Leeds Walkabout - 16th June 2014
Leeds is one of those places you either know or, you don't. I shall expand on that statement directly. Mostly, though, people only know Leeds because, for one reason or another, they lived or worked there. It isn't a tourist destination. You need a reason to go.
Let me qualify what I wrote at the beginning, that you either know Leeds or, you don't. I know Leeds as it was back in the 1960s and '70s. Living, first, in Keighley then, in Harrogate, I came here quite a lot, as a youngster. In the days before smokeless fuels, the city was, indeed, dark and satanic. The imposing buildings, blackened with soot, gave the city a severe look. That was true for any other large city, though, wherever it was, geographically speaking. Nevertheless, to southerners, it seemed to personify the old adage 'it's grim up north', never mind that London's buildings were just as grim and dirty.
Let me qualify what I wrote at the beginning, that you either know Leeds or, you don't. I know Leeds as it was back in the 1960s and '70s. Living, first, in Keighley then, in Harrogate, I came here quite a lot, as a youngster. In the days before smokeless fuels, the city was, indeed, dark and satanic. The imposing buildings, blackened with soot, gave the city a severe look. That was true for any other large city, though, wherever it was, geographically speaking. Nevertheless, to southerners, it seemed to personify the old adage 'it's grim up north', never mind that London's buildings were just as grim and dirty.
Hopefully, you'll enjoy my Walkabout around Leeds.
My route started and ended just off the Kirkstall Road, taking in City Square, Boar Lane, Vicar Lane, Quarry Hill, The Headrow, Leeds Town Hall, and Millenium Square (before the camera battery died!)
My route started and ended just off the Kirkstall Road, taking in City Square, Boar Lane, Vicar Lane, Quarry Hill, The Headrow, Leeds Town Hall, and Millenium Square (before the camera battery died!)
Going back to Leeds for the first time (give or take the odd brief visit over the years) in over 30 years, I was surprised by how much still looked as I remembered it. Naturally, a lot had changed, too, that is inevitable, but not as much as I had expected. If anything, Leeds looks like a city in transition, reminding me of Manchester about 20 years ago. Yes, much of Leeds is a building site, plenty more looks like a bomb site but, it feels like a positive, forward-looking industriousness, rather than a downward spiral of decay. I enjoyed revisiting old haunts and wandering around places I hadn't been since the early 1980s. I felt more at home than I have anywhere else in the last few years. I like Yorkshire, always did. Maybe that is where I should be heading?
Whilst I was in the area, I also took in the wonderful Kirkstall Abbey, and The Cow and Calf Rocks, on Ilkley Moor.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
June 29th 2014
Whilst I was in the area, I also took in the wonderful Kirkstall Abbey, and The Cow and Calf Rocks, on Ilkley Moor.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
June 29th 2014
