retiredmartin

May 2026. Leeds.

A night in Bradford, then a descent through the ornate passageway in the Midland Hotel to Forster Square station,

from which you take the Kirkstall route back to Leeds, not the most scenic.

But Leeds is scrubbing up well, and that endless renovation of the station entrance may well be a cracker, though I still don’t know how you get down to the Scarbrough Hotel.

It’s Bank Holiday Monday, an ideal day to take a peak at the ornate brickwork along Park Row,

and the golden peacocks of the Civic Hall.

It looks the major commercial city it is, with Victorian gems like the City Museum.

There’s a lot of the usual ancient histort and recent social change stuff, but the special exhibition focuses on Leeds music scene, which I always thought meant this;

But apparently their city’s muscal legacy is much wider than that, as you can discover on the jukebox.

Mainly, though, it’s a tribute to the city’s past and present live music scene. Kidz today don’t know punk started with the Bay City Rollers.

There’s less on Tetley than you might expect, the old brewery site is the place to go, but the tribute to the Roscoe is a gem in miniature.

Talking of pubs…