Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire.
It has in the 1600’s a wealthy stagecoach trade that led to horse breeding in the area that in turn led to horse racing. It is famous for the St. Leger Stakes that was first run in 1776, it is still run annually being the oldest classic horse race in the world. The Racecourse itself is the oldest and the largest in the country. It has been closed
due to the redevelopment of the stands and added new facilities. It was reopened in time for the 2007 St. Leger Stakes.
The wealth of the town shows in the gold gilded 18th century Corn Exchange building and the stately homes of Brodworth Hall and Cusworth Hall. The most impressive of the town’s buildings is St. Georges Minster which until quite recently was the parish church.
Between the 18th and 20th centuries Doncaster was an industrial centre. It used its waterways, The River Don and Don Navigation to transport coal and steel to Scunthorpe, Sheffield and Rotherham.
Glass manufacturing become popular and they used the coal to fire the furnaces. Several high-class glass manufacturers are still in production in the town.
The town was also known for its steel foundries, rolling mills and wire mills that were all positioned near the railways.
There was also a large tractor factory that produced tractors from 1946 to 2007. The closure of the factory was a surprise to all and to the dismay of the trade unions and press it was announced the week before Christmas 2006. When it finally closed in mid 2007 it was the end of 61 years of the manufacture of tractors in Huddersfield as the plant is moving to Italy.
There is now a large logistic trade with big profile companies such as Exel, Ikea, Tesco and Faberge having warehouses in town. The B & Q freestanding warehouse at Redhouse was the largest in the UK until Dixon’s opened their Newark site.
There is always property available for rent in Doncaster with average prices of £575pcm for a 2 bed flat, £490pcm for a 2 bed house and £505pcm for a 3 bed house.
There are plenty of shops in Doncaster from large stores such as Binns, USC Ltd, and Next Clearance to smaller ones including M2M Menswear, Section a4, Enrico Jean Co, Mary Mary, Sandies, La Freek, Hopscotch, The Little Green Umbrella and the Pink Pig.
Restaurants in the town are numerous serving Italian, Chinese, Indian, Mediterranean, Traditional and Vegetarian dishes. Many of the public houses also have restaurants or serve bar food.
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