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Leeds is a major city in the northern English county of Yorkshire and the urban core of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire. Since 1974 it is the larger City of Leeds which holds city status. The River Aire runs through the ... more »
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Airports Leeds is a major city in the northern English county of Yorkshire and the urban core of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire. Since 1974 it is the larger City of Leeds which holds city status. The River Aire runs through the city. According to the 2001 UK census the Leeds Urban Area had a population of 443,247 while the City of Leeds had a population of 715,404 and is one of England's core cities.
Leeds was recently voted as Britain's Best City for Business by Omis Research. It is also regarded as the fastest growing city in the UKand has a diverse economy with the service sector now dominating over the city's manufacturing industries. Leeds is the largest financial centre outside the capital. New tertiary industries such as retail, call centres, offices and media have contributed to a high rate of economic growth since the early 1990s. Nearly 100,000 people work in financial and business services - about a quarter of the workforce. The strength of the economy is also indicated by the low unemployment rate.
Things to do Leeds has a large number of museums, being the home of the Royal Armouries Museum (opened in 1996 when the collection was transferred from the Tower of London), the Leeds City Museum which is dedicated to the history of Yorkshire, the Thackray's Medical Museum and the Leeds City Art Gallery. Leeds also boasts the Grand Theatre (where Opera North is based), the City Varieties music hall (which has hosted performances by Charlie Chaplin and Harry Houdini) and the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
The Leeds Festival takes place every year in Bramham Park, having moved from Temple Newsam after pressure from some local residents. It features some of the biggest names in rock and indie music. The city is home to the Leeds International Piano Competition, held every three years since 1963, which has launched the careers of many major concert pianists. There is also the Leeds International Concert Season, the largest local authority music programme of any UK city outside London. The city also has an internationally recognised film festival; the Leeds International Film Festival is the largest film festival in England outside London and shows films from around the world. It incorporates the highly successful Leeds Children & Young People's Film Festival, which is organised and put together entirely by people under 18 years old.
The first moving pictures in the world were taken in the city, by Louis Le Prince, of Leeds Bridge in 1888, and the world's first traffic light was also installed on Park Row.
Temple Newsam House, Harewood House and the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, which dates from the 12th century, are on the outskirts of the city.
Leeds has a very large student population and boasts a large number of bars and nightclubs, as well as venues for live bands such as the Cockpit, The New Roscoe, Joseph's Well and The Wardrobe which combine to generate a vibrant nightlife. There are also a number of smaller venues which cater for underground and DIY gigs, such as Sela Bar and The Brudenell Social Club.
Leeds has gained a reputation as one of the UK's favourite clubbing destinations. Often described as the UK's 'clubbing capital', Leeds is best known as the home of pioneering club nights Back to Basics and Speedqueen. Until a few years ago, Morley was home to the legendary Orbit, which for 13 years was known internationally as one of the original and best techno clubs in the country.
The name "Leeds" came from "Leodis", which was a name recorded in Anglo-Saxon sources for a Celtic kingdom that survived in the area for a while after the Anglo-Saxon invasion.
Leeds has been known since being mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086. Leeds was an agricultural market town in the Middle Ages, and received its first charter in 1207. In the Tudor period Leeds was mainly a merchant town, manufacturing woollen cloths and trading with Europe via the Humber estuary and the population grew from 10,000 at the end of the seventeenth century to 30,000 at the end of the eighteenth. At one point nearly half of England's total export passed through Leeds. The industrial revolution had resulted in the radical growth of Leeds whose population had risen to over 150,000 by 1840. The city's industrial growth was catalysed by the introduction of the Aire & Calder Navigation in 1699, Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816 and the railway in 1848. In 1893 Leeds had been granted city status. These industries that developed in the industrial revolution had included making machinery for spinning, machine tools, steam engines and gears as well as other industries based on textiles, chemicals and leather and pottery. Coal was extracted on a large scale and the still functioning Middleton Railway, the first commercial railway in the world, transported coal into the centre of Leeds.
By the 20th Century this social and economic had started to change with the creation of academic institutions such the academic institutions that are known today as the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University. This period had also witnessed expansion in medical provision particularly Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital. Following World War Two there was a decline in secondary industries that had thrived in the 19th Century. In 1951, half the workforce was still in manufacturing; by 1971 the figure was a third. Leeds lost a third of its manufacturing jobs 1971-81 (Champion & Townsend, 1990, p.82). In 1991, 64,000 were employed in manufacturing. In 2003, 2,103 firms employed 44,500 (10% of workforce). But there are still some large engineering firms. The largest make turbine blades, components, alloys, valves and pipelines for the oil industry, switchgear, printers’ supplies, copper alloys, surgical and hospital equipment, pumps, motors, radiators.
In the 1980s, the Conservative government designated Urban Development Corporations on a number of UK cities: some declining areas were taken out of local authority control and government funding was provided with the aim of speeding up and concentrating private sector investment in the most run-down areas. Leeds Development Corporation ran from 1988-95 and helped to focus attention on two decayed industrial areas (lower Kirkstall Valley and the riverside area to the south east of the city centre). Achievements of LDC included refurbishment of many riverside properties, the opening up of Granary Wharf and the Royal Armouries development.
Today Leeds is known as one of eight core cities that act as a focus of their respective regions and Leeds is generally regarded as the dominant city of the ceremonial county of West Yorkshire.
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Distances are calculated as the crow flies, and are provided as an aid in planning only.
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