Yorkshire's commercial capital, and one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, LEEDS has undergone a radical transformation in recent years. There's still a true northern grit to its character, and in many of its dilapidated suburbs, but the grime has been removed from the Victorian centre and the city is revelling in its renaissance as a financial, administrative and cultural boomtown. The formerly run-down city quarters have been revitalized and have made Leeds a noted nightlife destination. It's long been the region's cultural centre, home to Opera North, the noted West Yorkshire Playhouse and a triennial international piano competition that ranks among the world's top musical events. The Royal Armouries aside, the City Art Gallery has the best collection of British twentieth-century art outside London; Leeds Industrial Museum takes care of the city's historical legacy; while further out you might try to see the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey and one of the country's great Georgian piles, Harewood House .
The City
City Square opposite the train station hasn't been much of an introduction to Leeds for years, though that's starting to change as the surrounding buildings are renovated and smartened up. From the square it's a short walk up to the main Headrow where you can't miss Leeds Town Hall , one of the finest expressions of nineteenth-century civic pride in the country. The masterpiece of local architect Cuthbert Broderick, it's colonnaded on all sides, guarded by white lions and topped by a perky clocktower. Venture further up Calverley Street to see Millennium Square . It's not much to look at by day, but hidden beneath the concrete lies state of the art technology to transform the square into a theatre and music venue seating 2,500 people.
The Leeds City Art Gallery (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Wed 10am-8pm, Sun 1-5pm; free) on the Headrow comprises one of the best arrays outside London of twentieth-century British art. Changing selections from the permanent collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century art and sculpture are presented, with an understandable bias towards pieces by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, both former students at the Leeds School of Art; Moore's Reclining Woman lounges at the top of the steps outside the gallery. From the gallery, a slender bridge connects to the adjacent Henry Moore Institute (daily 10am-5.30pm, Wed until 9pm; free), devoted to showcasing temporary exhibitions of sculpture from all periods and nationalities.
Most people make a beeline for the brimming, shop-filled arcades further along on either side of Briggate . These nineteenth-century palaces of marble, mahogany, stained glass and mosaics have been magnificently restored to house the shops and businesses which are at the heart of Leeds' revival. Perhaps the most splendidly decorated of all is the Victoria Quarter , with Harvey Nichols as its designer lodestone. Across Vicar Lane, Kirkgate Market (closed Wed afternoon & Sun) is the largest market in the north of England. Housed in a superb Edwardian building, it's a descendant of the medieval woollen markets that were instrumental in making Leeds the early focus of the region's textile industry. On the corner of Vicar Lane and Duncan Street, the elliptical, domed Corn Exchange (open daily) was built in 1863, and is now a market for jewellery, retro clothes, furnishings, music and other bits and bobs. Behind here, under the railway arches on Assembley Street and along Call Lane, Leeds' Exchange Quarter flexes its fashionable muscles in a series of hip cafés and restaurants.
The biggest transformation in Leeds has been along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, formerly a stagnant relic of industrial decline. At Granary Wharf, a couple of minutes' walk from the train station, stores and craftshops fill the extensive cobbled, vaulted arches (the "Dark Arches"), while every weekend (and bank holiday) a market with stalls, bands and entertainers spills out onto the canal basin. Further up on the south side, past Victoria and Leeds bridges, is the gun-metal grey bulk of the Royal Armouries (daily: 10am-5pm; free), purpose-built to house the arms and armour collection from the Tower of London. Themed galleries cover concepts such as "War" and "Hunting", while there are enough demonstrations (jousting to falconry), interactive displays, hands-on exhibits and computer simulations to keep everyone interested. Bus #63B runs every fifteen minutes direct to the Armouries from Leeds City Square, a five-minute ride. |
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