Part I in a loose trilogy of posts exploring (some) meanings behind the study of local history. Part II is here and Part III is here by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library The proper study of history should always be far more than a record of ‘great’ events. History is as much…
Author: Leeds Libraries
When Industry and Art Meet
by Vickie, Art Library, Leeds Central Library This week’s post returns to the theme of an Industrial Leeds – specifically the title of ‘City of Industry’ – a name that is also title to the current exhibition devised and co-curated by local illustrator Drew Millward in the gallery space at Colours May Vary. After previously touching…
What’s in a Noun?
Our weekend of Heritage Open Day tours is in full swing here at Leeds Central Library – and places are all now fully booked up (sorry!). This year, as well as enjoying a trip around the nooks and crannies of our grand Victorian building, our visitors are getting a peek at some little treasures from…
A Visual Feast!
It’s the annual Heritage Open Days festival next week and, to celebrate, we’re bringing out some of the best prints and playbills from our archives. A large selection will be on display in Room 700 (formerly the Arts Space) in Leeds Central Library on Saturday 12 September, 1-4pm. Staff from the Local and Family History department will be on hand to offer background…
Not Just a Day Job
Leeds is – justly – famous for a great many things, not least its heritage of industry, manufacturing and trade: Benjamin Gott, John Marshall, Joshua Tetley and Michael Marks being just a handful of the major figures associated with the city and its commerce. But, alongside those names still recognisable today, were a mass of…
The Rugby-Playing War Poet
We’re currently in the process of putting together the upcoming Rugby Union exhibition at Leeds Central Library, which opens on 4 September, and it’s giving us a great opportunity to look through some related resources from our library collection. One of these is the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union Commemoration Book 1914-1919, which profiles dozens of…
Meet Alan Peters: Playwright and Novelist
A recent enquiry brought the name ‘Alan Peters’ to our attention. While our customer knew that Peters was a pseudonym for a Leeds-based author of the 1930s and 40s, he was keen to know the writer’s real name. The only information he could provide was that the author was a doctor of some description –…
Walking and Watercolours
“It is inconceivable that people in our big cities should prefer to stay grubbing in the hot and dusty streets instead of getting out into the green fields and the breezy country side, unless there were some real hindrances in the way of their doing so.” So opens Thirty-six Country Rambles Round Leeds by local…
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