Leeds Libraries

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…

Leeds Celebrations for VE Day

On Tuesday, May 8, 1945, the front page headline of the Yorkshire Post announced “THE EUROPEAN WAR IS OVER AND THIS IS VE-DAY AND A HOLIDAY”. After six long years of bitter struggle, the British people had won freedom from fear and they celebrated in style. No more so than here in Leeds, where despite…

Owney Madden

Friday the 24th of April 2015 marked the 50th-anniversary of Owney Madden’s death. Owney – sometimes Owen – Madden was a legendary figure in American organised crime; a notorious bootlegger during the Roaring Twenties; an associate of Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano; the owner of the fabled Cotton Club; a childhood friend to actor George…

Two Centuries Earlier…

This week, we’re taking you on a short walking tour of the city centre – not as it is today, but as it would’ve looked in the early Nineteenth Century – using descriptions taken from the pages of The Leeds Guide of 1806. In the spirit of the original volume, which was printed by Edward…

Easter Scenes from Years Gone By

It was a wet and slightly chilly start to the bank holiday weekend this year in Leeds, but a look through our photography website, Leodis (www.leodis.net), shows that this isn’t unusual for the city at Easter time. Here’s a photo from Easter weekend two years ago, when the Trinity Leeds shopping centre first opened its…