SB1 - Public space in leeds - Research -

List of Ideas 

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• Leeds city hall being built could be seen as a important event. It would also be intresting to look into the architecture of the city.
• Leeds was Yorkshire textiles hub, selling lots of cloth.
• Big sports events that have happened in leeds - boxer etc
• Looking at the distance we have come from eg medical equipment.
• Leeds is the home of cluedo 
• leeds is the home of marks and spencers 
• Leeds Libaray 
• Wharf Chambers 
• Temple work - A very cultural important site which is now being closed down.
• Whitelock Ale house - A pub which has been around since the 1715
• Otley Chevin
• Middleton railway
• The Meanwood valley trail
• Hyde park picture house 
• Leeds corn exchange
• The gallery at munro house
• Love Parade 2001 Roudgh park

Further researched Ideas

x-ray crystallography

One of the most important scientific progressions of the 20th century occurred at the University of Leeds. William Henry Bragg and his son William Lawrence Bragg discovered the structure of crystals using x-ray technology, and helped pave the way for all manner of new discoveries in the years to come, including work on the structure of DNA.

historical philology

You may not have heard of him, but Richard Bentley, an Oulton born academic, was one of the most important classical scholars and critics in history. He translated and reappraised a number of classical texts, causing a ruckus in the process and leaving his mark on literature forever.

There was once hippos in leeds 

The idea that hippos once patrolled The Headrow isn’t a fanciful Spielberg biopic. In 1984, by the site of the present Armley Gyratory, the bones of a hippo were discovered – and they’re thought to be up to 130,000 years old. They can now be found in Leeds City Museum.

JRR Tolkein is from leeds 

You may not realise it, but Leeds has given the world a series of literary greats. Alan Bennett’s plays, including Talking Heads, have made him a national icon, while Leeds born Barbara Taylor Bradford sold thirty million copies of A Woman of Substance. JRR Tolkein and Arthur Ransome of Swallows and Amazons fame have also resided here.

Elephant armour in leeds

The Royal Armouries is home to the biggest example of animal armour in the world? The elephant armour was brought back to Britain in 1801 by the former wife of the Governor of Madras and obtained by Royal Armouries in 1962.

Leeds was the original Hollywood

Louis Le Prince is film royalty and Leeds is where it all began. He filmed the first motion pictures at Oakwood Grange and on Leeds Bridge in 1888. Though the likes of Thomas Edison and the Lumiere brothers have been given credit for their roles since, it was Le Prince who set the ball rolling.

Childrens day 1955

Ever heard of Leeds Children’s Day? You probably haven’t, because it doesn’t happen anymore, but it was once one of the biggest events on the social calendar. It brought thousands of school children and their families together in Roundhay Park for athletic displays and games – becoming a hallmark of post-war Leeds. It’s just a shame it doesn’t exist today.

Hunting events in roundhay park

William the Conqueror is responsible for the early formation of Roundhay Park. Now one of the biggest parks in Europe, back then William passed the lands to the influential De Lacy family, whose successors included John of Gaunt and Henry IV, and it was used for hundreds of years as hunting grounds for the various members of royalty who passed through it.

Music events in roundhay

The eyes of the entertainment world repeatedly turned to Leeds during the 1980s as Roundhay Park played host to some of the biggest names in music.

Hurricane hits leeds 1962

Back in February 1962, just a few months after a tropical storm had battered Ireland and North West England, a hurricane rolled through Yorkshire causing chaos in Leeds and the surrounding towns. Leeds Train Station had to close and Otley Market was shut for the first time in 30 years.

An event of growing

Nope, not the people, the city itself. Leeds has a habit for swallowing up surrounding towns and villages, taking them into the city boundaries. Since the start of the city’s Industrial Revolution it has eaten up the likes of Headingley, Horsforth, Meanwood, Farsley, Wortley and Bramley.

The opening of bridgate in 1207

Maurice Paynel was the Lord of the Manor at the start of the 13th century and he set about improving what was then a village – it was he who laid down the first plans for Briggate and the surrounding area in 1207, with King John going on to grant the people of Leeds the ability to do business by their own accord for the first time.

West indian carnival

Everyone talks about Notting Hill, but the Leeds West Indian Carnival has been going for longer – in fact, it’s the longest running West Indian carnival in Europe. They’ve been going since 1967, and will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2017.

Miners strike of 1984

The miners’ strike of 1984 and 1985 put Yorkshire at the heart of a titanic struggle between Margaret Thatcher’s government and union leader Arthur Scargill’s pitworkers.

Nelson mandela visting

* Thousands of well-wishers packed Leeds’s Millennium Square in 2001 to greet former South African leader Nelson Mandela during his first official trip to the north of England.