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Durham E-Theses Drawing lines on a map: English Regionalism and Regional Identity in Post-war Yorkshire and Humberside DOHERTY, ROBERT,PATRICK How to cite: DOHERTY, ROBERT,PATRICK (2017) Drawing lines on a map: English Regionalism and Regional Identity in Post-war Yorkshire and Humberside, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12420/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: e-theses.admin@dur.ac.uk Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 “Drawing lines on a map”: English Regionalism and Regional Identity In Post-war Yorkshire and Humberside Robert Patrick Doherty Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History Department, Durham University, 2017 “Drawing lines on a map”: English Regionalism and Regional Identity in Post-War Yorkshire and Humberside Robert Patrick Doherty Abstract The failure of either a regional tier of government, or a strong and coherent regional political movement to emerge in England – in contrast to the Post-war devolution developments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, not to mention Europe – has led to the general dismissal of regionalism as a significant political force in England, and led to its characterization as the ‘dog that never barked’; merely the preserve of a handful of committed regionalists. This thesis builds on recent scholarship in Post-war British history, broadly categorized as the ‘new political history’, to challenge these traditional narratives. It explores how regional identities were constructed and articulated in a number of official, semi-official and unofficial spheres. It also considers how these interacted with central government and other interests. It does so through a number of case studies, or ‘core samples’, exploring various dimensions of regional action in different contexts. These include regional economic development and industrial promotion agencies; local government; airports and other transport considerations; and regional arts policy. The thesis focuses on Yorkshire and Humberside, a region that has not received much scholarly interest with regards to regionalism, but which has been considered prominently on literature exploring ‘the North’. Through this case study, this thesis highlights not only the potency of regionalism and regional identity, but also its complexities, contingencies and constraints. Through its core samples into economic planning, regional boosterism, local government reorganisation, transport and arts policy, this study adds additional perspectives to on-going historical discourses in contemporary British and European history. It also provides some insight into contemporary political concerns around the re-emergence of identity politics. It argues that complex, pluralist and distinct regionalisms – as were articulated and mobilized in Yorkshire during this period – form an important and often neglected dimension of contemporary British history that requires more concerted study. 2 Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................... 11 1.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 11 1.2 In search of the ‘region’, ‘Regionalism’ and ‘regional identity’ .............................. 13 1.3 The ‘English Question’: English regionalism and regional identity in contemporary and historical perspective .................................................................................................. 23 1.4 Yorkshire ................................................................................................................... 37 1.5 Hull and Humberside ................................................................................................ 50 1.6 Post-War Context ....................................................................................................... 58 1.7 Structure and Approach ............................................................................................ 62 Chapter 2: Economic Regionalism: Economic development and industrial promotion in Yorkshire and Humberside, c.1965-c.1990 ........................ 74 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 74 2.2 Context: UK regional policy, de-industrialisation, and Yorkshire and Humberside 79 2.3 From planning to publicity: the changing role of expertise ..................................... 90 2.4 Environment and Image .......................................................................................... 118 2.5 “Heartland”: North/South divide, interregional and intraregional perspectives . 138 2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 162 Chapter 3: Political Regionalism: “Yorkshire Forever – Humberside Never”: the creation and abolition of Humberside County Council, c.1962-c.1996 .......................................................................................................... 164 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 164 3.2 The birth of ‘Humberside’ in context, 1962-1966 ................................................ 168 3.3 ‘Humber mania’ and the creation of Humberside County Council, 1966-1972 . 190 3.4 Regional identity and the campaign to abolish Humberside ............................... 206 3.5 ’Nowhere to Nowhere': The Humber Bridge, Hull and Humberside ..................... 218 3.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 231 Chapter 4: Transport and Regionalism: The campaign for a ‘Yorkshire Airport’, c.1945-c.1980 ...................................................................... 233 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 233 4.2 Context: Post-war civil aviation development, 1945-61 ....................................... 240 4.3 A ‘Yorkshire Airport’: The Yorkshire and Humberside Airport Development Association and regional airport proposals in the 1960s .............................................. 253 4.4 Airports in the 1970s: Regional airports and national planning to 1978 ........... 262 4.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 279 Chapter 5: Cultural Regionalism: Regional Arts Associations in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Humberside, c.1963-c.1994 ...................................... 283 5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 283 5.2 Lincolnshire Arts Association, c.1963-71 .............................................................. 287 5.3 Yorkshire Arts Association, 1966-71 ..................................................................... 312 5.4 Humberside and the Regional Arts Associations, 1972-1976 ............................ 328 5.5 Changing Regional Arts Policy, 1976-1994 ........................................................... 342 5.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 361 Chapter 6: Conclusion: Which “Yorkshire First”? Regionalism and Regional Identity in Yorkshire and Humberside in perspective ............................ 363 Bibliography ....................................................................................... 375 3 4 List of figures Figure 1.1 The Association of British Counties Map of Yorkshire 42 <http://www.yorkshireridings.org/files/ABC_Yorkshire_Map_v 1-2.png> (accessed 2 August 2017) Figure 1.2 Map of Yorkshire, in Harry J. Scott, Yorkshire Heritage (London, 43 1973), 10-11. Figure 1.3 Administrative County of Humberside, from Ivan E. Broadhead, 51 Portrait of Humberside (London, 1983), 10. Figure 2.1 Yorkshire and Humberside Economic Planning Region, taken 89 from Diana Pearce, ‘The Yorkshire and Humberside Economic Planning Council 1965-1979’, in Patricia L. Garside and Michael Hebbert (eds.), British Regionalism 1900-2000 (London, 1989). Table 1 Derelict Land in England and Wales, 31 December 1964, from 123 YHEPC, A Review of Yorkshire and Humberside (HMSO, 1966), Table F1, Appendix F (126). Figure 2.2 ‘Environmental conditions’, in Yorkshire and Humberside 128 Economic Planning Council, Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Strategy (HMSO, 1970). Figure 2.3.1 From Yorkshire and Humberside Economic Planning Council, 134 Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Strategy (HMSO, 1970). Figure 2.3.2 From Yorkshire and Humberside Economic Planning Council, 134 Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Strategy (HMSO, 1970). Figure 2.4 From YHDA, ‘Finance for Industrial Expansion’ (1979).