• 2015 event date confirmed: Saturday 26^th September
• Alistair & Jonny Brownlee “Harewood a great venue for triathlon”

September 2014: Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee host the Brownlee Tri North at Harewood

The Brownlee Tri will be returning to Harewood House in Leeds on Saturday 26^th September 2015. Alistair and Jonny Brownlee’s hugely popular triathlon will once again offer Sprint and Super Sprint distances for individuals and a Sprint relay for teams around the spectacular Harewood course. Early bird registration for the triathlon is set to open within the next few weeks.

The 2015 Brownlee Tri will build on the success of the 2014 event, when over 1,000 competitors and 4,000 spectators enjoyed a fantastic day out at the stunning Harewood estate. The event proved to be an instant hit among the triathlon community, who praised the course for its breath-taking scenery, closed circuit layout and one of the most exciting new bike routes on the calendar.

Alistair Brownlee commented “We’re really pleased to be able to bring the Brownlee Tri back to Harewood House. It’s such a great triathlon venue with a course that offers something for everyone: young and old, experienced or new to the sport.” Jonny added “Last year was brilliant, seeing so many people competing and enjoying themselves at a venue only 10 minutes from our own home.”

The event will once again offer a packed entertainment village and the opportunity for competitors and spectators to explore the grounds of the Harewood Estate, including the Bird Garden and Adventure Playground.

Race Director Louise Cornish said “We’re delighted that the Brownlee Tri is returning to Harewood House, which we believe is one of the UK’s best triathlon venues.  As with this year’s Brownlee Tri, we want to deliver a premium triathlon experience for competitors of all abilities, as well as a great day out for the thousands of friends and families who turn up to support.’

Enter now by visiting www.brownleetri.com

Over 1000 participants and 4000 spectators attended the Macmillan Brownlee Tri at Harewood House on Sunday (21st September 2014). Alistair and Jonny led rival teams in the Sprint Relay, and even younger brother Ed Brownlee had a team! Alistair completed the 750m swim one second ahead of his younger brother, (00:09:33 and 00:09:34), but Jonny’s cyclist Ross Needham opened up a gap and then runner Stewart Randall stormed home, clocking an impressive 00:24:33 for the 5.5km run to deliver victory for Team Jonny.

Speaking about the event, Alistair Brownlee said: “It was an absolutely brilliant day for all the family at a spectacular venue. Obviously Jonny and I compete alongside all the time but it’s not often we get to race Ed and our Uncles Chris and Simon! Thanks to the spectators, volunteers and Macmillan supporters for making such a special atmosphere.”

Jonny Brownlee added: “We founded the Brownlee Tri to encourage people to take up the sport we love, so I was really pleased that more 350 people completed their first triathlon today. Over 250 kids took part in British Triathlon Trust’s Duathlon too, so there’s a promising new generation of young triathletes. We’re grateful to everyone who came and we hope to see you all next year!”

Fraternal rivalry has driven Alistair and Jonny to the very heights of triathlon, and another pair of siblings impressed at Harewood.

The female event was dominated by Johanna Spannagl, 21, who completed the Sprint distance event in 01:28:50 – more than four minutes clear of second place. As Johanna was being presented with her prize, a Boardman Team carbon bike, younger brother Bernie, 18, was already out on the course.

A tight Youth & Junior Super-Sprint race saw Bernie Spannagl and Sam Wardle complete the swim and bike section neck and neck. In a move reminiscent of the Brownlees’ winning tactic, Bernie pushed hard on the run to win the race in 00:43:31, a margin of 34 seconds. A family double was complete, and the whispers began – could the Spannagl siblings be the next Brownlee brothers?

For the full list of results: http://www.brownleetri.com/north/race-details-2/race-results.html

The Brownlee brothers are pleased to announce there will be a free Kids’ Duathlon at the Macmillan Brownlee Tri, delivered by British Triathlon Trust. Children of all ages can try out running, cycling and transitions at Harewood House on Sunday 21^st September.

Forming part of a busy Entertainment Village, the duathlon will consist of two 150m run loops, a transition area and a 400m bike loop. The number of laps can be adjusted depending on the participant’s age, allowing small children to simply try out a run and cycle while teens take on a 600m run, a 1600m cycle and a final 300m sprint.

Speaking about the announcement, Alistair Brownlee said: “Jonny and I would not be triathletes without our parents encouraging us to be active. We hope lots of mums and dads bring their sons and daughters to Harewood House to try out the Kids’ Duathlon!”

Younger brother Jonny added: “I have always been spurred on by racing my brother, so I would love to see plenty of siblings taking part in the duathlon. First and foremost we want kids to enjoy exercising and being outside.”

The Kids’ Duathlon is free to enter and there is no need to register: simply turn up and take part.  For more information visit www.brownleetri.com and look out for updates through Twitter @Brownleetri or www.facebook.com/brownleetriathlon

One of 70 gift boxes held at Harewood which were sent to troops in WW1

In September 1914, a seventeen year old Princess requested a meeting with some of the most influential figures of the day including the Duke of Devonshire and the Prime Minister, Hergert Asquith. The new display at Harewood, which coincides with this meeting 100 years on, tells the story of how the young Princess Mary was able to raise significant funds to produce and deliver gifts to all the soldiers, sailors and nurses on the front line. This amounted to 2.5 million people! It’s a fascinating piece of social history which combines factual accounts from the trenches with the aspirations of the Royal family.

David Lascelles, Earl of Harewood said: “My grandmother had a very strong sense of public duty, never more evident than when, aged just 17, she raised £31,000 by public appeal (the equivalent of over £3m today) to send these gift boxes to every serving soldier for the first Christmas of the war in 1914.

She became very involved with the war effort, later forming her own Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) to help provide field nursing services and visiting the front herself immediately after the war ended in 1918. Other famous 1^st World War VAD nurses include Agatha Christie, Amelia Earhart (the first woman to fly the Atlantic) and the explorer Freya Stark.

These boxes, for tobacco or sweets, are still a poignant and very personal memento of a terrible war, carried by many hundreds of thousands of soldiers as they went into battle.”

The gift boxes took the form of a 5-inch, embossed brass tin which included luxury items such as tobacco. As the scheme progressed the list of contents began to develop and more unusual items such as bullet-cased pencils and spices were added. The display includes several complete examples of the gift boxes alongside personal correspondences and photographs from soldiers, original sketches used to manufacture the boxes and paintings of Princess Mary before, during and after the First World War. The exhibition is housed on the State Floor in rooms which were previously part of the Princess Royal’s private apartments.

In 1922, shortly after the end of WW1, Princess Mary married Henry Lascelles, the 6^th Earl of Harewood. They moved to Harewood in 1930 and Harewood House Trust is now custodian of many of her personal belongings.

Visit the exhibition on the State Floor at Harewood.

After an historic summer with Le Tour shining the spotlight on the county, Welcome to Yorkshire can reveal the tourist attractions generating the most social conversation on Twitter within the county over the last 12 months.

With increasing numbers of people using social media to prepare and share their holiday experiences, new research reveals an insight into those places in Yorkshire that people have been talking about the most.

Malton-based theme park and zoo, Flamingoland, was the number one ranked attraction according to the research which was conducted from August 2013 to August 2014, with York Minster second and the National Railway Museum third. Whitby Abbey, Harewood House, Beningbrough Hall and Gardens, Eureka!, Xscape Castleford, Clifford’s Tower and Cliffe Castle Museum made up the top 10.

Recent analysis of Twitter conversation* shows that  71 % of its users Tweet about their holiday whilst away, with half of users sharing their photos on Twitter and 46% of people using it to find local information.

Alexis Guntrip, Harewood’s Marketing Manager said: “We’re thrilled that Harewood is generating so much chatter! Our followers have grown by 17% in the last six months and it’s thanks to our visitors, who regularly share their Harewood experience on Twitter that the conversations are making such a positive impact.”

The news comes on the back of latest research from VisitBritain which showed Yorkshire had a record-breaking summer in 2013, welcoming 168,000 holiday visits during the July, August and September – a year-on-year rise of 37.7% and a record high for holiday visits to the county during this three-month period. This increase represents a faster rate of growth than summer holiday visits to London, which saw a 26% uplift.

Below are the top 10 attractions that are creating the most conversation on Twitter**:

1. Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo – @flamingolanduk

2. York Minster – @York_Minster

3. National Railway Museum – @RailwayMuseum

4. Whitby Abbey – @WhitbyAbbey

5. Harewood House – @HarewoodHouse

6. Beningbrough Hall & Gardens – @NTBeningbrough

7. Eureka! The Museum for Children – @eurekamuseum

8. Xscape Castleford – @xscapeyorkshire

9. Clifford’s Tower

10. Cliffe Castle Museum – @BradfordMuseums