on questions about Yorkshire only.

Overall, there were over 140,000 monthly questions asked online about Yorkshire (for comparison, Lancashire only has 7200 – not that we’re counting). And, interestingly, people ask over 2,000 questions about Yorkshire Day itself – with volume in India, the US and Australia.

So, what are people asking about?

It’s mainly about Yorkshire Puddings

Yes, the world wants to discuss how to make our delicious local delicacy. More than half of all global questions (55%) were about Yorkshire Puds.

In the UK, more than half (56%) of all Yorkshire questions were about our favourite dish. And we got specific, too – from the type of flour to use when making Yorkshire puddings, to how long they take to cook, the questions about this dish are many and varied. There are even a lot of searches for vegan Yorkshire puddings.

In the US, Yorkshire Puddings also took the top spot (34% of all searches), though the main question they had was:

‘What are Yorkshire Puddings?’

Heaven on a plate, my US friends. Otherwise known as a simple batter made of flour, milk and eggs and baked in oil in an oven. There was also a lot of searches across the Atlantic for what they taste like and how to eat them. Delicious and with Sunday roasts.

Down under in Australia more than half (52%) the searches were pudding related. There was strong desire to find out how to make them and discover what they are. There was also a lot of searches for where to buy Yorkshire puddings, suggesting that maybe they’d tried and failed to make them at home.

Elsewhere Yorkshire puddings were off the menu:

In India, just 22% of searches were about Yorkshire Puddings.
Germans had little interest in them with just 8% of searches.
In France, there is no search volume around Yorkshire puddings. Maybe it’s because they call them profiteroles.

Where is Yorkshire?

For the thousands of you searching on the topic of where we are, we can tell you Yorkshire is in the northern half of England, wedged between Durham and Cumbria in the north, Lancashire to the West, and Derby, Notts and Lincolnshire in the south. It’s actually split between North, East, South and West Yorkshire.

Interestingly, in the UK it was one of the big search topics, with people asking:

How far is Yorkshire from me? Don’t know, where are you?
How big is Yorkshire? Very – it’s the biggest county in the UK at 11,903 km².
Where is South Yorkshire? South of North Yorkshire.
Where are the Yorkshire Dales? Mainly West Yorkshire.

Similarly, in the US, location-based questions made up 1 in 5 searches (21%). A big search in the US was how far is Yorkshire from London. Well, if you wanted to visit the Edge45® offices in the heart of Yorkshire in York you can make the journey in just 1hr 45minutes on train.

Australians were looking for more specific location data such as where Richmond is in Yorkshire (it’s in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire – and is lovely).

Elsewhere, there was little concern over the location of God’s Own Country – Germans had no questions on the topic (maybe they already know?), while only 2% of our cousins across the channel wanted to know ‘où se trouve le Yorkshire?’ – where is Yorkshire?

Yorkshire Terriers

While in the UK these lovable pups came fairly far down our list of priorities, Yorkshire Terriers were a hugely popular Yorkshire search topic across the globe:

France: 92% – The most popular topic with searches around ‘how many teeth do Yorkshire terriers have’ (42 – though I’ve not counted myself) and ‘why do Yorkies stick their tongues out?’ (because they’re rude?)

Germany: 92% – Again, the most popular but with topics mainly around how old Yorkshire terriers get to (12 to 15 years).

India: 20% – The third most popular topic with searches around grooming and how big Yorkies get (around 9 inches tall).

US: 29% – Second on the US Yorkshire agenda with searches on what they look like and around the Yorkshire terrier who served as a war dog (it’s ‘Smoky’ for those who are doing their crosswords).

UK: Only 2% of the searches were about Yorkies.

Who is the Yorkshire Ripper?

Thanks to Peter Sutcliffe, not all Yorkshire-related searches are positive. This topic was the second most popular in Australia, making up 13% of all their Yorkshire searches, and globally the 4th most popular.

Most searches were around who he was, how many people did he kill (at least 22), where did the Yorkshire riper live (Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire) and what happened to him (he died in 2020).

The Yorkshire Farm

Let’s get back to more positive topics – the ever-joyful Our Yorkshire Farm. This TV hit is as much a part of the global consciousness as the Ripper – both with 5% of global searches.

While Germany, France and India obviously don’t get this, it’s a hit in the UK, Australia and the US. Questions on the topic were varied.

In the UK, we wanted to know:

Why is our Yorkshire farm not on tonight?
How old is Clive Owen Yorkshire farmer? (68 years old)
How tall is Reuben Owen Yorkshire Farm? (6ft 6 inches – we make them big in Yorkshire)

Australians wanted to know how old Clive was (it was the most popular search term) and what channel is Our Yorkshire Farm on in Australia (9 and streaming on 9Now). In the US, they also wanted to know how to watch Our Yorkshire Farm in USA (Apple TV).

Less popular but still racking up thousands of searches every month is The Yorkshire Vet.

What else did you want to know about Yorkshire?

With over 142,000 searches across the areas we’ve looked at, there are lots of questions to be answered about Yorkshire. And as a team of Yorkshire people working in Yorkshire, we feel we’re pretty well placed to answer some of them.

So here it goes:

Yorkshire Q&A

What is Yorkshire Tea?

The perfect accompaniment to Fish and Chips. And a tea blended in Harrogate and sold across the globe.

Where does Gareth Southgate live in Yorkshire?

Swinsty Hall, outside Harrogate. Though he may have moved.

Who owns Ravenseat Farm, Yorkshire?

Billionaire Robert Miller, who made his money with Duty-Free Shops.

The Timothy Taylor Brewery is based in which Yorkshire town?

Keighley, West Yorkshire.

Why did Julian leave the Yorkshire Vet?

He went to open his own vet practice.

What time is it in Yorkshire?

Depends where you are. The US (East Cost) is 5 hours behind, Australia is 9 hours ahead and India is 4.5 hours ahead of Yorkshire.

Who are the Sprenger family, Yorkshire?

This question was only asked in Australia. We assume they are asking about Jason and Christian Sprenger, CEO and MD respectively of Highfield, the UK and Middle East’s leading supplier of compliance training materials.

Lancashire vs Yorkshire who will win?

Obviously. This is usually referred to as the Roses Match in cricket. Overall, Yorkshire has won 121 times and Lancashire 105 times. With 2 draws.

Les détectives du Yorkshire combien de tome?

In France, they asked how many books are in the Yorkshire Detectives series. We assume they wanted to know about J.R. Ellis’ series, of which there are 8 books (8 livres).