It’s Volunteers’ Week 2025 (June 2 – June 8): a chance to celebrate the amazing achievements of our current team of heritage volunteers. Read on for some highlights from the last 12-months! Print collectionSeveral of our heritage volunteers, a student placement and a Duke of Edinburgh volunteer have all been busy working on our print…
Tag: trams
Journeying Through Time: Unveiling Leeds’ Transport Heritage from the Archives
This week on the blog we hear from volunteer Andy Armstrong, who has travelled through literally thousands of items in our collections to bring you this article… Hi – my name’s Andy Armstrong and I joined the library as a volunteer last autumn to help search through the vast collection of material produced by Leeds…
Heroic actions of a local man
This week on the Secret Library Leeds we hear from Becky Bavill, Library & Digital Assistant, on the aftermath of a 1950s tram accident – including a nice Keanu Reeves reference. In September 1952, the Leeds papers were full of a dramatic incident that had happened in Oakwood. An empty, driverless tram collided with a…
The 1926 General Strike
The General Strike (5-6 May 1926) The Corn Exchange On the 5th and 6th of May disturbances occurred in the town centre due to the continued operation of some trams and buses on a reduced service. On the first day, a tram was forced to stop as its windows were smashed by lumps of coal….
Briggate in Brief
Local History Librarian, Ross Horsley, celebrates Black Friday with a special deal of ten FREE facts about Briggate, one of the oldest streets in Leeds. Whether you’re on the lookout for seasonal deals or finally getting to grips with your Christmas list, it’s likely you’ll find yourself on Leeds’s main shopping street at some point…
The Lady Tram-Conductor
Here’s a little insight into First World War-era Leeds for you today, in the form of a poem written by Burley resident Edward Carless, and dated 12 February 1916: The Lady Tram-Conductor: A Working Man’s Tribute Strange things happen in time of war; A lady now conducts the car! In uniform, so smart and trim, She’s…
Lines Around Leeds
Leeds Corporation Tramways formerly served the city of Leeds. The transport network first opened on 29 October 1891 and its original trams were horse-drawn but, by 1901, electrification had been completed. There were several lines running between the city centre and Cross Gates, Chapel Allerton, Moortown, Roundhay, Middleton, Beeston, Armley, Hunslet, and Kirkstall. The network, of which…
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