Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
Weather forecasters take 1st March as being the first day of Spring whilst the official kick-off is the Spring Equinox around 21st March when there are an equal number of daylight hour to night hours. In Leeds we know that the real beginning of the season is the opening of Chow Down at Temple Arches.…
Read More
My trip to the Leeds Whisky Festival was not only to sample my favourite spirit, but to right a wrong which had been eating away at me for several years. More of that later, first there was booze to savour. Rolling Social Events have already had Rum Festivals, a Gin Fair and a Christmas Market…
Read More
As part of Compass Arts Festival 2021, artists and performers Katie Etheridge and Simon Persighetti aka Small Acts, presented an installation in Kirkgate Market called Yorkshire Square. It explored the interaction between pub goers and the inns and taverns they frequent. They have now taken this theme one step further with a performance called Future…
Read More
It is worth a trip to Yeadon just to marvel at the restoration which the Town Hall has gone through. It is not just a nip, tuck and a shot of Botox, but the full Dolly Parton. The effect is stunning both inside and out, the Town Hall that is, I am not sure that…
Read More
Everybody’s favourite street food venue is back and, not only bigger than ever, but reconfigured so as to make the most of the legendary sunny weather which lasts from April to September each year south of the river. On the off chance that there may be a rogue cloudy day, then that has been catered…
Read More
This is a review I really wish I didn’t have to write. Not because the concert was bad, far from it, but Thursday, 27th January 2022 was Holocaust Memorial Day which marks the most barbaric event in the history of mankind. If only there had been nothing to remember. Leeds has more reason than most…
Read More
My stroll around the City ends with a visit to the Victoria Quarter which has to be the classiest Christmas display in the country. Not for nothing is Leeds known as The Knightsbridge of the North, even having its own branch of Harvey Nichols. I am beginning in Briggate which has the poem Dear Leeds…
Read More
If you are looking for a special way to bid good riddance to 2021 and welcome 2022 there can be no better way than the special Chow Down New Year’s Eve Party. Those of you who have visited Chow Down Winter Village will know what a great place it is to get together and party.…
Read More
Time for a stroll around town to see what the various Quarters have to offer. Where better to start than the Town Hall. This year the old girl has decided to book in for a nip and tuck to enhance her appearance and so the facade is a touch less festive than normal. The scaffolding…
Read More
For this edition I have moved a few minutes walk from Granary Wharf along Water Lane to Temple Arches where Chow Down Winter Village has been set up. It has grown so much since its early days on this site that it almost lives up to its name and is in grave danger of having…
Read More
Tyke It To The Limit 