History of Briggate in Leeds - Part One

[@grahamburley3820]

thank you for posting this i really miss the old city centre but dislike the new one

[@fredthebass185]

Fascinating! Watching as an old Leeds lad now living in Spain.

[@GeogJuice]

Thank you. Hopefully you are enjoying the sun in Spain

[@GregAdamSmith]

I've never been to Leeds, but my Grandma's origins were from here. I never met her at she passed before my birth. The Bagshaw family lived at N°8 Lambert's Yard in the late 1800's onwards. Hence i found this video. Amazing work and wonderfully presented. thank you. :)

[@GeogJuice]

Thank you Greg, your comment is much appreciated.

[@samanthabaines3578]

I love how you merged the old and new photos, very interesting!

[@GeogJuice]

Thank you Samantha

[@Fogmeister]

Was just in town today and noticed they have a picture of an old map of Leeds at the bottom of abrogate outside McDonalds. It has all the locations you mentioned on it. 👍🏻

[@GeogJuice]

Thanks Oliver

[@mypinion-kt5wq]

Bloody hell cairns and co, that brings back some memories back, that's where I used to get my clothes as a teenager in the early 80s 😃😃

[@stephenhodgson3506]

I remember been told at school in history lessons that the ford that crossed the Aire where Leeds Bridge stands once had stepping stones that had been placed there by the Romans. I also seem to remember an exert on YTV which said the time ball at Dysons mechanism was water powered. The first building on the left after you cross Leeds Bridge used to be a sports shop opened and owned by the great Herbert Sutcliffe if you were very lucky on rare occasions you could go in and meet the great man.

[@GeogJuice]

Thanks for adding that Stephen. I remember Sutcliffe’s Sports when they were in the arcades now known as the Victoria Quarter. I didn’t know they were once near Leeds Bridge.

[@markshaw1601]

Cheers for this loved class in the eighties

[@GeogJuice]

Thanks Mark, me too. That shop captured the moment, didn’t it.

[@obscurazone]

I used to work in 'Dyson's Chambers ' - the government red brick building next to the clock shop, when it was the DWP (job centre). I was there when the planes hit the twin towers in 2001, and all the UK government buildings went on red alert. Pretty scary! I remember a bunch of us going over to the bar across the street (the courtyard I think it was called) and we watched the horrible events unfold on the multiple TVs in there.

[@erniecamhan]

When I was a teenager, I went into dysons, it was run by two elderly sisters, it was also very retro inside, they had small cabinets around the shop, at closing time the display within the front of the shop would retract into the basement powered by water

[@GeogJuice]

Thank you for adding this.

[@getthefekir5040]

Fantastic work. A great watch. Keep up the good work

[@GeogJuice]

Thank you

[@kirkhunter146]

Can you do City Square please? I know you have featured part of it from Boar Lane. I want to know what it looked like before the Queens Hotel was built in the 30's, specifically that view, also what the Dark Arches looked like back in the day. Also another video on Whitehall Road and Holbeck, including the Dairy?

[@GeogJuice]

Thanks for the ideas Kirk. I will add them to my list.

[@tonybaloney4195]

Loved my boyhood in Leeds,went to Princes field primary school in Holbeck in the middle fifties still remember some of the teachers and pupils, remember the brilliant market that used to be,had my first job at Alexander Tailors in Lady Lane just off Vicar Lane apprentice cutter in cutting room great times first weeks wage £2-13-4

[@GeogJuice]

Thanks for adding that Tony

[@johnnygorner3220]

Great presentation. Really enjoyed the history

[@GeogJuice]

Thanks Johnny

[@farukm7627]

Thanks. I watched this after Part 2. Both very interesting. I enjoyed this much better for the historical overlays. Is Leeds always this quiet?

[@GeogJuice]

Hi Faruk, I choose sunny days to video and go early to avoid the crowds. This was shot at 7:30 on a Sunday morning!

[@MartinJames389]

Some people think the name means there was once a gate there. Such names exist in cities which were walled, but Leeds never was. It is rather a reflection of the strong Viking influence on Yorkshire names. It is an adaptation of the old Norse "yett" meaning street, not gate.

[@GeogJuice]

Thanks for commenting Martin

[@tokenspirit6140]

I would be interested to see a video focusing on Park Lane, Leeds, circa 1800s. My family had history there and were brush manufacturers serving horse-drawn carriages and other industries, across Uk and Europe. Nice videos!

[@GeogJuice]

Thank you for the tip. I will give it some thought.

[@kirkhunter146]

The red brick building to the left of Dysons was built and used as a jobcentre.

[@gavlosmedia6323]

Another belter

[@GeogJuice]

Thanks Gavin

[@jaygray4975]

I love my city of Leeds

[@safirahmed]

It seems the city centre is becoming much more about accommodation, including student accommodation, a leisure, entertainment area including a destination for takeaways, cafes and restaurants, nightclubs etc serving alcohol and much less about shopping. Although I do miss the shops and retail and the city centre of the 1980s and 1990s I don't miss traffic fumes, although replacing roads with cycle lanes and pedestrian areas could delay buses and emergency vehicles.

[@frogandspanner]

In the 1960 there was a motorcycle shop close to Dysons, just by the bus stop for my school bus. As a lad I was often tempted in to wish upon the Triumph Bonnevilles. 4:46 LGBT: There was a pub in Call Lane called _the Hope and Anchor_ which was "outed" in the News of the World 'newspaper'. Subsequent to that there as trouble at the pub from (I think) visiting football fans who trashed the place. The pub reopened as _The new Penny_ . 8:09 What a disaster! Why were they allowed to destroy history and replace it with blandness ?!?! I thought the 1960s were long gone. (I just realised I saw Briggate in a _Rate my Takeaway_ video, and was depressed at what had become of it). 9:40 The building numbers are interesting. In my youth the Leeds convention was that heading out of the city centre odd numbers increased and were on the left, even on the right. If this convention was in operation when those buildings were numbered it suggests the number origin to be the river.

[@keithknowles1700]

The motorcycle shop was called Binners, directly opposite was another motorcycle shop called Watson & Cairns This was in the late 60s early 70s.

[@frogandspanner]

@@keithknowles1700 Thanks - those names wring bells - especially Watson & Cairns.

[@geofsharp658]

What a disgrace, no mention of the oldest wood framed building in Lambert’s Yard of the East side of Lower Briggate. My great grandfather lived there.

[@richardhutinson2979]

Why isn't Leeds better than Manchester and London?

[@IAmSoMuchBetterThanYou]

These videos are great. Thanks for posting

[@GeogJuice]

Thanks for commenting Geffel. That’s great.