Leeds in your lunch hour: Civic Trust lectures return for 2023

The Leeds in Your Lunch Hour lectures with noted city historian, Dr Kevin Grady are making a return throughout February and in person rather than on Zoom.

The 16th annual series of free lunchtime lectures will be held at Leeds Minister from 1pm to 1.45pm. Three of this year’s lectures focus on the history and development of three of the city’s most significant locations - Leeds Bridge and Bridge End; Millennium Square; and Commercial Street.

The lunchtime lecture schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, February 1 – ‘The Gateway to Leeds’: The Story of Leeds Bridge and Bridge End, 1700 to 2023’

Bridge End, the vitally important entrance to Leeds from south of the River Aire, was once home to the Leeds Theatre, four important Georgian churches and chapels, the Second White Cloth Hall, the coal staithes of the Middleton Railway, the impressive South Market and some fine merchant houses, as well as being the hub of the Port of Leeds. Today it is being transformed into the heart of the exciting new Leeds City Centre Park. This profusely

illustrated lecture looks at the locality’s past, present and future.

Wednesday February 8 – ‘Millennium Square: Leeds’ Grand Project for the Year 2000’

Millennium Square - the Leeds’ Millennium Project - plays a very important role in the life of Leeds city centre. Twenty years on from its creation, this lively lecture traces the historic antecedents of the square, and the challenges and controversies surrounding its creation

and those of its surrounding buildings, most notably the City Museum and the Carriageworks Theatre.

Wednesday, February 15 – ‘Banks, Libraries, Museums and Shopping à La Mode: The Story of Commercial Street, Leeds, 1806 to 2023’

For much of its life Commercial Street’s shops have commanded the highest rentals per square foot of any in Leeds. Its creators in 1806 intended it to become a street of fine shops and important institutions, linking the exclusive residential streets of the Park Estate to the vibrant market street of Briggate. It soon became home to high-class shops, the architecturally impressive premises of Nicholson & Brown’s Bank and the prestigious Leeds

Library, which remains there today, and Calvert’s Museum. This lecture traces the fascinating development of Commercial Street and its vicinity to the present day.

Wednesday, February 22 – ‘University Days’: Discovering Leeds 1969 to 1975’

In this lively and wide-ranging lecture Kevin Grady reflects on Leeds as it was when he arrived here as a student just over fifty years ago. It was then a bustling smoke-blackened industrial city with few hotels, few cafes, few nightclubs, a polluted semi-derelict waterfront, and almost no one lived in the city centre. On the other hand, it had great character, an outstanding football team, splendid parks, and – as he found out – a wonderful university.

Dr Grady said: ‘It’s great to be able to return to giving my ‘Leeds in Your Lunch Hour’ lectures live and in person after two years on Zoom. I greatly enjoy the buzz and sense of occasion that the large, live audiences have brought to my annual public lecture series over the last 16 years. My lectures aim to tempt city centre workers and people with time to spare to pop into Leeds Minster at lunchtime to enjoy 45 minutes about the fascinating and entertaining history of Leeds. The lectures are free, and no booking is required. As in previous years, the lectures will be full of surprises.’

Everyone is welcome to attend the lectures, there is no charge and no need to register. They will will also be recorded at a later date and added to the Civic Trust’s YouTube Channel.

For further information visit: https://leedscivictrust.org.uk/leeds-in-your-lunch-hour-february-2023/