Day 4 of our Advent Calendar brings us to the Christmas Celebrations at Gledhow Military Hospital. During the First World War, Gledhow Hall was offered for use as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospital and run by the British Red Cross. This first image from 1917 shows one of the small huts in the grounds…
Category: Leeds History
Christmas Pudding
Day 2 of our Heritage & Special Collections Advent Calendar. Today librarian Helen Skilbeck has a Christmas Pudding recipe for you. Please let us know if you give it a go. The Leeds company Goodall, Backhouse and Co. produced a range of ‘household specialities’ including Yorkshire Relish, egg and custard powder, ginger beer powder, quinine…
Snowy Tramscapes by Peter Lapish
We’re kicking off the 2021 festive period with our Secret Library Leeds Advent Calendar. Everyday in the run up to Christmas we will bring you something from our heritage & special collections, all with a seasonal feel. Day 1 – Prints from the Leodis.net photographic archive as chosen by senior librarian Louise Birch Impressionistic watercolours…
DISrupting the arts in Leeds
Gill Crawshaw has been researching examples of disability arts in the Local and Family History Library as DISrupt, a collective of disabled artists, continues this legacy in Leeds. This article is published to mark next week’s International Day of Disabled People on 3 December, and Leeds’ own week of events, Leeds for All. DISrupt, a…
Before Windrush: Black People in Leeds and Bradford, 1708 – 1948
This week the Secret Library blog is delighted to welcome back local historian and researcher Danny Friar whose four articles during Black History Month told the story of Black people in Leeds and Bradford in the three centuries before the arrival of the ‘Windrush Generation’. This week, Danny has very kindly allowed us to publish…
The Land Travelling Exhibition: When the Festival came to Leeds
On the Secret Library this week we hear from Lisa Brown and Flo Armitage-Hookes from the Leeds Modernist. They will be discussing the 70th Anniversary of The Festival of Britain using resources from the Leeds Libraries collection. If you would like to know more about the Leeds Modernist Society then visit their website, Instagram and…
Before Windrush: Black People in Leeds and Bradford, 1708 – 1948, Part IV
This week on the Secret Library we hear from researcher Danny Friar, who explores the rich history of people of African heritage making Leeds and Bradford their home over a 300 year period. This is Part IV of a four part series during Black History Month: the result of new research, these articles will shed…
Before Windrush: Black People in Leeds and Bradford, 1708 – 1948, Part III
This week on the Secret Library we hear from researcher Danny Friar, who explores the rich history of people of African heritage making Leeds and Bradford their home over a 300 year period. This is Part III of a four part series during Black History Month: the result of new research, these articles will shed…
