In 1985 the Timothy White chain of stores – formerly a major presence on British streets – disappeared from the high street following a takeover by Boots the Chemist. It’s perhaps not secret history – more forgotten history – that the Timothy White company had at least part of its roots right here in Leeds….
Author: Leeds Libraries
Lines Around Leeds
Leeds Corporation Tramways formerly served the city of Leeds. The transport network first opened on 29 October 1891 and its original trams were horse-drawn but, by 1901, electrification had been completed. There were several lines running between the city centre and Cross Gates, Chapel Allerton, Moortown, Roundhay, Middleton, Beeston, Armley, Hunslet, and Kirkstall. The network, of which…
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Walk through Woodhouse Moor on any summer’s day and you are sure to see throngs of young revellers. But, we wondered, how did our ancestors enjoy the Moor during warm weather? We took a look in the Leeds Mercury, via the 19th-century British Newspapers website (free to all library members) to find out. Our most…
Read More: Commemorating Waterloo, June 18 1815 – “The history book on the shelf…”
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library This is an entry in our Read More series. These are ‘long-form’ articles, where staff offer a curated and detailed look at areas of our book collections, usually based around a specific theme or subject. These posts aim to guide the interested reader through to those books that offer…
Read More: Magna Carta – ‘The Great Charter’ of 1215
by Antony Ramm, Information and Research, Central Library This is an entry in our Read More series. These are ‘long-form’ articles, where staff offer a curated and detailed look at areas of our book collections, usually based around a specific theme or subject. These posts aim to guide the interested reader through to those books that offer a…
Trials of a Leeds Soldier
Many Leeds citizens fought valiantly in the First World War, but few could tell a tale as fascinating as William (sometimes ‘Willie’) Lonsdale. This week, the Secret Library brings you an abridged version of his story, researched and written by one of our team of volunteers, using the resources available in our Local and Family…
Presented for your entertainment…
While looking through our playbill collection we were fascinated by the range of different acts which have been presented to audiences in Leeds over the years. Here are just a few. The Theatre, which was on Hunslet Lane, opened in 1771 with room for 600 people. Most of the plays performed were comedies, or comic operas,…
Going out in Leeds
Are you going out in Leeds over the Bank Holiday weekend? Here at the Secret Library we thought we would share some of the photographs from our collections of just a few of the many places to visit in Leeds from yesteryear. Place to eat out always feature on a day out. Who remembers the…
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