From the cobbles and quirks of Shambles in York to Whitby Abbey brooding over the North Sea, its ancient gems are as ubiquitous to the region as flat caps and Yorkshire puddings.

But over September, the hidden treasures of Yorkshire’s heritage have been thrust into the spotlight by the National Trust’s Heritage Open Day Schemes.

Thousands of volunteers across England haved organised events to celebrate history and culture - and Yorkshire is no exception, with doors opened to sites that are normally closed and expert talks and insights showing the secret histories of the region.

Innovation is the watchword for this year’s festival and alongside stories of wonders, the festival will highlight some of the blunders, fads and outright failures that pepper England’s rich history of innovation.

Liam Montgomery, Heritage Open Days marketing & projects manager said: “We’re thrilled to be focusing in on inventions for this year’s festival, as they offer such an exciting lens for examining heritage. From the humble chocolate bar to the World Wide Web, England has an incredibly diverse history of innovation and discovery.

“We wanted to celebrate this by sharing stories from across the regions to really showcase the ingenuity and hard work behind them. Once again, we’re very excited to see what our community put together.”

Leeds’ Temple Newsam is known for its beautiful gardens - and, if you went to school nearby - its Blue Lady ghost. But less well known is that it had a marvel of 18th century engineering in the form of a pump created by John Smeaton, who was born in nearby Whitkirk in 1724. In 1769, he designed a self activating pump that supplied water to the Jacobean mansion from Jacob’s Well, filling reservoirs under the servant’s quarters.

A tour on Thursday September 15 will take visitors to explore the grounds of Temple Newsam for remaining evidence of Smeaton’s pump and ventures inside the house to view the surviving well, not normally on view to the public.

Meleri Roberts, Heritage Open Days Coordinator for Leeds Civic Trust, West Yorkshire says: “As an organisation that champions the heritage, culture and diversity of Leeds, Heritage Open Days is a natural platform for the Trust to reach a wide audience and to showcase the treasure the city has to offer.

“It is a great way to bring local organisations, businesses and passionate local storytellers, historians and creatives together on an annual basis to explore, reinterpret and provoke our city’s ever evolving heritage.”

Other events planned in Leeds include a guided walking tour of Leeds’ most historic pubs by expert Jim Brettell.

On September 15 he will take walkers on a wide range of city centre heritage pubs, including the Adelphi and Whitelocks and will conclude at the Templar.

Elsewhere in the region, train enthusiasts can see what happens behind the scenes at the locomotive sheds in Grosmont, the operating hub of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR).

NYMR runs heritage services between Pickering and Whitby. Each tour at its headquarters in Grosmont will last approximately an hour and includes a tour of the restoration workshop where visitors will see black 5 No. 44806 and Class 31 Helen Turner currently being overhauled.

The tour will then proceed into the boiler shop where they will be able to get up close to the ‘Heartlands’ boiler.

And in Wombwell, South Yorkshire, inventors linked to the cemetary are being celebrated.

Tours will take place on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

A spokesperson said: “From patented pipe-laying devices to miners’ shovels, Wombwell was a town filled with ingenious minds.

"We hope to highlight the work of these people, and hopefully ignite some inventive sparks in the people of Wombwell today.“We’ll also be sharing some unusual cemetery-themed inventions, including cast-iron coffins and showcasing our funeral bier contraption.”

A list of all events planned can be seen on www.heritageopendays.co.uk