Liat Clark finds grand architecture, vintage fashion and cakes galore in the Yorkshire city.
Mint Skylounge and Holbeck Village
Leeds has undergone a vast amount of regeneration in recent years, and there is no better way to survey the progress than by visiting the Mint hotel’s stylish 13th-floor Skylounge bar (open 12pm-12am), at the heart of Holbeck Urban Village. Its outdoor terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows offer sweeping views of the development below, from the city’s first skyscraper – the 32-storey Bridgewater Place – to media industry hub the Tower Works, an old textile factory made up of three Grade II Listed red Italianate towers, which are being turned into offices. Erected at the height of the industrial revolution, the largest of these is modelled on Giotto’s Campanile in Florence’s Piazza del Duomo.
Mint hotel, 2 Wharf Approach; tel +44 (0)113 2411 000; minthotel.com
Granary Wharf
Outside the Mint, Granary Wharf’s main square is lined with independent cafés. The Hop (thehopleeds.co.uk) claims to have the city’s best collection of local real ales and, diagonally opposite, Out Of The Woods (outofthewoods.me.uk) serves fresh juices and locally sourced food – there is even a British-only sushi set with rainbow trout nigiri. A tunnel of towering viaduct arches behind the Hop leads to Neville Street, the main thoroughfare connecting Holbeck and the centre. In 2009, a £4.6 million sound and light project was set up along here to combat resulting noise pollution and make it more attractive. As you walk, take in the LED installations by local graphic designer Andy Edwards, and the sound of birdcalls and hum of percussion from German audio-visual artist Hans Peter Kuhn, which gently mix with the hubbub of the city.
Dock Street Market Cafe
Turning right on to Bishopsgate Street, carry on to Boar Lane, past the Gothic 18th-century Holy Trinity Church, and then cross the canal to Brewery Wharf, a new retail centre designed to give the area an economic boost. Around the corner is Dock Street Market Café. With an eclectic mix of retro games and neon furniture, it is a popular meeting spot for local media companies and has free wifi, if you need to touch base with the office. Works by local artists hang on the walls, Yorkshire cheeses line the deli counter and organic farm Swillington provides the vegetables and flowers. It has an on-site baker too – try the cupcake brownie with white chocolate centre and peanut buttercream filling.
Open Mon-Sat 8am-11pm. (Call for Sunday hours; tel +44 (0)1132 455 388). Visit dockstreetmarket.com
Corn Exchange
Back across the canal is the Corn Exchange, built in 1864. The Grade I Listed building was designed by Hull architect Cuthbert Brodrick, who gave the city its grand Town Hall and City Museum. It was inspired by the corn exchange in Paris and features agricultural motifs on the exterior and a grand domed glass ceiling inside, designed to bring light to the Victorian trading floor. The site was restored in the 1980s and a further £1.5 million invested in 2008 to transform it into a food emporium, with clothing boutiques and a jeweller’s lining the tiered balconies above. Piazza by Anthony (anthonysrestaurant.co.uk) includes a café, champagne bar, bakery, chocolate shop, fromagerie and even a doughnut shop, if you have room after the cupcake…
Kirkgate market and Victoria Quarter
Next, head up Vicar Lane to Kirkgate (leedsmarket.com) – a magnificent Edwardian building that houses Europe’s largest covered market. It has seen better days, and the higgledy mass of stalls with their hawkers is in need of development, but it has plenty of character. At the other end of the spectrum, across from here is the early 20th-century Victoria Quarter (v-q.co.uk). Designed by Frank Matcham, the man behind London’s Coliseum, it houses stores from the likes of Louis Vuitton and Church’s in spectacular arcades featuring gilded mosaics, hand-carved mahogany and marble façades. Take a look at the stunning 747 sqm stained-glass window adorning the rooftop, designed by Lancashire artist Brian Clarke.
Leeds City Museum
Walking north up Vicar Lane to Merrion Street, Leeds’ imposing St Anne’s Cathedral is in sight down the Headrow. Take a left for Millennium Square, an enormous expanse bordered by City Museum, Civic Hall and the Civic Theatre. The museum has an excellent permanent exhibit called “The Leeds Story” that explores the city’s Industrial Revolution heritage – most significantly, how Matthew Murray invented the first commercially viable steam engine in Holbeck. The museum also houses some of the city’s best archeological artefacts. Among the Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities is the 3,000-year-old sarcophagus of Nesyamun, an mummy from Egypt’s Karnak temple.
Open Tues-Sun 10am-5pm (7pm on Thurs). Entry is free; leeds.gov.uk/citymuseum
Leeds art gallery and Henry Moore Institute
Just south of here, on the Headrow, is Leeds Art Gallery and the adjoining Henry Moore Institute. The latter is part of the Henry Moore Foundation, which supplies grants to fledgling sculptors. Outside the gallery is Moore’s dramatic bronze Reclining Woman: Elbow (pictured above), and inside is a changing exhibition of works from the artist and contemporary sculptors. Check out the gallery’s library, where the original Victorian tiling lining the stairwell is a draw in itself. The institute also has a distinguished collection of reference material, including an archive of 30,000 slides of sculptures from across the globe.
Entry to both is free; check websites for opening hours: henry-moore.org; leeds.gov.uk/artgallery
GO VINTAGE
Leeds is a mecca for vintage fashion lovers. Designer Niche in the Corn Exchange sells restyled pieces by local designer Laura Butler, Birds Yard on Kirkgate Road is three storeys of handmade wares, Upstaged in the Grand Arcade sells unaltered pieces from the 1900s to the 1980s, and Mighty Baby on Duncan Street has a good selection of men’s clothes.
Visit yorkshire.com
