Today’s Secret Library blog is written by John Heywood, author of Beside the Seaside: A History of Yorkshire’s Seaside Resorts. When I was asked to write a brief article, it set me thinking as to how I could link elements of the book to the City of Leeds. If I had been at the Library at…
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Cuthbert Brodrick: The Architect of Victorian Leeds
Work placement student from The University of Huddersfield Haaris Mahmood, talks us through a brief history of the impact the architect Cuthbert Brodrick had on the city of Leeds. The city of Leeds is rich in architecture and other designs, which is at times taken for granted. As some residents from Leeds have said, ‘the…
The Mechanics’ Institute: Part III – “…In no small measure to contribute…to the advancement of the community.”
The third and final part in guest author Tony Scaife’s trilogy exploring the Leeds Mechanics Institute. All three articles were researched using books and other resources available in the Local Studies & Research department at Leeds Central Library. We had left the story of the Leeds Institute with the 1865 opening of the Cuthbert Brodrick-designed…
Leeds Town Hall and the tradition of the ‘Civic Organ’
This week we have a guest blog post from the City Organist for Leeds, Darius Battiwalla, who tells us about the history of the organ in Leeds Town Hall. Even in a silent and empty hall, the organ in Leeds Town Hall demands attention as soon as you walk in. Like its cousins in Birmingham…
The Mechanics’ Institute: Part II – “Commensurate with the growing intelligence and prosperity of the people.”
The second part of guest author Tony Scaife‘s series on the Leeds Mechanics Institute, sourced from books and other resources available in the Local Studies & Research department at the Central Library. Part I can be found here. Earlier we have seen how, in 1824, the leading citizens of the town planned to create the…
The Mechanics’ Institute: Part I – Cultivating Minds
We hear from regular guest author Tony Scaife on the Secret Library this week. This is the first of a series on the Leeds Mechanics Institute, sourced from books and other resources available in the Local Studies & Research department at the Central Library… When I first moved to Leeds, I was struck by how…
Cookridge Street Public Baths
This week, librarian Helen Skilbeck takes a look back at the history of the public baths on Cookridge Street… Directly opposite Leeds City Museum, on the site of Millennium Square, were Cookridge Street Public Baths – also known as the Oriental and General Baths. Opened in 1866, these baths survived for nearly a century until…
The Leeds Club
The Leeds Club (est. 1852) Albion Place Founded in 1849, moved into premises on Albion Place in 1852. Said to have been the equal of “any clubhouse out of London,” the Club ensured exclusivity with a very high annual subscription fee: approximately £6 a year, while the Leeds Radical Universal Suffrage Association, a working-class Chartist…
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