For the White Rose of Yorkshire - Skylark and Fsharpminor

For the Red Rose of Lancashire - Goldfinch and Yet Another Pianist


White Rose troops, please rally behind A Major (codename F#minor)



LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE ....


Where did Opera North make its home - YORKSHIRE!

Where was Delius born ? BRADFORD, YORKSHIRE!

Songs celebrating YORKSHIRE -

Scarborough Fair
On Ilkla moor b'aht 'at
The Grand Old Duke of York
The Lass of Richmond Hill
The Whitby Whaler


Songs celebrating Lancashire -

er... er.... hmmm!

Ahh, but don't forget the saying every small child is taught to remember the colours of the rainbow - Richard of York gave battle in vain .

Opera North? Opera North? Pah! The Hallé, founded in Lancashire, 1858 .

My dad comes from from Lancashire and he produced me - what more could you want...

Ouch, that hurt! I saw the Hallé perform last night and I have to concede a glancing blow


.... but (swiftly recovering) the Northern Ballet Theatre has made its home in YORKSHIRE - having transferred from its original home in Lancashire

Two more Yorkshire musicians- The corpulent pianist John Ogdon and the Doncaster Diva Lesley Garrett (Cant stand her personally, she seems to often sing a bit sharp to me)

Yes, and what's more, Leeds have to borrow them for the Leeds Piano Competition, bless .



Nick Park, creator of Wallace and Gromit .

Oh, and I suppose I could mention Freddie Flintoff, but that might just be showing off .

Ah yes, the internationally-renowned Leeds Piano Competition - thank you for reminding me of that one!

Aw you beat me to that one Liz, I was holding it in reserve!

Of course we have one of the best choirs in the country, The Huddersfeild Choral Society, and before someone beats me again, probably the best brass band. in the Black Dyke Mills, though I concede there are some good lancashire ones too (Besses 'o the barn etc)

Yes, the Leeds Piano Competition: the finalists this year all from the Far East, Russia or America; and the orchestra being the Hallé. Not really much Yorkshire in there when you look at it .

... all flocking to Yorkshire in appreciation of the cultural offerings


On the cricket pitch, Yorkshire has bred some of the most well-known characters in the game - Freddie Truman, Geoffrey Boycott, Dickie Bird, to name but a few. Struggling to think of any Lanky characters of the same ilk

Speaking of cricket, Leeds has Headingley, the site of some of England's greatest defeats at cricket . And Elland Road, the home of Yorkshire's least unsuccessful football team .

I'm sure a few weeks ago some Yorkshire folk joined in with 'National Lancashire Day', February the 14th, celebrated by the giving of red roses .

Lancashire cheese

For or against??

can't deny those cricketers - except Truman! Fred Trueman played for Yorkshire and England....
can't deny Yorkshire puddings either

Old Trafford in Manchester - 19 wickets in a Test Match.... !!

played for Surrey, but where were 'e born? Aye, Bradford!!

Alan Rawsthorne for Lancs.

Number of Yorkshire members in the England cricket team: 2. Number of Lancashire members: lost count. And, of course, Mike Atherton....

Six of the twelve clubs which founded the Football League were from Lancashire.

Don't forget that historically, Yorkshire puddings were originally used as a first course for poor people who could not afford much meat. Or, being as they were in Yorkshire, were too cheap to pay for it .

And who makes the best hotpots then? I have never heard of a Yorkshire hotpot. You (Lancashire) had Gracie Fields, Rex Harrison, Richmal Crompton and Robert Runcie not to mention Harrison Birtwhistle. Bradford has the best early music shop in the country though. Argue on you lot! It is quite entertaining, and more fun than the transposition work that I am doing in-between forum visits.

Rev David Sheppard Bishop of Liverpool -- England opening bat

I prefer Wensleydale myself, though in fact they are quite similar

If were getting into non musical things, then we have the Bronte family, and we have Ilkley Moor (baht 'at).
Ah that reminds me of Alan Titchmarsh, an Ilkley lad.

And where did Tolkein send his son to school?

I give in, where DID Tolkein send his son to school?


Talking of schools, Yorkshire has some of the most prestigious ancient schools in the country, including Sedbergh amongst others, where Richard Whiteley and Russell Harty were educated.

Stonyhurst, Lancashire . He stayed over with him there whilst writing parts of the Lord of the Rings.

.... and which cheese did Nick Park select as Wallace's favourite - Wensleydale! From the award-winning dairy in Hawes, North Yorkshire

And then Stinking Bishop! Just down the road from me!

Um. Ok, not Yorkshire OR Lancashire... I was feeling left out

Do Liverpool and Manchester count as Lancashire?

In which case we've got football and popular music from the '60s onwards pretty much sewn up.

The Leaving of Liverpool
Liverpool Lou
and many more.

Stan Laurel
George Formby
Eric Morecambe


don't forget Eccles cakes! Of course Manchester and Liverpool are Lancashire!!

The Rules of Engagement are set by the person who called the battle ...

Oh that's ME!!!!

Liverpool is in Merseyside and Manchester is in Greater Manchester, so obviously they don't count. Nice try though

I can see why you would want to try and include them though - you've obviously run out of good things to say about Lancashire

I live in yorkshire

According to the Association of British Counties, there is no such county as Merseyside nor Greater Manchester!
Surely they are simply administrative areas, not counties, and never have been, never have been to quote the lad himself.

I think that Leeds and Sheffield have their own administrative areas and therefore can be excluded from Yorkshire! But you know best Boss (if you set the rules, but they weren't clear at the outset).

Take Bootle for example....
is it in Merseyside or Lancashire?

BOOTLE-CUM-LINACRE, a township and three chapelries in Walton-on-the-Hill parish, Lancashire. The township lies on the Mersey, the Liverpool and Southport railway, and the L. and Leeds canal, 3¼ miles N by W of Liverpool;

Lancashire is tip-top for waste
A NATIONAL poll has ranked Lancashire top of the heap - the rubbish recycling heap that is.

Liverpool and Manchester are OUT.

Leeds and Sheffield are IN.


A good commander doesn't lay all their cards on the table at the outset

infamous!!! sneaky
but not surprising

you have to win somehow eh?

"I can see why you would want to change the rules though - you've obviously run out of good things to say about Yorkshire"


you do make me smile (in disbelief mostly)

what about yorkshire puddings, have they been mentioned?

take care... you'll be told off for not spelling Yorkshire with a capital letter!!
VERY touchy the Yorkies (if they think they are losing )

Thanks for reminding me - we have a chocolate bar named after Yorkshire !

< hands out Yorkie bars to Yorkshire supporters, including specially commissioned white chocolate Yorkies >

Harrison Birtwistle
David Lloyd
Graeme Fowler
Thora Hird
Kathleen Ferrier
Jethro Tull
Ian McKellen
Eddie Paynter
Andrew Flintoff to name a few names

The world's largest, most ubiquitous and more enduring retailer started in Yorkshire - Marks & Spencer

Skylark - how dare you try and steel Manchester and Liverpool off us
How desperate can you get. Sorry but us Lancastrians don't take order from Tykes!!

Anyway I must have my tea but I'll be adding to the list later tonight.

Oh and never mind Marks and Sparks - how about the Co-op!

The Arctic Monkeys!!

And my cousins live there

It the Co-op still around Hardly the international success that M&S is but can't blame you for trying!

Manchester/Liverpool - well done for calling my bluff, Red Rose Commander! County battle lines as per the original War of the Roses then, is it?

Yes, those battle lines sound reasonable; given we won last time, it bodes well for us .

That's supposed to be a good thing?

Yorkie bar and chocolate are distant cousins at best........

Hey there YAP sounds like they are on the run!

Errr..well I find Alan Bennetts writings very funny, and his autobiography was excellent.

So I guess that's 1-0 to Yorkshire....

Out of York and Lancaster University, I much preferred....














York

I went to Lancaster...

W

Lancaster felt too big and impersonal to me...

I think it was smaller in my day...

W

Err excuse me?! Is this some kind of ancient Yorkshire counting system were Lancashire is winning hands down and Yorkshire concludes they've just won 1-O. No wonder your footballs teams are doing so badly - they don't even know they're losers!

O.K. Col. White Rose now the gloves are off on this - yes the Co-Op is still going and WHO but kind hearted, caring Lancastrians would have come up with the idea of sharing the profits between all the customers? That would never have happened in the county were pockets are long and arms are short!!!

Oh a bye the way - the Co-Op actually owns the best hotel in Scarborough - The Esplanade - I never stay anywhere else - that is when I can drag myself away from the incomparable Fylde coast.

Over to you.