Is Leeds England the least bit interesting?

If you can’t find anything interesting in Leeds, why is it in your itinerary? Why not just go to York like everyone else?

Okay I’m assuming this is not a wind up because of today’s news of the dismissal of Jesse Marsch but here is a link to some off the great things to see in Leeds.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Leeds

I haven't visited Leeds yet, but if I did, I would make a beeline for the Royal Armouries Museum.

Well, don't go there expecting to find Leeds Castle.
That's in Kent.
You wouldn't be the first American tourist to be surprised by that.
Occasionally, tourists see beautiful photos of Leeds Castle on TV or on Instagram and add Leeds, England to their itinerary.

My friends live in Leeds ... they recommend the lakes up there as they are not as crowded as "THE" Lake district.

my solicitor was in Leeds. Without him we wouldn't have this house.

I was pretty interested but you might not be?

Royal Armouries is pretty decent.

I liked Leeds enough on my first day trip there to do it again. I like late-19th-century architecture, and I also enjoyed the Leeds Art Gallery. The city has a lot of museums, many not being art-related.

How would you respond to “is Eugene the least bit interesting?”

Hi Francis -

I think I’m the first actual ‘Loiner’ (person born in Leeds) to respond. I love my home city, but its charms are well hidden from the casual observer to put it politely. That said, there’s a whole bunch of stuff just outside the City boundary, such as Temple Newsam and Harewood House, both stately homes in extensive grounds. Half an hour or so, dependent on which line you travel on, a train ride will take you to Ilkley (near where I live now), a former spa town with access to the moorland directly behind the town, which is full of Neolithic carvings, if you know where to look, and Roman fort ruins (frankly not much to look at now) in the centre of town, or Harrogate, another, larger spa town (think Bath in the north, only slightly less uniform). Beyond Ilkley is Bolton Abbey and the half ruined Bolton Priory (‘Bolton Abbey’ is the name of the village) with lots of woodland walks. Beyond Ilkley is Skipton which has an interesting castle.

Alternatively, you could head to Howarth (via Keighley) which is where the Bronte sisters lived, wrote and died. Their Parsonage home is now a museum/exhibition with, as you’d imagine, a well stocked bookshop attached. In much the same direction is Saltaire, a World Heritage site, which features art galleries in the mill building (featuring local lad David Hockney’s work in the main) punctuated with shops and cafes).

Don’t want to stray much from Leeds centre? There’s the aforementioned Armouries Museum, the Art Gallery is rather good and about three miles out of town is Kirkstall Abbey, a ruined Cistercian abbey by the River Aire, seemingly bizarrely plonked in the suburbs. The Abbey House museum there with its recreated Victorian streets is intriguing and the cafe is good. There are several JMW Turner watercolours of Kirkstall Abbey as he was a frequent visitor to Farnley Hall (not generally open to the public) near Otley. His ‘Hannibal Crossing the Alps’ painting is supposedly inspired by a storm he saw breaking over Otley Chevin. On seeing the painting mentioned, I have to say this requires a rather large leap of the imagination!

Oh yes, if you are familiar with The Beatles ‘Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite’ the actual Pablo Fanque mentioned in the lyrics is buried in Woodhouse Cemetery, although the actual grave is now lost, so a search wouldn’t be revealing but there is an interesting stroll through the University of Leeds campus to the site of the cemetery, which is also the last resting place of painter Atkinson Grimshaw (grave also now lost).

Food for thought? Ask away if there’s anything else that occurs to you!

Ian

If you're a football fan like me, a trip to see Elland Road stadium, home of Leeds United may be in order. The team has quite the famous and even fairytale story. There's an excellent doc on the subject called "Take Us Home: Leeds United"

Carlos -

As of today Leeds United no longer have an American manager, Jesse Marsch having been given the ‘electric elbow’ but the club is part owned by and next year may be wholly owned by The San Francisco 49-ers.

ianandjulie - wow, I don't think I've seen another club with so many twists and turns like Leeds, one day they're up and the next day they're down, it must be quite exhausting being a supporter of them :)

We've had a bit of that in FC Barcelona recently, my home team. Thankfully we found a good manager in Xavi and things are looking up.

There was a popular TV series, At Home With The Braithwaites (4 seasons), set in Leeds.

If Leeds Castle is in Kent, then what's been the purpose of my life?

Nigel, your post was as dry as bone martini. C'mon, man. Spice it up a bit.

Carol, duh. Steve Prefontaine, the U.S. Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, and the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Carol, I get it now. You're being facetious you wiseacre.

Leeds is as interesting as Toledo. I could write double the post above about all the things you could see and do.

As Harry Enfield sketch said, as a stereotypical Tyke.
Don't talk to me about sophistication ,I' ve been to Leeds !

there will be a little bit of sport at Headingley later....

will you be there when the red ball comes out to play?

As Rebecca said - " Well, don't go there expecting to find Leeds Castle.That's in Kent. " Leeds Castle is well known as the stand in for Chalfont , the ancestral home of the D'Ascoyne Family . The story is told in the classic film " Kind Hearts and Coronets " For anyone who has never seen it , you are missing a perfect example of British comedy . A clip to rouse interest . - https://youtu.be/lTOeAGSV5Ro One other thing that brings Leeds to mind , it was the home of the great Victorian painter , John Atkinson Grimshaw . I think some of his work is in The Leeds Art Gallery . Here are some examples of his work , with music by Elgar , really beautiful work - https://youtu.be/ZTFVfKV6vYM

I believe Yorkshire Airlines operates out of Leeds.
YouTube is your friend

The Leeds Art Gallery has a lot of sculpture by Henry Moore, as he was a local lad too, but not of Leeds proper. He was born in what locals know as nearby Cas Vegas, you know, near PonteCarlo!

Which reminds me the Yorkshire Sculpture Park at West Bretton is a good day out.

Ian

I managed to get to the sculpture park last year. Definitely worth a visit if you like modern/contemporary sculpture. It's difficult by public transportation. I was disappointed that the last bus out left about 30 minutes before the park closed. The place is quite large. I'm pretty energetic, but I doubt that I'd have been able to see everything even if I had arrived when the park opened.

Agree with others here - there's a nice way to ask a question, and the OP here decided to go a different route.