Editing Pontefract (section)

==Economy==
{{multiple images|
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| header = Pontefract Market Place
| image1 = Market Place, Pontefract (21st June 2020) 001.jpg
| image3 = Market Hall - geograph.org.uk - 429678.jpg
| caption3 = [[Pontefract Market Hall|Pontefract market hall]]
| caption1 = Market Place
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Pontefract has been a [[market town]] since the [[Middle Ages]]; market days are Wednesday and Saturday, with a small market on Fridays. The covered market is open all week except Sundays. It is said by some that Pontefract once held a record for being the town with the highest number of pubs per square mile in the UK,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pontefractherittagegroup.wordpress.com/pontefract/ |title=Pontefract |last=Wollerton |first=Alison |website=Pontefract Heritage Group |access-date=7 July 2020 |quote=It has been said that Pontefract once held a world record for having the highest number of pubs per square mile.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://partynicemag.blogspot.com/2010/04/partynice-guide-to-pontefract.html |title=The Partynice Guide to Pontefract |last=Krasaukas |first=Vincent |website=Partynice Magazine |access-date=7 July 2020 |quote=it is believed that the town now has the highest concentration of pubs in the whole of the UK.}}</ref> but this is likely an urban legend, and the title is held by another town.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.libertygames.co.uk/content/britains-pub-capital/ |title=Britain's Pub Capitals |website=Liberty Games |access-date=7 July 2020}}</ref>
[[File:Haribo Sweets Factory - Sessions House Yard - geograph.org.uk - 576986.jpg|thumb|right|[[Haribo]] Factory]]
The town has a [[Liquorice (confectionery)|liquorice-sweet]] industry; further, the famous [[Pontefract cake]]s are produced, though the liquorice plant is no longer grown there. The town's two liquorice factories are owned by [[Haribo]] and [[Valeo Confectionery]] (formerly Tangerine).  A Liquorice festival is held annually. [[Poet laureate]] [[Sir John Betjeman]] wrote a poem entitled "The Licorice Fields at Pontefract". In 2012, local farmer Robert Copley announced that he would be re-introducing a liquorice crop to Pontefract.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rebecca Smithers|date=30 July 2012|title=Liquorice to grow again in Pontefract|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2012/jul/30/liquorice-pontefract|work=The Guardian|access-date=27 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2015|title=The Home of Liquorice|url=http://www.farmercopleys.co.uk/the-home-of-liquorice/|work=Farmer Copleys|access-date=27 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028020854/http://www.farmercopleys.co.uk/the-home-of-liquorice/|archive-date=28 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Close by is the site of the former coal-fired [[Ferrybridge power stations|Ferrybridge power station]], although the local [[Coal mining|coal mines]] largely closed in the 1990s, which contributed to high unemployment in the local area. The final colliery, [[Prince of Wales Colliery]], closed in August 2002.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wainwright |first1=Martin |title=Britain's oldest mine closes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2002/aug/31/6 |access-date=13 July 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=31 August 2002}}</ref> It has since been redeveloped into a large housing estate named after the colliery.<ref>{{cite web|title=Prince of Wales, Pontefract {{!}} A Project by Harworth Group plc|url=https://harworthgroup.com/projects/prince-of-wales/|access-date=27 December 2021|website=Harworth}}</ref>