Leeds in Your Lunch Hour

We are pleased to welcome Leeds Civic Trust and noted Leeds historian Dr Kevin Grady to present his 16^th annual series of free lunchtime lectures every Wednesday in February.

An introduction to today’s lecture may be found below. Entry is free and open to all. There will be a retiring collection, split between Leeds Civic Trust and the Minster.

Bridge End, the vitally important entrance to Leeds from south of the River Aire, was once home to the Leeds Theatre, four important Georgian churches and chapels, the Second White Cloth Hall, the coal staithes of the Middleton Railway, the impressive South Market and some fine merchant houses, as well as being the hub of the Port of Leeds. Today it is being transformed into the heart of the exciting new Leeds City Centre Park. This profusely illustrated lecture looks at the locality’s past, present and future.

This is the first in a series of lectures:

• 1st February, The Gateway to Leeds: The Story of Leeds Bridge and Bridge End, 1700 to 2023
• 8th February, Millennium Square: Leeds’ Grand Project for the Year 2000
• 15th February, Banks, Libraries, Museums and Shopping à La Mode: The Story of Commercial Street, Leeds, 1806 to 2023
• 22nd February, University Days: Discovering Leeds 1969 to 1975