Passport to…
Officially the UK’s third largest city and unofficially the shopping capital of the north, Leeds is Yorkshire’s beating heart
LEEDS
Officially the UK’s third largest city and unofficially the shopping capital of the north, Leeds is Yorkshire’s beating heart
SIGHTS
Shopped out already? Brace yourself for a walk around the 700 acres of Roundhay Park, a mere three miles from the city centre [www.roundhaypark.org.uk], or soak up the Victorian architectural splendour of Leeds Town Hall [The Headrow, www.leeds.gov.uk].
MUSEUMS
Pay tribute to one of the city’s most celebrated sons and take a cultural trip around international modern sculpture at the Henry Moore Institute [The Headrow, +44 (0)113 246 7467, www.henry-moorefdn.co.uk]. Or march down to the Royal Armouries, the UK’s national collection of arms and armour [Armouries Drive, +44 (0)8700 344 344, www.armouries.org.uk].
NIGHTLIFE
Fancy a giggle? Head to the Thursday-night House Of Fun in Headingley [Original Oak, Otley Road, +44 (0)113 2751322], Leeds’s longest-running comedy night. For a taste of the city’s thriving music scene, shimmy down to legendary venue the Cockpit [Swinegate, +44 (0)113 2441573, www.thecockpit.co.uk].
COMING UP
You can’t get more Yorkshire than the Black Dyke Band. Check out the worldfamous brass band at Morley Town Hall on 17 January [www.leedsconcertseason.com] to blow away the post-Christmas cobwebs.
TOUCHDOWN
For an immediate architectural and retail fix as well as a taste of proper Yorkshire heritage, start at the Corn Exchange [Call Lane], in a Grade I-listed building which is a haven of cute cafés and independent shops.
SLEEP
Anyone who’s anyone will head straight to 42 The Calls, a converted 18thcentury corn mill, now a chic five-star boutique hotel overlooking the River Aire [The Calls, +44 (0)113 2440099, www.theetoncollection.com]. Stick to the waterside for a mid-price stay at Jurys Inn in the heart of the Brewery Wharf development [Kendell Street, +44 (0)113 2838800, www.jurysinns.com]. Leeds is woefully short of budget hostels – try St Michael’s Guest House [Cardigan Road, Headingley, +44 (0)113 2755557, www.stmichaelstowerhotel.co.uk], walking distance from Headingley cricket ground.
EAT
Eschew city-slicker dining and head straight to La Besi, a small, friendly, familyrun Italian close to the centre [Woodhouse Lane, +44 (0)113 2441177, www.labesi.co.uk]. Anthony’s [Boar Lane, +44 (0)113 2455922 www.anthonysrestaurant.co.uk] is one of Leeds’s crowning gastronomic glories and highly acclaimed. Leeds is home to the National Federation of Fish Fryers so to taste some of the best fish and chips in the country visit Bryans in Headingley [+44 (0)113 2785679, Weetwood Lane, www.bryansfishrestaurant.co.uk]
SHOPS
The Knightsbridge of the North is the Victoria Quarter’s Grade II-listed shopping arcade with international designers Vivienne Westwood, Karen Millen and Paul Smith and chic pavement cafés [www.v-q.co.uk]. For the quirkier side of Leeds head to the Exchange Quarter [www.exchangequarter.com] where
Above: The area around Leeds’s Corn Exchange was rundown until it was turned into a shopping arcade in the mid-1980s
Top right: 42 The Calls is the city’s most chic hotel
Words: Hazel Davis
Image bank
Cloud City
IT’S AN UNLIKELY ENTRANT for Wildlife Photographer of the Year, given the only canary in this picture is a dockside development.Yet this image was Highly Commended in the One Earth category of the annual photographic prize. The shot, of Canary Wharf s skyscrapers puncturing London’s cloud cover, was captured by British photographer Piers Calvert, who divides his time between London and Bogotá. Calvert explains:“I had been taking pictures since my plane started to cross the English Channel. Looking down as we circled London was like watching a scene from a movie. Wildlife Photographer of the Year runs until 26 April, at The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7. www.nhm.ac.uk
