If the capital of England since 1066 had been at York, (lets say William the conqueror had wanted to keep his thumb over the rebellious north or something like that), how would britains demographic and economic geography be different?
I imagine York being a city of around 2 million people and a economic and finance hub but with more manufacturing in the surrounding cities of Leeds and Doncaster with most of OTL londons shipping jobs in Hull. York may, like Edinburgh be the bourgeois city while hull, Leeds, Sheffield and Doncaster are the industrial glasgows of Yorkshire which is divided up into many more council areas due to high population density. The southeast, like the West Country, remains rural and agricultural but on the Eurostar route from Paris to York.
I imagine York being a city of around 2 million people and a economic and finance hub but with more manufacturing in the surrounding cities of Leeds and Doncaster with most of OTL londons shipping jobs in Hull. York may, like Edinburgh be the bourgeois city while hull, Leeds, Sheffield and Doncaster are the industrial glasgows of Yorkshire which is divided up into many more council areas due to high population density. The southeast, like the West Country, remains rural and agricultural but on the Eurostar route from Paris to York.