This year the Civic Voice Annual Convention and AGM is taking place in the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire and will be co-hosted by Wakefield Civic Society.

The Convention begins on Friday morning when there will be an opportunity to take part in workshops, hear presentations about topical issues from Civic Voice and to find out more about the city and its fascinating history through a series of talks and tours organised by the local Society. We will be based at Unity Works in Westgate, just a stone’s throw from Westgate Railway Station for our daytime activities before moving to the Cedar Court Hotel on Denby Dale Road, Wakefield, for our drinks reception and convention dinner. We will remain at Cedar Court for our Saturday programme. The hotel is approximately three miles from the city centre but is adjacent to junction 39 of the M1 motorway. We are investigating the possibility of providing coach transport to the hotel for those arriving by public transport on the Friday but taxis are readily available and relatively inexpensive.

Although other hotels are available, we are recommending that people attending the convention book overnight accommodation at Cedar Court where we have been offered a special ‘delegates’ rate of £60 for a single room and £70 for a double room for bed and breakfast. Please telephone the hotel (01924 276 310) and quote Civic Voice Convention when booking to secure these rates. Staying at the hotel with other delegates at the Convention can increase your enjoyment and networking opportunities.

Other hotels you may wish to consider for their proximity to the Convention venues are the Premier Inn Wakefield Central – located in Thornes Park approximately half-way between the city centre and Cedar Court, and the Holiday Inn Express in the city centre, just off Westgate and up from Unity Works.

Further information about the programme will be provided in due course.

Please note that the Civic Voice registration fee includes the Friday workshops and tours, a drinks reception and dinner at Cedar Court Hotel and the Saturday programme which includes a buffet lunch and teas and coffees during the day.

The City of Wakefield

Although officially created a city in 1888, Wakefield has been known as the “Merrie City” since medieval times and can trace its history much further back. There is some evidence of Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age activity in and around the area and the Romans certainly knew it but it seems likely the area was first settled by the Anglo Saxons; indeed, one possibility is that the name itself came from the name of an Anglo-Saxon settler – Waca’s field. The first written mention of the place to survive is in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was recorded as Wachefeld.

Wakefield grew in size and derived its wealth principally from textiles, grain, quarrying, and mining. By the early 19th century it was a busy and successful market town and an inland port and became the county town for the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Today, this Cathedral city is undergoing economic regeneration and boasts new shopping centres, an internationally renowned art gallery ( The Hepworth Wakefield, named after locally born artist Dame Barbara Hepworth), and a resurgent arts and performance culture. For anyone wishing to extend their visit to Wakefield, there is much to see and do with the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, National Coal Mining Museum for England and Nostell Priory (National Trust) close by – and be sure to visit Wakefield’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane!

Wakefield Civic Society

Wakefield Civic Society was established in 1964 and is one of the larger and most active civic societies in the region. Now based in an office at Wakefield’s fine Victorian Town Hall, the Society is chaired by Kevin Trickett who will already be known to many of our members. The Society has a lively programme of events and activities including a monthly Dining Club from which it presents its annual Restaurant of the Year Award. The Society also runs an annual Design Awards Scheme and has erected 45 blue plaques to date with more on the way. It regularly comments on planning applications, engaging in consultations with developers and Wakefield Council.

The Society is a member of Civic Voice and also YHACS, the regional association for civic societies in Yorkshire and Humber.