The Alternative Heritage of Leeds

This week we welcome guest blogger, Festival of Gothica, who tell us about a new project working jointly with Leeds Libraries. Leeds has a rich alternative heritage but was influential in birthing the goth subculture as we know it today. Other cities celebrate their musical history and shape their events and tourism around it, Liverpool…

Secrets of The Palm: An Insight into Early Radio Broadcasting in Leeds

This week’s post is by Tony Scaife, a Heritage Volunteer based at the Local and Family History Library. He’s been indexing volumes of The Palm, the magazine of the old Leeds Central High School, which inspired him to delve a little deeper into the city’s early radio days… In 1901, the groundbreaking Central High School (CHS)…

The Dutchman’s Leetle Dog: A Surprising Tale

by Gilly Margrave, Music and Performing Arts, Leeds Central Library When I was very small, small enough for grown-ups to be able to distract me by singing funny little songs, I remember my great aunt Ethel singing a song about a little dog which was lost. Aunt Ethel had been a teacher for all her…

Folk Hero: Frank Kidson

by Karen Downham, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library Earlier this month, Leeds Central Library hosted Kidson Day, an event celebrating the folk song collector Frank Kidson, his legacy to Leeds and his significant contribution to the world of music and folk song. Visiting artists Pete Coe and Alice Jones had been researching, learning…

#explorearchives: A Tale of One Manuscript and Two Lords Irwin

by Gilly Margrave, Music and Performing Arts, Leeds Central Library One of the rarest items in the archive of our Music and Performing Arts Library has to be the manuscript of a Cantate di Camera à Voce Sola written by Giuseppe Montuoli of Lucca and dedicated to “Signor Milord Eduardo Irwin and dated 1706. This refers to…