Revamped Briggate Shop Leeds

Picture of Topshop Briggate Leeds.

Normally I would never feature a chin shop like Topshop on the Leeds Daily Photo but these are not normal times. Our high street shops are under pressure unlike any time before. Over the last few years shops that were household names have folded and gone.

Nearly two years ago I featured the old branch of Topshop that was here when UK Uncut were protesting there. Since that time nothing has changed except I think that perhaps more people have come to realise that with the revelations about Starbucks ethics and tax, we really are not all in it together as our prime minister David Cameron has stated.

I missed Sir Phillip Green when he came to Leeds and was at his new Topshop store here on Briggate. Pity else I could have got a quote from him about his and the companies tax affairs. I took the above Leeds photograph on Briggate early yesterday evening.

I did not realize topshop had gone, Topshop stores across the country closed last year when its parent company, the Arcadia Group, collapsed......

200th Anniversary of Bronte Wedding

Picture of Bronte Marriage Church.

Today is the 200th anniversary of the marriage of the Reverend Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell who was to become his wife.

Today is the 200th anniversary of the marriage of the Reverend Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell who was to become his wife.

The wedding took place here in Guiseley Parish Church on 29th December 1812. In the above photo taken by me this morning is the rail at which they took the wedding vows and above the rail a wooden plaque celebrating the marriage here. Also between the rain and the wooden plaque there is a copy of the marriage certificate of Patrick Brontë and Maria Branwell.

On marriage to Patrick, Maria was aged 29 and the couple would go on to have 6 children before she died of cancer aged 38 on the 15 September 1821. Their marriage lasted fewer than ten years but within that time the legacy of the four younger children (the eldest two Maria and Elizabeth died before the age of 12) was set in place. Today those four, the three sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne and their brother Branwell live on in the classic works of literature set right here in Yorkshire.

To celebrate this anniversary the bells of the church here at Guiseley were rung this morning with a 2 and 3/4 hour full peal.

Petrea Burchard30 December 2012 at 03:46 The photo and story are wonderful, and the bells are a special treat!

Reply Librarian30 December 2012 at 08:45 Thank you, this was very interesting! While I am not a Bronte "fan" as such, the stories of their lives move me, and I have often stood at the grave at one of the sisters in Scarborough, just before the road leads up to the castle.

Reply Chrissy Brand30 December 2012 at 17:53 Fascinating, tempus fugit.

Reply

Deb30 December 2012 at 18:17 Goodness the bell ringers must have been ready for a cuppa after that! Interesting post Paul I had always assumed they married in Ireland. Looking forward to the panorama. Reply

Public Art Leeds, Yorkshire

Picture of public art in Leeds.

This public art was commissioned by the private Nuffield hospital here in Leeds from the artist Faith Bebbington. The sculpture was installed back in 2002, oddly I never noticed it until quite recently.

Faith based the sculpture on Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing "Human figure in a square in a circle".

The sculpture is outside the hospital on Leighton Street LS1 3EB.

End Of The Line

Picture of the end of the line.

I could not resist this shot of the end of the line. In truth the line continues but it does rather come to an abrupt end.

This is the Abbey Light Railway at Kirkstall Leeds, run by volunteers adjacent to Kirkstall Abbey.

Meanwood Valley Urban Farm

This picture shows the front view of the main building, the EpiCentre at the Meanwood Valley Urban Farm site. The EpiCentre opened in 1999 and provides classrooms, exhibition space, a library and meeting facilities as well as office space.

Opened in 1980 Meanwood Valley Urban Farm is part of the City Farm movement and it is a registered charity. Covering a 16.5 acre site the farm offers educational programmes to schools and is also a leisure resource open to visitors daily.

The Meanwood Valley Urban Farm is located on land originally granted to the monks of Kirkstall Abbey in 1240.

Vintage Rolls Royce Leeds

Picture of a 1934 Rolls Royce motor car being used for a wedding parked up outside Leeds Cathedral.

I was walking through Leeds city centre recently when I saw this lovely old motor car. I chatted with the chauffeur who demonstrated the starting handle, something I have not seen used in many years.

I can understand why people use wonderful old motor cars like this one for weddings, style and not seen every day.

Since I took this photograph a good friend who is serious professional photographer suggested that I was now good enough to do wedding photography, with some practise. Whoa Neddy!

Steffe said... I know a guy who does wedding photos. He only shoots in RAW and can take thousands of photos in a few hours. And then only a few of those photos are ever used.

AUGUST 20, 2010 10:33 AM

Fly Fishing on the River Aire - Yorkshire

This scene of a fisherman fly fishing on the river Aire here in Yorkshire is one that I never thought I would see and photograph less than a mile from my home.

I was walking along the riverbank looking to see if I could see the police divers in action on this stretch of the river Aire. The police here had spent a couple of days in and on the river nearby looking for remains or evidence. It was not a morbid thing me being there, my friend who is an editorial photographer was somewhere along this part of the river photographing the divers at work. So I thought I would stroll along and see if he was around.

I had never walked along this bit of the river bank, which is odd because I walk quite a bit. I had always thought that anyone fly fishing on the river Aire would be some miles further upstream. The above photo is slightly misleading because the rocks and grass on his left are a small island and not the bank of the river.

I saw a heron stood in the river Aire, a few hundred yards from this spot, but he was on the other side and my 70-200 lens is not really big enough for that. Also as I got nearer to the heron it flew off.