Leeds nostalgia: Call to help find queens of industry

Now experts in Leeds want to find out more about the local ladies once crowned the queens of their industries ahead of a new exhibition celebrating their incredible legacy.

Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills, formerly the world’s largest woollen mill, will be hosting the exhibition this November, focusing on the young women chosen to represent some of Britain’s most prominent economic powerhouses.

The museum is now asking people to come forward with any memories, photos or information that will help them retell a fascinating chapter in the story of Leeds.

Industry queens rose to prominence in the 20th Century, with the first Railway Queens elected in the mid-1920s and the last Coal Queen being crowned in the early 1980s. Inspired by the idea of traditional Rose Queen and May Queens in local villages and towns, these queens flew the flag for their industry. Doreen Fletcher (nee Kerfoot) who became Yorkshire’s Wool Queen in 1948 - now almost 90, she still lives in Yorkshire.

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