The opening of the Virgin Megastore was music to the ears of record fans while a Gladiator stopped off in the city centre to open a Boar Lane restaurant. Elsewhere a well known TV prankster handed a surprise package to a junior rugby league coach. This was Leeds in 1996 and Leeds’s reputation as the ‘Knightsbridge of the North’ was further enhanced thanks to the official opening of the Harvey Nichols store on Briggate. These photos, plucked from the YEP archive, also feature memories from the city’s suburbs with Crossgates, Yeadon, Seacroft and Burley in focus. READ MORE: 34 loved and lost Leeds nightclubs you visited back in the day LOVE LEEDS? LOVE NOSTALGIA? Join Leeds Retro on facebook YEP RETRO NEWSLETTER: Sign up for our free monthly email digest of Leeds nostalgia
7. Leeds city centre
Cricket legend Fred Trueman was at W.H. Smith in Leeds city centre to launch Owzat! in November 1996. | Roy Fox Photo: Roy Fox
8. Farnley
September 1996 and pictured is inside Riva Bingo showing the mixed age group of people who play the game. | James Hardisty Photo: James Hardisty
9. Belle Isle
Lord Merlyn Rees meets pupils in the art department when he visited Merlyn Rees High School to open a new arts, technology and science block in October 1996. | Roy Fox Photo: Roy Fox
10. Leeds city centre
Heavy snow brought traffic chaos for motorists on City Square in January 1996. | Roy Fox Photo: Roy Fox
11. Burley
Belfast took to the streets of Leeds in August 1996 for the filming of movie Monk Dawson starring John Michie, Benedict Taylor and Martin Kemp. | Bruce Greer Photo: Bruce Greer
12. Leeds city centre
Desperate Men entertain the crowds on Lands Lane in August 1996 as part of the Rhythms of the City festival. | James Hardisty Photo: James Hardisty