Latest planning news Leeds city centre is slowly coming back to life. Videos of queues outside Primark show that a general obsession with shopping might not go away completely but I can’t imagine returning soon unless I need something vital not available online. What will be the impact of Covid-19 on the retail quarter? And […]
Since George Floyd’s shocking death, the subsequent demonstrations and conversations have given us cause to reflect upon and listen to the shared experiences of the black community. As an organisation, we are fully aware that what we do and how we do it needs to reflect all of us and the city in which we […]
Last month we tried our first on-line developer presentation and, apart from some technical issues, this seemed to go well. We were shown plans for the former Arla Dairies site on Kirkstall Road (next to the Nissan garage halfway between the viaduct and the city centre) where it is proposed to build some 630 apartments […]
Should HS2 be cancelled? The government is conducting a review of the HS2 high speed rail project to connect Leeds and Manchester to London via Birmingham following concerns that costs may have risen to £100 billion; by the time you read this the outcome may be known! The following are my personal thoughts on the […]
Liveable Leeds Competition Would you like to help make Leeds a more liveable city? We have identified an area of the city, currently dominated by roads, that needs to be improved and we would like your help to redesign it. The area is the Eastside of Leeds – the area on the Eastern fringe of […]
Are you a keen photographer? Do you have a passion for heritage buildings, restoration and repair? Then the Trust would like your help! We’re currently working on a series of guides to help homeowners living in Conservation Areas. We’d like to illustrate these guides with real life examples of buildings and streetscapes that highlight positive […]
This International Women’s Day Leeds Civic Trust highlights the women celebrated on our blue plaques. Leeds is built on the success of women who have been instrumental in the development, enlightenment and prosperity of this city. From culture to education, activism to sport, these great women have paved the way for future generations. Often unsung […]
George Edwin Ellison – Plaque Appeal George Edwin Ellison was a husband, father and miner. Born in 1878, Ellison went on to marry Hannah Burgan in 1912. They had one son, James, and subsequently made 49 Edmund Street, Leeds their home. Ellison had been a British soldier long before the Great War, but left service […]
Local Listing Workshop at Mabgate The inner-city area of Mabgate is one of the oldest established parts of Leeds and was central to the city’s industrialisation. At the end of the 18th century, as mills and factories were appearing across the city centre, Mabgate became somewhat of a hub for manufacturing. By 1850, it was […]
Stories from the Heritage at Risk List – The Majestic One of Leeds’ true city centre icons is in the middle of a £40 million redevelopment which will return it to its former glory and a whole lot more. The Majestic building in City Square was purchased by Rushbond plc and the firm’s proposals for […]
Airey Homes The 20th Century Society recently spent the weekend in Leeds and for me one of the great finds was a complete estate of mostly unaltered Airey houses in Oulton. Designed and built after the Second World War by Sir Edwin Airey of Leeds, these prefabricated houses consist of concrete columns, reinforced with […]
Stories from the Heritage at Risk List In 2013, as part of an English Heritage pilot project, Leeds Civic Trust played a leading role in surveying Grade 2 listed buildings in Leeds. Led by Jenna Strover, the Chair of the Trust’s Heritage at Risk Group, the team of approximately 20 volunteers managed to survey an […]
Rainbow Plaque 9 – Artist Robert H. Kitson Rainbow Plaque number 9, celebrating the life and works of Robert Hawthorn Kitson, can be found on the glass entrance to the Leeds Art Gallery. Kitson was a gay man from Leeds who chose to move to Italy at the turn of the 20th Century to escape […]
Mill Hill Chapel, situated opposite the train station at the bottom of Park Row, is the location of the fourth plaque on our Rainbow Plaque Trail. It commemorates the site at which, in 2014, Leeds’ first same-sex marriages were conducted within a religious context. The Marriage Act of 2013 legalised the marriage ceremonies of same-sex […]
Rainbow Plaque 15 – Celebrating 'Polari' Rainbow Plaque number 15 on our newly established Rainbow Plaque Trail around Leeds city centre celebrates the LGBT+ community’s use of ‘Polari’, a secret vocabulary used to avoid arousing suspicion at a time when being gay was a criminal offence. The plaque is situated at the entrance to the […]