Yorkshire – The first place from space

What do the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian Pyramids and the geographical centre of Yorkshire all have in common? Today, Yorkshire joined these famous world landmarks and became visible from space thanks to a campaign by Yorkshire Tourist Board which has literally put Yorkshire on the worldwide map.

In a bold undertaking of celestial proportions, Yorkshire is starring in a unique campaign which will make it the first region in the UK (and possibly the world) visible from space.

Yorkshire Tourist Board wanted to show the sheer scale of the region by putting it firmly on the map and now, using a 54,264 sq ft ground marking placed on the exact geographical centre of Yorkshire, they have quite literally done just that.

Tourism is worth an estimated £6.1 billion per year to Yorkshire’s economy from more than 104 million UK and international travellers who visit the region annually. Yorkshire is looking to improve on these figures with its ‘Make Yorkshire yours’ campaign which highlights its many attractions as well as its geographical diversity, from its extremities in the north, south, east and west, to everything in-between.

However, with such a vast area to publicise, reflecting the region’s diversity it was hard to choose which precise spot to make visible from space. The absolute geographical heart of Yorkshire – which is undisputable – was chosen as the ideal place.

Steve Carver, Senior Lecturer of geography at Leeds University, pinpointed the specific geographical centre point of Yorkshire: a field in Cattal, North Yorkshire (coordinates SE 44791 55160) owned by one of Europe’s largest nursery growers, Johnsons of Whixley.

Professor Carver commented: “The method used by Leeds University was based on boundary distances and finding the centre of gravity of ‘God’s own county’ based on its shape and area using the Government's boundary data and low water mark for the coast line sections. By finding the balancing point of a region, we can accurately pinpoint the centre – and that’s exactly what we did.”

The ground marking, a postcard shape measuring 266ft x 204ft white square, was created on the spot including the website address ‘Yorkshire.com’ – it is hoped that the marking, which because of its size and reflection qualities, can be seen by satellites passing in space, will drive international interest among potential visitors.

Joanna Royle, marketing director at Yorkshire Tourist Board said: “With such a large, rich and diverse region, it became clear that the only way we could put the whole of Yorkshire on the map was through, quite literally, a ‘big’ idea.

“So, we’re trying just that – we don’t know of any other city or region in the world which has gone to such lengths and made their place visible from space. We hope this fun stunt will raise our profile yet further and help drive visitors not just to the centre of our region, but to all points north, south, east and west.

“We have seen the area from the air and it’s quite a spectacle. It is more than 15 times wider than the Great Wall of China which can be seen from space, so you never know, we might just attract new visitors from out of this world!”

Graham Richardson, group managing director of Johnsons of Whixley, which employs 150 people producing over 10 million plants every year, said:

“Horticulture, like tourism, is hugely important to Yorkshire life and the region’s economy. We were thrilled to find that Johnsons of Whixley, which was founded by a Yorkshireman, is at the very heart of Yorkshire itself. It’s great how we have helped our region leave its mark by making us visible from space.”

Potential visitors from space and earthlings alike can find out more about the ‘place from space’ on Yorkshire.com. Log on to see aerial shot and video from a helicopter one mile up.