Monthly Archives: June 2026

So good to be three floors up surrounded by pigeons fingers flying through catalogue cards nobody there in the hour before moonlight when everything is possible and the books whispering in the quarto room with leather-bound tongues. Liz McPherson Back … Continue reading →

We thought we were moving to Leeds, then discovered we’d come to Yorkshire. The diversity of landscape here is an unimagined spell: coast, moorland, dale and fell, etched by strolling rivers beyond a vibrant city hub. Today, walking an ancient … Continue reading →

babbling … you go down into the lost city there are secret squares of olde worlde trees, botanical gardens, that exist in dreams only, an alchemist’s shop, a bustling market, where you can buy truffles or star fruit; and embedded … Continue reading →

Look up to where The Grimshaw skylines Sit above the coffee bars. By the city station, Venetian towers of catalogues and wool Stand over the Aire as it pushes to Hull. Take the slow canal west towards Liverpool, To the … Continue reading →

Memories of a French 20 something, 1972 Motorway city of the Seventies. That is what it said on the envelope. So, I found out I would be off to Leeds, And I wondered how I’d manage to cope. But Yorkshire … Continue reading →

I’m born into the Cockney tribe, known mostly for Pearly Kings and Queens, rhyming slang, and possibly dealing in things that fell off the back of a lorry. As a family we have zero to do with the royals and … Continue reading →

They glare at each other across the wide expanse of Headingley Lane – two brick-armoured behemoths ready to joust in defence of pecuniary gain and student thirst. Sturdy knights of alcohol, they will contest the field of honour to the … Continue reading →

Chapeltown 1955/56, a hive of ethnic diversity. Jews, Irish, Poles and a scattering of others dwelt in large Victorian terraced houses, many of which had been converted into flats. This was a whole world away from the life I’d lived … Continue reading →

Past blackened buildings Telling another story But this was the swinging 70’s Or maybe not so swinging more swingeing. The Headrow beckoned Debenhams, Lewis’ Schofields Littlewoods, Stead and Simpsons Past Dolcis, Clark’s, Dunn & Co Tobacco shops aplenty, Capstan and … Continue reading →