This week our guest writer is Dr Laura Ager, Academic researcher and Creative Engagement Officer at the Hyde Park Picture House, who is writing about the history of old cinemas in Leeds. Before the era of the corporate multiplex cinema began, Leeds used to have many different and unique small cinemas. I have read that at…
Category: Child Friendly
Tales from Circus 250: A Topography of the Circus in Leeds, Part III
Part III 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 third topographical look at the various Circus sites in and around Leeds… KING CHARLES…
Tales from Circus 250: A Topography of the Circus in Leeds, Part II
Part II 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, continuing with today’s second topographical look at the various Circus sites in and around Leeds… COMMERCIAL STREET Mr Kite erected his…
Women of Leeds
In celebration of International Women’s Day 2019 we are launching a new series using items from our collections to highlight the women and events that shaped Leeds. From the Barnbow Lasses of WWI and the Suffragettes that fought for a woman’s right to vote, to prominent and pioneering female politicians Alice Bacon, Maud Dightam and…
Double, double toil and trouble – What inspired the witches in Macbeth?
This week we hear from Collections Manager Rhian Isaac on some sources for Shakespeare’s witches… It’s a month until Shakespeare Week and to start getting people in the mood I have been bringing out some of our collections to explore why Shakespeare may have incorporated the supernatural into his plays. Monsters, fairies, witches, demons and…
Marathon Running in Leeds: The History of the Leeds Marathon
by Karen Downham, Local & Family History Library After the amazing feat of distance runner Eliud Kipchoge, breaking the world record for the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 1 minute, and 39 seconds, at the Berlin Marathon earlier this year, on 16th September, and as runners thoughts start to turn to training for…
‘Xmas at the Libraries’
This week Assistant Librarian Manager of Local and Family History, Sally Hughes, takes a look back at festive performances gone by in Leeds Libraries. ‘Children who attend the “Story half-hours” in the Leeds Public Libraries are preparing for extra jolly programmes…’ During the mid to late 1920s Leeds Libraries saw a huge increase in…
The Magic of Books from the Golden Age of Illustration
This week we hear from illustrator Teresa Flavin on some magically-illustrated books from her childhood… When I was about nine years old, my family visited a used bookshop where I discovered a fairy story with graceful line illustrations. The book was cheap enough to buy with my pocket money and though it was somewhat battered…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 