Tony Harcup tells the story of how a group of Leeds journalists helped form the NUJ more than 100 years ago. News junkies, history buffs and anyone with even a passing interest in current affairs will find plenty to enjoy at the Breaking the News exhibition currently (2022) running in Leeds (at the Central Library…
Category: Social History
Quarry Hill Flats – The Memory of Place
This week we welcome Lou Bentley who has been developing a new website chronicling the history of the Quarry Hill Flats. She is keen to hear your memories of the flats so please contact her through her website if you have something to share. What remains of place after brick and glass, steel and concrete…
The Mechanics’ Institute: Part II – “Commensurate with the growing intelligence and prosperity of the people.”
The second part of guest author Tony Scaife‘s series on the Leeds Mechanics Institute, sourced from books and other resources available in the Local Studies & Research department at the Central Library. Part I can be found here. Earlier we have seen how, in 1824, the leading citizens of the town planned to create the…
A Day of Marches & Demonstrations
Librarian Louise Birch uses photographs from the Leodis archive to remember events that took place 50 years ago today. 5th February 1972 was a day of marches and demonstrations in the city of Leeds. Using images from the Leodis website we will take a look at the marches and their causes. Over 500 people took…
A Brief History of Coffee in Leeds
Two coffee venues feature as entries on the Edible Leeds heritage trail, at numbers 4 and 20. Librarian Antony Ramm offers a very brief overview of those locations, bringing the story up to date with a more modern addition… We at the Secret Library don’t know exactly when the first coffee house in Leeds opened…
The Mechanics’ Institute: Part I – Cultivating Minds
We hear from regular guest author Tony Scaife on the Secret Library this week. This is the first of a series on the Leeds Mechanics Institute, sourced from books and other resources available in the Local Studies & Research department at the Central Library… When I first moved to Leeds, I was struck by how…
Family Allowance Toy Fair
by Louise Birch Day 7 of our Advent Calendar is all about Christmas Shopping. there is a commercial side to Christmas that many dislike, for some this is due to the affordability of gifts. Today’s entry recalls a toy fair that addressed this. These images show the annual Wykebeck ‘Family allowance Toy Fair’. Local residents…
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…
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