This week on the Secret Library we hear from Josh Flint on the tumultuous year that Hey’s Brewery Women’s Football team had in 1921. 1921 was a fascinating year for Women’s Football and Hey’s Brewery Women’s Football team encapsulated this, as they spent most of the year playing in front of enormous crowds and ended…
Category: Child Friendly
The First Leeds Panto?
To mark the forthcoming Christmas week, Librarian Antony Ramm offers a short investigation into the first pantomime performed in Leeds… In 1986 a reader of the Yorkshire Evening Post asked a simple question: What “records” were consulted for this answer is not made clear, but a previous article on the history of pantomime in Leeds…
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Moon Landing Reminiscence Session
This week Local and Family History’s Josh Flint will discuss the Moon Landing Reminiscence event held at Horsforth Library to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Moon Landing. This event was designed for people who could remember the Moon Landing in 1969 to share their stories with children. To inspire inter-generational discussion with the guests…
People of Leeds #8: Annie Tunnington
The eighth in an occasional series looking at forgotten contributors to the history of Leeds. This week, we tell the story of Annie Tunnington, the ‘Poppy Lady of Leeds’. You can view all entries in this People of Leeds series elsewhere on the blog. Annie Tunnington of Roundhay began selling poppies in response to the…
Alice Mann (1791-1865)
Alice Mann (1791-1865) Central Street and Duncan Street This Leeds-born radical and publisher operated primarily from a bookshop based in the now-demolished Central Market on Duncan Street (near to Central Street). Alice married James Mann, a prominent West Riding political activist and bookseller, in 1807. After his death she took on his business to support…
The 1908 Suffragette Riot
Suffragette Riot (10 October 1908) Corner of Cookridge Street & Portland Gate, The Coliseum On this day Prime Minister Herbert Asquith was due to speak at the Coliseum on Cookridge Street. The police were worried the Suffragettes would try to disrupt the event. Jennie Baines, a suffragette from Stockport, was addressing the crowd who had…
Tales from Circus 250: A Topography of the Circus in Leeds, Part IV
Part IV of a short series of stories from the glory days of the Circus in Leeds and the surrounding area. All the stories can be found in the History of Leeds Circus tab at the top of this page, continuing with today’s fourth and final topographical look at the various Circus sites in and around Leeds……
Memories of Leeds Central Library
Do you have memories of working in the Leeds Municipal Building on Calverley Street? Leeds Library Service is keen to hear from you, as their local history Librarians begin an exciting new project exploring the heritage of one of the city centre’s most iconic Victorian buildings. First opened in 1884, the Municipal Building has variously…
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