Leeds ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England
. In
2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247,
whilst the entire city, that includes the urban, suburban and rural
areas, had a population of ( ).
Leeds is the cultural, financial and
commercial heart of the wider West Yorkshire Urban Area
, which at the 2001 census had a population of 1.5
million, and the Leeds city region
, an economic area with Leeds at its core, had a
population of 2.9 million. Leeds is the UK's largest centre for
business, legal, and financial services outside London
,and
according to the most recent Office for National
Statistics estimates, Leeds is the fastest growing city in the
UK.
Historically a part of
the
West Riding of
Yorkshire, Leeds can trace its recorded
history to the 5th century when the Kingdom
of
Elmet was covered by the forest of
"Loidis", the origin of the name
Leeds. The name has been
applied to many administrative entities over the centuries. It
changed from being the appellation of a small manorial borough, in
the thirteenth century, through several reincarnations, to being
the name attached to the present metropolitan borough. In the 17th
and 18th centuries Leeds became a major centre for the production
and trading of
wool. Then, during the
Industrial Revolution, Leeds developed
into a major
industrial centre; wool was
still the dominant industry but flax, engineering, iron foundries,
printing and other industries were important. From being a compact
market town in the valley of the River Aire in the sixteenth
century Leeds expanded and absorbed the surrounding villages to
become a populous urban centre by the mid twentieth century.
The diverse array of landmarks, which includes rural open spaces
and impressive buildings, reflects both its industrial past and its
many current roles. The multicultural nature of the city is
evidenced in the range of religious buildings and cultural
festivals present.
The internationally acclaimed University of
Leeds
, together with Leeds
Metropolitan University
and Leeds Trinity University
College
has made the city a major centre of higher
education. The student population has stimulated growth of
the nightlife in the city and there are ample facilities for
sporting and cultural activities, including classical and popular
music festivals, and a varied collection of museums.
Public
transport, rail and road communications networks in the region are
focussed on Leeds and the number of twinning arrangements with
towns in other countries and its role in Leeds City
Region
demonstrate the city's outward looking and positive
attitude to twenty first century global commercial and economic
development.
History
Toponomy
The name
Leeds derives from "Loidis", the name given to a
forest covering most of the kingdom of
Elmet,
which existed during the 5th century into the early 7th century.
Bede states in the fourteenth chapter of his
Historia
ecclesiastica, in a discussion of an altar surviving from
a church erected by
Edwin of
Northumbria, that it is located in "...regione quae vocatur
Loidis", the region known as Loidis. An inhabitant of Leeds is
locally known as a
Loiner, a word of
uncertain origin.
Economic development
Leeds developed as a
market town in the
Middle Ages as part of the local
agricultural economy. Prior to the
Industrial Revolution it had become a
co-ordination centre for the making of woollen cloth; with white
broadcloth being traded at the Leeds
White Cloth Hall. Leeds was handling one sixth of England's export
trade in 1770.
Growth, initially in textiles, was
accelerated by the building of the Aire and Calder
Navigation
in 1699 and the Leeds and
Liverpool Canal
in 1816. The railway network constructed around Leeds,
starting with the Leeds and
Selby Railway in 1834, provided improved communications with
national markets and, significantly for its development, an
east-west connection with Manchester
and the ports of Liverpool
and Hull
giving improved access to international
markets. Alongside technological advances and
industrial expansion, Leeds retained an interest in trading in
agricultural commodities, with the Corn Exchange
opening in 1864.
Marshall's
Mill
was one of the first of the many factories that
were to be constructed in Leeds from around 1790. In the
early years the most significant of the factories were woollen
finishing and flax mills; diversifying by 1914 to printing,
engineering, chemicals and clothing manufacture. Decline in
manufacturing during the 1930s was temporarily reversed by a switch
to producing military uniforms and munitions during
World War II. However, by the 1970s the
clothing industry was in irreversible decline, facing cheap foreign
competition. The contemporary economy of Leeds has been shaped by
Leeds City Council having the
vision of building a '24 hour European city' and a 'capital of the
north'. It has developed from the decay of the post-industrial era
to become a telephone banking centre, connected to the electronic
infrastructure of the modern global economy. There has been growth
in the corporate and legal sectors and increased local affluence
has led to an expanding retail sector, including the luxury goods
market.
Local government
Leeds (parish) population
1881 |
160,109 |
1891 |
177,523 |
1901 |
177,920 |
1911 |
259,394 |
1921 |
269,665 |
1931 |
482,809 |
1941 |
war # |
1951 |
505,219 |
1961 |
510,676 |
# no census was held due
to war |
source:
UK census |
Leeds was
a manor and township in the large ancient parish of Leeds St
Peter, in the Skyrack
wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire
. The Borough of Leeds was created in 1207,
when Maurice Paynel, lord of the manor, granted a charter to a
small area within the manor, close to the river crossing, in what
is now the city centre. Four centuries later, the inhabitants of
Leeds petitioned
Charles I for
a charter of incorporation, which was granted in 1626. The new
charter incorporated the entire parish, including all eleven
townships, as the
Borough of
Leeds and withdrew the earlier charter.
Improvement commissioners were set
up in 1755 for paving, lighting, and cleansing of the main streets,
including Briggate
; with further powers added in 1790 to improve the
water supply.
The borough corporation was reformed under the provisions of
Municipal Corporations
Act 1835.
Leeds Borough
Police force was formed in 1836 and Leeds Town Hall
was completed by the corporation in 1858. In
1866 Leeds, and each of the other townships in the borough, became
a
civil parish. The borough became a
county borough in 1889, giving it
independence from the newly formed West Riding County Council and
it gained
city
status in 1893.
In 1904 the Leeds parish absorbed Beeston
, Chapel
Allerton
, Farnley
, Headingley cum Burley
and Potternewton
from within the borough. In the twentieth
century the county borough initiated a series of significant
territorial expansions, growing from in 1911 to in 1961.
In 1912
the parish and county borough of Leeds absorbed Leeds Rural District, consisting of the
parishes of Roundhay
and Seacroft
; and Shadwell
, which had been part of Wetherby Rural
District. On 1 April 1925 the parish of Leeds was expanded
to cover the whole borough.
The
county borough was abolished on 1 April 1974 and its former area
was combined with that of the municipal boroughs of Morley and Pudsey; the urban districts of
Aireborough
, Horsforth
, Otley
, Garforth
and Rothwell
; and parts of the rural districts of Tadcaster
, Wetherby
and Wharfedale
. This area was used to form a new
metropolitan district in the county of West Yorkshire; it gained both borough and
city status and is known as the City of Leeds
. Initially, local government services were
provided by
Leeds City Council
and
West Yorkshire County
Council. However, the county council was abolished in 1986 and
the city council absorbed its functions, with some powers passing
to organisations such as the
West Yorkshire
Passenger Transport Authority.
From 1988 two run-down and derelict areas
close to the city
centre
were designated for regeneration and formed the
area of responsibility of Leeds Development Corporation,
outside the planning remit of the city council. Planning
powers were restored to the local authority in 1995 when the
development corporation was wound up.
Suburban growth

1866 map of Leeds

Quarry Hill flats
In 1801, 42% of the population of Leeds lived outside the township,
in the wider borough.
Cholera outbreaks in
1832 and 1849 caused the borough authorities to address the
problems of drainage, sanitation and water supply. Water was
originally pumped from the River Wharfe, but by 1860 it was too
heavily polluted to be usable. Following the Leeds Waterworks Act
of 1867 three reservoirs were built at Lindley Wood, Swinsty and
Fewston, to the north of Leeds. Residential growth occurred in
Holbeck and Hunslet from 1801 to 1851, but, as these townships
became industrialised new areas were favoured for middle class
housing. Land to the south of the river was henceforth developed,
primarily for industry and secondarily for
back-to-back workers' dwellings. The
Leeds Improvement Act 1866 sought to improve the quality of working
class housing by restricting the number of homes that could be
built in a single terrace. Holbeck and Leeds formed a continuous
built-up area by 1858, with Hunslet nearly meeting them. In the
latter half of the
19th century,
population growth in Hunslet, Armley and Wortley outstripped that
of Leeds itself. When pollution became a problem, the wealthier
residents left the small industrial conurbation to live in the
northerly villages of Headingley, Potternewton and Chapel Allerton;
this led to a 50% increase in the population of Headingley and
Burley from 1851 to 1861. The middle class flight from the
industrial areas also led to development beyond the borough at
Roundhay and Adel.
The introduction of the electric tramway led to intensification of
development in Headingley and Potternewton and expansion outside
the borough into Roundhay
.
Two private gas supply companies were taken over by the corporation
in 1870 and this new municipal supply was used to provide street
lighting and cheaper gas to homes. From the early 1880s the
Yorkshire House-to-House Electricity Company supplied electricity
to Leeds until it was also purchased by Leeds Corporation and
became a municipal supply.
Slum clearance and rebuilding began
in Leeds in the
Inter-war period
when over 18,000 houses were built by the council on 24 estates in
places like Cross Gates, Middleton, Gipton, Belle Isle and Halton
Moor.
The
slums of Quarry
Hill
were replaced by the innovative Quarry Hill flats,
which were demolished in 1975. Another 36,000 houses were
built by private sector builders, creating the suburbs of Gledhow,
Moortown, Alwoodley, Roundhay, Oakwood, Weetwood and Adel. After
1949 a further 30,000 sub-standard houses were demolished by the
council to be replaced by a total of 151 medium-rise and
high-rise blocks of council flats in estates like
Seacroft, Armley Heights, Tinshill and Brackenwood.
Geography

Map of Leeds in West Yorkshire

River Aire in Leeds
At
(53.799°, -1.549°), and north-northwest of central London, the central area of Leeds is
located on the River
Aire
in a narrow section of the Aire Valley, which is in
the eastern foothills of the Pennines. The city centre lies at about above sea
level while the district ranges from in the far west on the slopes
of Ilkley
Moor
to about where the rivers Aire and Wharfe cross the
eastern boundary. The centre of Leeds is part of a
continuously built-up area extending to Pudsey, Bramley, Horsforth,
Alwoodley, Seacroft, Middleton and Morley.
Leeds has the second
highest
population of any local authority district in the UK (after
Birmingham
), and the second greatest area of any
English metropolitan district
(after Doncaster
), extending 15 miles from east to west, and 13
miles from north to south. The northern boundary follows the
River
Wharfe
for several miles but crosses the river to include
the section of Otley which lies north of the river.
Over 65%
of the Leeds district is green belt
land and the city centre is less than twenty miles from the
Yorkshire
Dales National Park
, which
offers some of the most spectacular scenery and countryside in the
UK. Inner and southern areas of Leeds lie on a layer of coal
measure sandstones. To the north parts are built on older sand and
gritstones and to the east it extends into the magnesian limestone
belt. The
land use in the central areas of
Leeds is overwhelmingly
urban.
Attempts
to define the exact geographic meaning of Leeds lead to a variety
of concepts of its extent, varying by context; they include the
area of the city
centre
, the urban sprawl, the administrative boundaries,
and the functional
region.
Leeds city
centre
is contained within the Leeds Inner Ring Road, formed from
parts of the A58 road, A61 road, A64 road,
A643 road and the M621 motorway. Briggate
, the principal north-south shopping street, is
pedestrianised and Queen Victoria Street, a part of the Victoria
Quarter
, is enclosed under a glass roof.
Millennium
Square
is a significant urban focal point.
The
Leeds
postcode area
covers most of the City of Leeds and is almost
entirely made up of the Leeds post
town. Otley, Wetherby, Tadcaster, Pudsey and Ilkley are
separate post towns within the postcode area. Aside from the built
up area of Leeds itself, there are a
number of suburbs and exurbs within
the district.
Weather data for Leeds is summarised as follows:
Demography
Urban subdivision
Leeds compared |
urban subdivision within
the West Yorkshire urban area
|
2001
UK Census |
Leeds
USD
|
Leeds
district |
West
Yorks UA |
England |
Population |
443,247 |
715,402 |
1,499,465 |
49,138,831 |
White |
88.4% |
91.9% |
85.5% |
90.9% |
Asian |
6.4% |
4.5% |
11.2% |
4.6% |
Black |
2.2% |
1.4% |
1.3% |
2.3% |
Source: Office for National
Statistics |
At the time of the
United
Kingdom Census 2001, the Leeds urban subdivision occupied an
area of and had a population of 443,247; making it the fourth
most populous urban subdivision within England and the fifth
largest within the United Kingdom.
The population density was 4,066
/km2, slightly higher than the rest of the West Yorkshire
Urban Area
. It accounts for 20 per cent of
the area and 62 per cent of the population of the City of
Leeds. The population of the urban subdivision had a
100 to 93.1 female–male ratio. Of those over
16 years old, 39.4 per cent were single (never
married) and 35.4 per cent married for the first time.
The urban subdivision's 188,890 households included
35 per cent one-person, 27.9 per cent married
couples living together, 8.8 per cent were co-habiting
couples, and 5.7 per cent single parents with their
children. Of those aged 16–74, 32.6 per cent had no
academic qualifications, higher than average of England
(28.9 per cent). Leeds is the largest component of the
West Yorkshire Urban Area and is counted by
Eurostat as part of the Leeds-Bradford
Larger Urban Zone. The Leeds
travel to work area in 2001 included all
of the City of Leeds, a northern strip of the City of Bradford, the
eastern part of Kirklees, and a section of southern North
Yorkshire; it occupies .
Metropolitan district
As of the
2001 UK census,
the district had a total population of 715,402. Of the 301,614
households in Leeds, 33.3% were married couples living together,
31.6% were one-person households, 9.0% were
co-habiting couples and 9.8% were lone parents,
following a similar trend to the rest of England. The population
density was and for every 100 females, there were 93.5 males. Of
those aged 16–74, 30.9% had no
academic qualifications,
higher than the 28.9% in all of England. Of the residents, 6.6%
were born outside the United Kingdom, lower than the England
average of 9.2%.
The majority of people in Leeds identify themselves as
Christian. The proportion of
Muslims is average for the country. Leeds has the
third-largest
Jewish community in the United
Kingdom, after those of London and Manchester.
The areas of Alwoodley
and Moortown
contain sizeable Jewish populations. 16.8%
of Leeds residents in the 2001 census declared themselves as having
"no religion", which is broadly in line with the figure for the
whole of the UK (also 8.1% "religion not stated"). The crime rate
in Leeds is well above the national average, like many other
English major cities. In July 2006, the
think
tank Reform calculated rates
of crime for different offences and has related this to populations
of major urban areas (defined as towns over 100,000 population).
Leeds was 11th in this rating (excluding London boroughs, 23rd
including London boroughs). The table below details the population
of the current area of the district since 1801, including the
percentage change since the last available census data. Leeds is
currently the fastest growing city in the UK.
Population growth in City of Leeds since
1801 |
Year |
1801 |
1811 |
1821 |
1831 |
1841 |
1851 |
1861 |
1871 |
1881 |
1891 |
1901 |
1911 |
1921 |
1931 |
1941 |
1951 |
1961 |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
2001 |
Population |
94,421 |
108,459 |
137,476 |
183,015 |
222,189 |
249,992 |
311,197 |
372,402 |
433,607 |
503,493 |
552,479 |
606,250 |
625,854 |
646,119 |
668,667 |
692,003 |
715,260 |
739,401 |
696,732 |
716,760 |
715,404 |
%
change |
– |
+14.87 |
+26.75 |
+33.13 |
+21.40 |
+12.51 |
+24.48 |
+19.67 |
+16.44 |
+16.12 |
+9.73 |
+9.73 |
+3.23 |
+3.24 |
+3.49 |
+3.49 |
+3.36 |
+3.38 |
−5.77 |
+2.87 |
−0.19 |
Source: Vision of Britain |
Governance
City of Leeds
is the local
government district covering Leeds and the local authority is Leeds City Council. The council is
composed of 99 councillors, three for each of the city's
ward. Elections are held three
years out of four, on the first Thursday of May. One third of the
councillors are elected, for a four year term, in each election. In
2004 all seats were up for election due to boundary changes.
The
council is currently under no overall
control, and is run by a coalition of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Morley
Borough Independents. The leaders of the
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats take turns to hold the office
of Leader.
West Yorkshire does not
have a county council, so Leeds City Council is the primary
provider of local government services for the city. The district is
in the
Yorkshire and the
Humber region of England, and consists of an unparished area
and 31
civil parishes. These are the
lowest tier of local government and absorb some limited functions
from Leeds City Council in their areas.
The councils of
Horsforth
, Morley
, Otley
and Wetherby
are town councils. There are 27 other civil
parishes in the district.
The
district is represented by eight MP, for the constituencies of Elmet
(Colin Burgon, Labour);
Leeds
Central (Hilary Benn, Labour);
Leeds East
(George Mudie, Labour); Leeds North East
(Fabian Hamilton,
Labour); Leeds North West
(Greg Mulholland,
Lib Dem); Leeds West
(John
Battle, Labour); Morley and Rothwell
(Colin Challen,
Labour); and Pudsey (Paul Truswell, Labour). Various
boundary changes will be implemented for the next General Election,
when Leeds will be represented by members for seven constituencies
and three-fifths of one: Elmet will be replaced by Elmet and Rothwell
and Morley by Morley and Outwood
(three Leeds wards and two Wakefield
wards), and the boundaries of the other
constituencies will be altered. Leeds is within the
Yorkshire
and the Humber European constituency, which is represented by
two
Conservative, one
Labour, one
UKIP, one
Liberal Democrat and one
BNP MEP. The voting figures
for Leeds in the
European Parliament
election in June 2009 were: Conservative 22.6%, Labour 21.4%,
UKIP 15.9%, Lib Dem 13.8%, BNP 10.0%,
Green 9.4%.
Economy
Leeds has a diverse economy with employment in the service sector
now far exceeding that in the traditional manufacturing industries.
In 2002, 401,000 employees were registered in the Leeds district.
Of these 24.7% were in public administration, education and health,
23.9% were in banking finance and insurance and 21.4% were in
distribution, hotels and restaurants. It is in the banking, finance
and insurance sectors that Leeds differs most from the financial
structure of the region and the nation. The city is the location of
one of the largest financial centres in England outside London.
Tertiary industries such as
retail,
call centres,
offices and
media have contributed to a high rate of
economic growth.
In 2006 GVA for city was recorded at £16.3
billion, with the entire Leeds City Region
generating an economy of £46 billion.
The extensive retail area of Leeds is identified as the principal
regional shopping centre for the whole of the Yorkshire and the
Humber region and approximately 3.2 million people live within its
catchment area. There are a number of indoor shopping centres in
the middle of the city, including the Merrion Centre, Leeds
Shopping Plaza, St John’s Centre, Headrow Centre, the Victoria
Quarter, The Light and the Corn Exchange. In total there are
approximately 1,000 retail stores, with a combined floorspace of .
Of the 40,000 people who work in retailing in Leeds 75% work in
places which are not located in the city centre. There are
additional shopping centres located in the many villages that
became part of the county borough and in the towns that were
incorporated in the City of Leeds in 1974.
Office developments, also traditionally located in the inner area,
have expanded south of the River Aire and total of space. In the
period from 1999 to 2008 £2.5bn of property development was
undertaken in central Leeds; of which £711m has been offices, £265m
retail, £389m leisure and £794m housing. Manufacturing and
distribution uses accounts for £26m of new property development in
the period. There are 130,100 jobs in the city centre, accounting
for 31% of all jobs in the wider district. In 2007, 47,500 jobs
were in finance and business, 42,300 in public services, and 19,500
in retail and distribution. 43% of finance sector jobs in the
district are contained in Leeds city centre and 44% of those
employed in the city centre live more than nine kilometres
away.
Landmarks
Leeds displays a variety of natural and built landmarks.
Natural
landmarks include such diverse sites as the gritstone outcrop of
Otley
chevin
and the Fairburn Ings RSPB reserve
. The city's parks at Roundhay
and Temple
Newsam
have long been owned and maintained by the council
for the benefit of ratepayers and among the open spaces in the
centre of Leeds are Millennium Square
, Leeds City Square
, Park Square
and Victoria Gardens. This last is the site
of the central city
war memorial: there
are 42 other war memorials in the suburbs, towns and villages in
the district.
The built
environment embraces edifices of civic pride like Morley Town
Hall
and the trio of buildings in Leeds, Leeds Town
Hall
, Corn Exchange
and Leeds City Museum
by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick. The two startlingly
white buildings on the Leeds skyline are the Parkinson building of
Leeds University and the Civic Hall
, with golden owls adorning the tops of its twin
spires. Armley Mills
, Tower
Works
, with its campanile-inspired towers, and the
Egyptian-style Temple
Works
hark back to the city's industrial past, while the
site and ruins of Kirkstall
Abbey
display the beauty and grandeur of Cistercian architecture. Notable churches are
Leeds Parish
Church
, St George's Church
and Leeds Cathedral
, in the city centre, and the Church of St John the
Baptist, Adel and Bardsey
Parish Church in quieter
locations.
The tower
of Bridgewater
Place
, also known as The Dalek, is part of a
major office and residential development and the region's tallest
building; it can be seen for miles around. Among other tower
blocks the 37-storey Sky
Plaza
to the north of the city centre stands on higher
ground so that its is higher than Bridgewater Place. With 37
floors it is reported to be the tallest student residential
building in the world.
Elland Road
(football) and Headingley Stadium
(cricket and rugby) are well known to sports
enthusiasts and the White Rose Centre
is a well known retail outlet.

The Leeds skyline viewed from the
south
Transport
Leeds is the starting-point of the
A62,
A63,
A64,
A65 and
A660 roads, and is
also situated on the
A58 and
A61. The
M1 and
M62 intersect to its south and the
A1 passes to the east. Leeds
is one of the principal hubs of the northern motorway network.
There is an
Inner Ring Road
with part motorway status and an
Outer Ring Road. Part of the city
centre is pedestrianised, and is encircled by the clockwise-only
Loop Road.

Leeds City station after the 2002
rebuild
Public transport in the Leeds area is coordinated and developed by
West
Yorkshire Metro, with service information provided by Leeds
City Council and West Yorkshire Metro. The primary means of public
transportation in Leeds are the bus services. The main provider is
First Leeds and
Arriva Yorkshire serves routes to the south
of the city. Leeds also offers a free bus, the FreeCity Bus service
which connects the bus station, the train station, the universities
and Leeds general infirmary. The service runs through the Leeds
Public Transport Box which is an area surrounding the core Leeds
shopping district which is limited to just public transport access.
There are
cross-city services which use bus stops on and around the public
transport box and interchanges at Leeds City station
, Boar Lane and Infirmary Street. Leeds City
bus station is at Dyer Street and is used by bus services to many
towns and cities in Yorkshire, plus a small number of local
services. Adjacent to it is the coach station for
National Express coach services. Buses out
of the city are mainly provided by
FirstBus and
Arriva
Yorkshire.
Harrogate & District provides a
service to Harrogate
and Ripon
.
Keighley & District provides a
service to Shipley
, Bingley
and Keighley
. The Yorkshire Coastliner service runs from
Leeds to Bridlington
, Filey
,Scarborough
, and Whitby
.Stagecoach provides a service to Hull
via Goole
.
From
Leeds City
station
at New Station Street, MetroTrains
operated by Northern Rail run to many
of Leeds' suburbs and onwards to all parts of Leeds City
Region.Leeds City station is one of the busiest in England
outside London, with over 900 trains and 50,000 passengers passing
through every day. It provides national and international
connections as well as services to local and regional destinations.
The station itself has 17 platforms, making it the largest in
England outside London.
Air and sea
Leeds
Bradford International Airport
is located in Yeadon
, about to the north-west of the city centre, and
has both charter and scheduled flights to destinations within
Europe plus Egypt
, Pakistan
, Turkey
and (for
a trial run, in December 2008) to the USA. There are connections
to the rest of the world via London Heathrow Airport
, Paris
Charles de Gaulle Airport
and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
. In 2007
Bridgepoint Capital acquired the airport
from the consortium of local councils which had previously owned
it. They have released plans of their intended expansion of the
airport terminal, which is estimated to cost £28 million.
There is
a direct rail service from Leeds to Manchester Airport
, with trains running hourly during the day and
every 2–3 hours through the night. The journey time is just
under 1½ hours.
Robin
Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield
is south-east of Leeds. Leeds has connections
by road, rail and coach to Hull
, only an hour away, from where it is possible to
travel to Rotterdam
and Zeebrugge
by ferry services run by P&O Ferries.
Walking

Leeds Country Way waymark
The
Leeds
Country Way
is a waymarked circular walk of through the rural
outskirts of the city, never more than from City
Square
. The Meanwood Valley Trail
leads from Woodhouse Moor
along Meanwood Beck
to Golden Acre Park
. The Leeds extension of the Dales Way follows the Meanwood Valley Trail before
it branches off to head towards Ilkley
and Windermere
. Leeds is on the northern section of the
Trans
Pennine Trail
for walkers and cyclists, and the towpath of the
Leeds and
Liverpool Canal
is another popular walking route. In
addition, there are many parks and public footpaths in both the
urban and rural parts of Leeds, and the
Ramblers' Association,
YHA and other walking
organisations offer sociable walks. The Ramblers' Association
publish various booklets of walks in and around Leeds.
Education
Schools

Leeds Metropolitan University
At the time of the 2001 census Leeds had a population of 183,000
young people aged 0–19 of whom 110,000 were attending local
authority schools. In 2008 Education Leeds, a non-profit company
owned by Leeds City Council, provided for 220 primary schools, 39
secondary schools and 6 special inclusive learning centres. Under
the government
Building
Schools for the Future initiative, Leeds secured £260m, to
transform 13 secondary schools into high achieving, e-confident,
inclusive schools.
The first three of these schools at Allerton
High School
, Pudsey Grangefield School
and Rodillian School
, were opened in September 2008. Because
Leeds has a falling birth rate, the
council have come under pressure in
recent years to reduce the number of school places resulting in the
merger and closure of some schools.
The city's oldest and largest private
school is The Grammar School at Leeds
, which was legally re-created in 2005 following the
merger of Leeds
Grammar School
, established 1552, and Leeds
Girls' High School
, established 1857. Other independent schools
in Leeds include faith schools serving the Jewish and Muslim
communities.
Further and Higher Education

Parkinson Building, University of
Leeds
Further education is provided by Leeds City
College
(formed by a merger in 2009 and having over 60,000
students), Leeds College of Building
, Joseph
Priestley College in Morley and Notre
Dame Catholic Sixth Form College
. The city has two universities: the University of
Leeds
received its charter in 1904 having developed from
the Yorkshire College which was founded in 1874 and the Leeds
School of Medicine of 1831, and Leeds
Metropolitan University
became a university in 1992 but can trace its roots
to the Mechanics Institute of
1824. The University of Leeds has a total of about 31,000
students, of which 21,500 are full-time or sandwich undergraduate
degree students, Leeds Metropolitan University has a total of
52,000 students of which 12,000 are full time or sandwich
undergraduate degree students and 2,100 full time or sandwich HND
students.
Other higher
education establishments are:Leeds Trinity
University College
with just under 3,000 students, Leeds
College of Art
, Leeds College of Music
and Northern School of
Contemporary Dance. The city was voted the Best UK
University Destination by a survey in
The Independent newspaper. The combined
totals of learners give Leeds one of the largest student
populations in the country with of over 250,000 students.
Culture
Media
Yorkshire Post Newspapers
Ltd, owned by
Johnston Press
plc, is based in the city, and produces a daily morning
broadsheet, the
Yorkshire
Post, and an evening paper, the
Yorkshire Evening Post (YEP).
The YEP has a website which includes a series of community pages
which focus on specific areas of the city.
The Wetherby News covers mainly areas within
the north eastern sector of the district, and the Wharfedale & Airedale
Observer, published in Ilkley
, covers the north west, both appearing
weekly. Both of the universities have
student newspapers, the weekly
Leeds Student from the
University of Leeds and the monthly
The Met from Leeds Metropolitan
University.
The Leeds Guide
is a fortnightly listings magazine, established in 1997. Free
publications include the
Leeds Weekly News, produced by
Yorkshire Post Newspapers in four geographic versions and
distributed to households in the main urban area of the city, and
the regional version of
Metro which is
distributed on buses and at rail stations.
Regional television and radio stations have bases in the city;
BBC Television and
ITV both
have regional studios and broadcasting centres in Leeds.
ITV Yorkshire, formerly Yorkshire Television, broadcasts from
The Leeds
Studios
on Kirkstall Road, which is soon to be closed
down. There are a number of independent film production
companies, including the not-for-profit cooperative
Leeds Animation Workshop, founded
in 1978; community video producers
Vera
Media and several small commercial production companies.
BBC Radio Leeds,
Radio Aire,
Magic 828,
Galaxy Yorkshire,
Real Radio and
Yorkshire Radio broadcast from the city.
LSRfm.com, is based in Leeds
University Union
, and regularly hosts outside broadcasts around the
city. Many communities within Leeds now have their
own local radio stations, such as East
Leeds FM and Tempo FM for Wetherby
and the surrounding areas.
Museums
A new
Leeds City
Museum
opened in 2008 in Millennium
Square
. Abbey House Museum
is housed in the former gatehouse of Kirkstall
Abbey
, and includes walk-through Victorian streets and
galleries describing the history of the abbey, childhood, and
Victorian Leeds. Armley Mills Industrial
Museum
is housed in what was once the world's largest
woollen mill, and includes industrial machinery and railway
locomotives. This museum also shows the first known
moving pictures in the world which were taken in the city, by
Louis Le Prince, of a Roundhay
Garden Scene
and of Leeds Bridge
in 1888. Thwaite
Mills Watermill Museum
is a fully-restored 1820s water-powered mill on the
river
Aire
to the east of the city centre. The Thackray
Museum
is a museum of the history of medicine, featuring
topics such as Victorian public health, pre-anaesthesia surgery,
and safety in childbirth. It is housed in a former workhouse next to St James's
hospital
. The Royal
Armouries Museum opened in 1996 in a dramatic modern building
when this part of the national collection was transferred from the
Tower of
London
. Leeds Art Gallery
reopened in June 2007 after a major renovation,
and houses important collections of traditional and contemporary
British art. Smaller museums in Leeds include Otley Museum
, Horsforth
Village Museum, the University of Leeds Textile
Archive (ULITA), and the museum at Fulneck
Moravian Settlement
.
Music and theatre
Leeds has
the Grand
Theatre
where Opera North is
based, the City
Varieties
Music Hall, which hosted performances by
Charlie Chaplin and Harry Houdini and was also the venue of the
BBC television programme The Good
Old Days, and the West Yorkshire Playhouse
. Leeds is currently the home of the
Northern Ballet Theatre and
Phoenix Dance.
Many popular musical acts have originated in Leeds, including
Soft Cell,
Cud,
Kaiser Chiefs,
The Music,
The
Rhythm Sisters,
the Pigeon
Detectives,
Your Vegas,
Chumbawamba,
The
Sisters of Mercy and
Melanie B, of the
Spice Girls. The post-punk band
Gang of Four and
Grindie band
Hadouken! both
formed after meeting at Leeds University.
Carnivals and festivals

Leeds carnival procession
Leeds Carnival is Western Europe's oldest
West Indian Carnival, and the UK's second largest after Notting
Hill Carnival
. It attracts around 100,000 people over
3 days to the streets of Chapeltown and Harehills. There is a large
procession that finishes at Potternewton Park, where there are
stalls, entertainment and refreshments.
The Leeds Festival, featuring some
of the biggest names in rock and indie music, takes place every
year in Bramham
Park
. The Leeds Asian Festival, formerly the
Leeds
Mela, is held in Roundhay Park.
The
Otley
Folk Festival (patron: Nic
Jones), Walking Festival,, Carnival and Victorian Christmas
Fayre are annual events. Light
Night Leeds takes place each October, and many venues in the
city are open to the public for
Heritage Open Days in September. The
Leeds
International Pianoforte Competition, established in 1963 by
Fanny Waterman and
Marion Stein, has been held in the city every
three years since 1963 and has launched the careers of many major
concert pianists.
The Leeds International Concert Season,
which includes orchestral and choral concerts in Leeds Town
Hall
and other events, is the largest local authority
music programme in the UK.
The
Leeds
International Film Festival is the largest film festival in
England outside London and shows films from around the world. It
incorporates the highly successful
Leeds Young People's Film
Festival, which features exciting and innovative films made
both for and by children and young people.
Garforth is host to the fortnight long festival The
Garforth Arts Festival which
has been an annual event since 2005.
Nightlife
Leeds has a very large student population, resulting in a large
number of pubs, bars, nightclubs and restaurants, as well as a
multitude of venues for live music. The full range of music tastes
is catered for in Leeds. It includes the original home of the club
nights Back 2 Basics and Speedqueen. Morley was the location of
techno club The Orbit. Leeds has number of
large 'super-clubs' and there is a selection of independent
clubs.
Leeds has a well established gay nightlife scene.
The Bridge Inn and
The New
Penny
, both on Call Lane
, have long been gay night spots.
Towards
Millennium
Square
and the Civic or Northern Quarter, is a growing
entertainment district providing for both students and weekend
visitors. The square has many bars and restaurants and a
large outdoor screen mounted on the side of the Civic Theatre.
Millennium Square is a venue for large seasonal events such as a
Christmas markets, Gigs and
Concerts, citywide parties and the Rhythms of the City Festival. It
is adjacent to the Mandela Gardens, which were opened by Nelson
Mandela in 2001. A number of public art features, fountains, a
canal and greenery can be found here as an oasis amongst the city
centre excitement.
Sports
The city has a long sporting heritage, with teams representing all
the major national sports.
Leeds
United A.F.C. are the city's main
football club.
Leeds Rhinos (
Rugby
League),
Leeds Carnegie (
Rugby Union) and
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
are also based in the city, amongst numerous other teams playing at
both a national and regional level.
Leeds
United were formed in 1919 and play at the 40,000 capacity
Elland
Road
in Beeston
. Under the management of
Don Revie in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the
club won the
league
championship twice, the
FA Cup once, the
League Cup once and the
Fairs Cup twice. In 1992,
Howard Wilkinson guided the team to the
last-ever
First
Division championship before the creation of the
Premier League, where they remained for 12
years before a financial crisis contributed towards their
relegation in 2004. A further relegation led to the team playing in
the
third tier of the English
league for the first time in their history.
Leeds Carnegie L.F.C. are the
best-placed
women's
football team in Leeds. They currently compete at the highest
level in
England, the
FA Women's
Premier League National Division.
Leeds Rhinos are presently the most
successful
rugby league team in Leeds.
In 2009 they became first club to be
Super League champions three seasons
running.
They play their home games at the Headingley
Carnegie Stadium
. Hunslet Hawks,
based at the John Charles Centre for
Sport
play in Co-Operative Championship One and,
before the Second World War, twice
won the League Championship and the Challenge Cup. Bramley Buffaloes and
Leeds Akkies are members of the
Rugby League Conference.
Leeds Carnegie, formerly known as Leeds
Tykes, are the foremost rugby union
team in Leeds and they play at Headingley Carnegie Stadium
. They play in the
Guinness Premiership, the top level of
domestic rugby union in England. The club won their first trophy in
2005, defeating favourites
Bath in the
Powergen Cup final.
Otley R.U.F.C. are a rugby union club based
to the north of the city and also compete in National Division One, whilst Morley R.F.C., located in Morley
currently play in National Division Three
North.
Leeds City Athletics Club competes in the British Athletics League
and UK Women's League as well as the Northern Athletics League.
Many athletic clubs serve the youth of the city and enter teams in
the country's major running events. Leeds hosts many athletics
events itself, most notably the Help the Aged Abbey Dash 10K, the
Jane Tomlinson 10K and the Leeds Half Marathon.
The city has a wealth
of sports facilities including the Elland Road
football stadium, a host stadium during the
1996 European
Football Championship; the Headingley Carnegie Stadiums
, adjacent stadia world famous for both cricket and rugby league
and the John Charles Centre for
Sport
with an Olympic
sized pool in its Aquatics Centre and includes a multi-use
stadium. Other facilities include the Leeds Wall (climbing)
and Yeadon Tarn sailing centre.
In 1929 the first Ryder Cup of Golf to be
held on British soil was competed for at the Moortown Golf club in
Leeds and Wetherby has a National Hunt
racecourse
. In the period 1928 to 1939 speedway
racing was staged in Leeds on a track at the greyhound stadium in
Elland Road. The track entered a team in the 1931 Northern
league.
Hugh O'Neills gaelic football team was
founded in Leeds in 1948 and was All-Britain champion in 1982 and
1999, and Yorkshire League champions in 2008. The "LeedsLeedsLeeds"
Ultimate (frisbee) team competes
nationally and internationally.
Religion

St Anne's Cathedral (Roman Catholic),
Leeds
The majority of people in Leeds identify themselves as
Christian.
Leeds does not have a Church of England Cathedral because Leeds is part of the Anglican Diocese of Ripon and Leeds
and the Cathedral
for this Diocese is in Ripon
; the
Bishop's residence has
been in Leeds since 2008. The most important Anglican church is the
Leeds Parish
Church
. Leeds has a Roman
Catholic Cathedral
, the Episcopal seat of the
Roman
Catholic Diocese of Leeds
. Many other Christian denominations are
established in Leeds, including
Assembly of God,
Baptist,
Christian Scientist,
Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints ,
Community of Christ,
Greek Orthodox,
Jehovah's Witnesses,
Jesus Army,
Lutheran,
Methodist,
Nazarene,
Newfrontiers network,
Pentecostal,
Salvation Army,
Seventh-Day Adventist,
Society of Friends ,
Unitarian,
United Reformed,
Vineyard,
Wesleyan Church, an ecumenical Chinese
church, and several independent churches.

Sikh Temple, Chapeltown Road

Leeds Jamia Mosque
The proportion of
Muslims in Leeds is average
for the country.
Mosques can be found
throughout the city, serving Muslim communities in Chapeltown
, Harehills
, Hyde
Park
and parts of Beeston
. The largest mosque is Leeds
Grand Mosque
in Hyde Park. The Sikh community is represented by Gurudwaras (Temples) spread across the city, the
largest being in Chapeltown
. There is also a colourful religious
annual procession, called the Nagar Kirtan, into Millennium Square
in the city centre around 13–14 April to celebrate
Baisakhi — the Sikh New Year and the birth of the
religion. It is estimated that around 3,000 Sikhs in Leeds take
part in this annual event.
Leeds has the third-largest
Jewish community
in the United Kingdom, after those of London and Manchester.
The
areas of Alwoodley
and Moortown
contain sizeable Jewish populations. There
are eight active
synagogues in Leeds.
The
small Hindu community in Leeds has a
temple (mandir) at Hyde
Park
. The temple has all the major Hindu deities
and is dedicated to the Lord
Mahavira of
the
Jains. Various
Buddhist traditions are represented in Leeds,
including:
FWBO,
Soka
Gakkai,
Theravada,
Tibetan and
Zen. The
Buddhist community (
sangha) comes together to
celebrate the major festival of
Wesak in May.
There is also a community of the
Bahai Faith in
Leeds.
Public services
Water supply and sewerage in Leeds is provided by
Yorkshire Water, part of the
Kelda Group. Prior to 1973 it had been provided
by the Leeds Corporation. Leeds City Council has a target of 11MW
of renewable energy from onshore wind by 2010 and an aspirational
target of 75MW by 2020. There are currently no operational wind
farms in Leeds.The area is policed by the
West Yorkshire Police.
The force has eight
divisions, three of which cover Leeds: AA "North West Leeds
Division" covering north and west Leeds with a station at Weetwood
; BA "North East Leeds Division", covering north
east Leeds with stations at Stainbeck near Chapel
Allerton
and Killingbeck
; CA "City and Holbeck Division" covering central
and south Leeds with stations at Millgarth (City Centre) and
Holbeck
. Fire and rescue services are provided by
the
West
Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The fire stations in
Leeds are: Cookridge
, Gipton
, Hunslet
, "Leeds" (near city centre, on Kirkstall Road) and
Moortown
.
Health services are provided by the
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS
Trust, Leeds Primary Care Trust and Leeds Partnerships NHS
Foundation Trust which provides mental health services.
Leeds
General Infirmary
is a listed building
with more recent additions and is in the city centre.
St
James's University Hospital, Leeds
, known as "Jimmy's", is to the north east of the
city centre and is one of the largest teaching hospitals in
Europe. Other NHS hospitals are Chapel
Allerton Hospital
, Seacroft Hospital
, Wharfedale Hospital
in Otley, and Leeds Dental Institute. The
"Pan Leeds Health Portal" provides information on NHS services in
Leeds.

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds
site
West Yorkshire Joint
Services provides analytical, archaeological, archives,
ecology, materials testing and trading standards services in Leeds
and the other four districts of West Yorkshire. It was created
following the abolition of the county council in 1986 and expanded
in 1997, and is funded by the five district councils, pro rata to
their population.
The Leeds site of the archives service is
in the former public library at Sheepscar
, Leeds.
Notable people
Lord Mayor
The
first mayor of Leeds, in 1662, was
Thomas Danby after whom Leeds Thomas Danby
college, now merged into Leeds
City College
, was named. A popular Victorian mayor was Henry Rowland Marsden whose statue can
be seen near the university
. There were 240 mayors until, in 1897,
Queen Victoria gave
the city the privilege of having a
Lord
Mayor, whose full title is "The Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor
of the City of Leeds". The Lord Mayor is elected in May each year
from and by the members of
Leeds City
Council and becomes the Chair of the Council. The Lord Mayor
fulfils many ceremonial duties during the year, and chooses a "Lord
Mayor's charity" to support. Although the Lord Mayor's remit covers
the whole of the City of Leeds
metropolitan district, there are town
mayors in some of the other towns in this district. A full list of
Aldermen (1626–1661), Mayors (1662–1896)
and Lord Mayors (from 1897) and biographical information about the
current Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor and their consorts is
available on the council's website.
Freemen of the city
The position of Honorary Freeman of the city has been granted to 42
people . The first was Colonel
John
Thomas North in 1889 and the most recent the writer
Alan Bennett in 2006. There are three women
among the list: the
Princess Royal
in 1932, Dame
Fanny Waterman in 2004
and
Jane Tomlinson in 2005.
Freedom of the city
Several military organisations have
the Freedom of the City including
the
HMS Ark Royal,
The Rifles and the
Yorkshire Regiment. These can
occasionally be seen marching in the city centre along with
marching military bands.
International relations
Twin towns
The City has several
twinning or
partnership arrangements:
The city also has "strong contacts" with the following cities "for
the purposes of ongoing projects":
References
- Bibliography
- Pages cited from works in the bibliography
- 1. Burt and Grady (1994) p.92
- 2. Burt and Grady (1994) p.57
- 3. Fraser (1982) p.143
- 4. Fraser (1982) p.144
- 5. Fraser (1982) p.155
- 6. Fraser (1982) p.144
- 7. Fraser (1982) p.456
- 8. Fraser (1982) p.456
- 9. Fraser (1982) p.459
- 10. Burt and Grady (1994) p.163
- 11. Fraser (1982) p.96
- 12. Fraser (1982) p.57
- 13. Burt and Grady (1994) p.193
- 14. Unsworth and Stillwell (2004) p.77
- 15. Unsworth and Stillwell (2004) p.169
- 16. Unsworth and Stillwell (2004) p.245
- 17. Unsworth and Stillwell (2004) p.148
- 18. Unsworth and Stillwell (2004) p.149
- 19. Fraser (1982) p.98
- 20. Fraser (1982) p.98
External links