Today’s article, by Antony Ramm, forms part of a series of posts inspired by Unearthed: The Power of Gardening – an exhibition in partnership with the British Library’s Living Knowledge Network, at Leeds Central Library from 10 September – 29 October 2025. A previous article in this series, by Becky Bavill, justly brought to light the life and…
A Selection of Botanical Treasures
Here at Leeds Central Library, we recently hosted a treasure handling workshop to show off a few more of our botanical items that we could not fit in our current exhibition – Unearthed: The Power of Gardening – at Leeds Central Library until 29 October 2025. First up was Flora Londinensis by William Curtis. This…
The man who turned into a moss: The botanical exploits of Richard Spruce
In connection with the ongoing Unearthed exhibition at Leeds Central Library, here’s a sneaky look at the backstory of a Yorkshire botanist whose passion for plants led him far and wide, touching on the worlds of science and medicine, empire and gardening. We then peek into his connections to one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs…
Planning the City: Leeds City Council Papers
We welcome back Heritage Volunteer Andy Armstrong this week, for the fifth in his series of blog articles exploring the rich archives of Leeds City Council papers and records available in our Local and Family History department. As usual, Andy’s research is accompanied by a research guide and a comprehensive spreadsheet of all our stock…
Gardens and Gardening in Leeds – a new curated gallery
To accompany our recent Unearthed: The Power of Gardening exhibition, hosted at Leeds Central Library until 29 October 2025, a new collection of images has been created on the Leodis website. Ranging from formal gardens to allotments, these photos offer a glimpse of how the people of Leeds have grown plants, flowers and vegetables over…
Gardeners of Leeds
Today’s article, by Becky Bavill, forms part of a series of posts inspired by Unearthed: The Power of Gardening – an exhibition in partnership with the British Library’s Living Knowledge Network, at Leeds Central Library from 10 September – 29 October 2025. Gardening is not only transformative, but also a power for social change. Here…
Heritage Open Days 2025
This week we take an in-depth look at events at Leeds Central Library during the Heritage Open Days Festival 2025. Local History Open Day Running on Saturday 13 September, 11.00am – 2.00pm in the Local and Family History Library, the Open Day is a chance for librarians to exhibit some of our most cherished and…
Robert Dawes of Temple Newsam
Today’s article, by Becky Bavill, forms part of a series of posts inspired by Unearthed: The Power of Gardening, an exhibition in partnership with the British Library’s Living Knowledge Network, at Leeds Central Library from 10 September – 29 October 2025. Inspired by our collaboration with the British Library, and the reading of a particularly…
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