‘Clean it up, get it working’: resounding call to restore the old YEP clock tower in Leeds - from YEP readers
“Clean it up, get it working” is the call from Yorkshire Evening Post readers as they echoed our campaign to restore an ‘iconic’ Leeds landmark.
The YEP and the Yorkshire Post have come together to push for the old clock tower, which neither newspaper has any control over, to be freshened up. It has passed into the hands of developers with planning permission to turn the Wellington Street plot into three tower blocks being won in 2023.
New pictures, featured in the joint campaign, depict how the clock tower head has deteriorated from its former glory. The images show that letters have fallen off and that a corner is now missing.
The landmark, which is passed by countless people in Leeds each day, has been described as an “iconic” part of the city by YEP readers. Asked for their verdict on what should be done, they have delivered a resounding call to return it to its former glory.
Responding on social media, one reader said: “Clean it up get it working, it's a Leeds landmark just as the Seacroft Hospital click tower is.”
Another echoed: “Make it work! Restore it! It’s a landmark!” With a reader saying: “Leave it there, but clean up and keep it maintained.”
One person said: “Restore it back to how it used to be. Time, temperature, and lit up at night.”
In a longer comment, a reader wrote: “Renovate it to an LED screen with time/temperature & News running across it ticker tape style & remount it on a less intrusive (ugly) tower and then place just over the road onto the island side next to the flyover so it’s seen not just along there but also directly looking down Wellington St/Kirkstall Rd.”
Echoing the sentiment from hundreds of comments, one person said: “Restore back to original, it's iconic!”
One person added: “Was literally talking about this when going past it yesterday! Restore, get it working, get it illuminated and return it to the Leeds landmark that it is!”
In a bit of dissenting view, one reader said: “Knock it down, it’s an eyesore.”
Our very own editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post has described what seeing the clock tower means to her. Read her wonderful opinion piece here.