Oi, Dickens, No! (Leeds in General)

Member Name: Deany

Product:	Leeds in General
Date:	07/12/01 (273 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great shopping, lots to see and do, it's my home!

Disadvantages: A bit dirty at times

Charles Dickens once wrote “…it may be observed with delicacy that you must either like Leeds very much, or not at all”. Unfortunately, he settled on the latter view and when he was having trouble with trains a few years later, he worried that he might be forced to spend the night in Leeds “which I particularly detest as an odious place”. Hmmm. There goes my intention of opening with a quotation that would show what a great place Leeds is. Mind you, Dickens was writing over 100 years ago, and Leeds has come a long way since.

I suppose I should come out and tell you right now that I am a Loiner. Although this may sound like an admission to some sort of dirty habit or sexual quirk, it actually means nothing more than that I am an inhabitant of Leeds. Or, rather, an ex-pat inhabitant of Leeds as I am currently living a fair few hundred miles away in Heidelberg, Germany. Being raised in Leeds and living there for 18 years until leaving for university has made me quite fond of the place and I probably lack the outside perspective needed to be critical about it.

HISTORY

Loidis first earns a mention in print in The Venerable Bede’s “Ecclesiastical History” of 730, so it has been around for a fair while. In 1086, the renamed village of Ledes is described in the Domesday Book as possessing “a priest, a church, a mill and 10 acres of meadow, 27 labourers, 4 freemen and 4 cottagers” – hardly the bustling metropolis we know today, but it’s a start I suppose. There was one more name change to Leedes before the modern-day spelling of Leeds was settled on some time around the industrial revolution.

The industrial revolution can be seen as the birth of Leeds. It blossomed from a small town into a city in a remarkably short period of time and developments such as the Leeds-Liverpool Canal (1770) and the world’s first commercial railway, the Middleton Colliery Railway (17
58), helped fuel this growth.

More recently, Leeds has tried to shrug off its industrial past and now claims to be the financial capital of the north of England. This has brought an influx of money that is probably most evident in the number of cafés, bars and restaurants to have sprung up in and around the financial district. Tourism is also starting to play a role and the recent relocation of the Royal Armouries from London to Leeds has helped place the city on the tourist map.

Leeds is currently the third largest city in England, after London and Birmingham. It has a population of over 700,000 and something to offer for just about anyone wanting to live there, study or just visit for the day.

SHOPPING

The side of Leeds with which most visitors are acquainted is the central shopping area. This has been the focus of most of the redevelopment to have taken place since the mid-1980s and is now one of the best city centre shopping areas in England (in my humble opinion!). The quality of the shopping area was confirmed when Harvey Nichols decided to open its first venture outside of London in Leeds. This can be found in the renovated arcades of the Victoria Quarter, alongside other designer stores like Vivienne Westwood and Ted Baker.

Just down the road you can find the Corn Exchange, also fully renovated and packed with smaller, independent shops selling slightly more quirky items (“The Condom Shop” anyone?). Likewise, there is the Granary Wharf, located in the Dark Arches tunnel complex beneath Leeds station, where stallholders sells handmade craft items and exotic Indian and African imports.

Of course, there are also the usual HMVs, Waterstones, River Islands and all the rest – conveniently located in a large pedestrian precinct slap bang in the centre of town. Leeds city centre is built on a “block” basis, with plenty of arcades linking the streets as they form a criss-cross pattern
through town. Most shops have entrances and exits into a couple of different streets, which can lead to a little disorientation at times, but just wandering about and seeing what is around the next corner is all part of the Leeds shopping experience.

FOOD AND DRINK

Leeds certainly has its fair share of places to wine and dine. Since I’m not living there at the moment I might be a bit out of date, so I will stick to general comments rather than specifics. As I already mentioned, there are a lot of “posh” bars and restaurants in the financial district to the north of the city centre. If wine bars and French cuisine are your thing, this is probably the best place to start looking.

If, however, you’re after a pint and some cheap grub, you’re probably better off looking somewhere else. Most of the pubs in town do some sort of food on a lunchtime (Rat and Parrot, Yates, Square on the Lane, Courtyard…) and there is a decent selection of cafes. My favourite café has to be “Pasta Romagna”, a small Italian place near WHSmith where you can be entertained by the owner (Gilda) belting out her own rendition of Italian opera songs at the top of her voice – as well as shouting quite a lot at the bemused staff and the occasional customer.

There is a decent collection of restaurants around the Corn Exchange selling reasonably priced food (Italian, Mexican, French), and there are the obligatory Pizza Huts, McDonald’s and the rest in the town centre for those of you in need of a quick snack.

If you’re just after a drink, the bars and pubs range from the incredibly pompous and expensive to the cheap and cheerful. The wine bars in the financial district will quite happily charge you double prices for drinks, but you do get to sit in civilised surroundings, surrounded by businessmen and the occasional “Emmerdale” actor. The middle part of the market is covered by &
#8220;trendy” bars like “Square on the Lane” or “The Courtyard”, although these tend to get full to bursting at the weekends and the constant loud dance music may not be to everybody’s taste. Those wanting a quieter life will want to check out more traditional (and cheaper) pubs like “The Horse and Trumpet” or “The Packhorse”. If you want to head away from the city centre, there is the famous Headingly district, which is especially popular with students.

TOURISM AND THE ARTS

Leeds is gradually building a reputation as a tourist destination and the visitor attractions are generally of a high quality. The Royal Armouries relocated to Leeds from London a couple of years ago and provides enough entertainment for a good day out. As well as the displays of weaponry through the ages, there are regular special exhibitions (I went to one on James Bond with original film props) and re-enactments of jousting tournaments and fencing competitions.

Nearby, you can find Tetley’s Brewery Wharf. This is a working brewery that sometimes floods the whole city centre with the distinctive smell of hops. Visitors can go on guided tours around the brewery itself, or go to the visitor centre and be entertained by scenes of beer-making through the ages and actors who take you on a historic tour of Tetley’s.

Leeds City Museum is also worth a look. This is situated next to the City Art Gallery (also good) in the centre of town and the displays have been reworked over recent years to make it more entertaining and informative.

Leeds has its fair share of theatres. The West Yorkshire Playhouse is famous for its Shakespeare and other classic productions, as well as presenting more modern plays, and often attracts big-name actors. The Grand provides a number of operatic and ballet productions, while the City Varieties often has comedians and musical acts and is known for its annual
pantomimes.

SPORT

Leeds United is perhaps the most famous sporting team in the city. They play at Elland Road in the west of the city and the whole area around the stadium tends to ground to a halt whenever there is a match on. Not being a football fan, I have only ever been to Elland Road once, but the stadium seemed impressive enough and there was a very good atmosphere.

Of course, Leeds is well known for the Headingly cricket ground where a number of matches are held over the summer months, and the Leeds Rhinos rugby team also plays in Headingly.

For people wanting to actually participate in sport, there are a number of leisure centres scattered around the city and the swimming pool in the centre of town has an Olympic size pool and a range of diving boards for the more adventurous.

PARKS

Despite being an industrial city, Leeds has a large amount of parkland. Roundhay Park in east Leeds covers over 700 acres and has two large lakes. It is ideal for Sunday afternoon walks, feeding the ducks, fishing or just sitting around and watching the world go by. The park is adjoined by the Canal Gardens which is home to Tropical World, an indoor attraction with aquaria, a rainforest area, a desert area and a butterfly house, all crawling with living creatures and filled with exotic plants.

Also in east Leeds, there is Temple Newsam house and gardens, covering 1,000 acres. The house, a Tudor Jacobean mansion, looks out over much of the parkland, a lake and a farm open to visitors. As a city boy, I was often thrilled to be taken there as a child to look at the pigs and sheep. In summer, the grounds are used for music festivals ranging from opera to rock and pop. The Reading/Leeds festival has been held here for a number of years now and I have been lucky to see bands like Blur, Pulp, Beck, Limp Bizkit, Ash, Foo Fighters, Stereophonics, Oasis and many more.

If you explore further, you will discover Golde
n Acre Park, Lotherton Hall with its collection of exotic birds, and many other green areas dotted around the city.

AND FINALLY…

Well, I think I’ve gone on for long enough. There is still quite a lot to write about Leeds (the universities, things to do in the suburbs…), but I think I have said enough for the overview I wanted to give you. Leeds is a great place (despite what Dickens may have said!) and for such a large city it manages to retain a sense of being one whole entity, unlike Manchester, as well as having lots of quiet and green areas to escape to. If you haven’t been, I recommend you give it a go at some point, I’m sure you’ll like the place.

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