Three French Hens, Lower Briggate, Leeds, 20/12/14.

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carols, Christmas, Christmas carols, French, hens, Leeds, The Twelve Day of Christmas, Three French Hens

Seasonal greetings everyone! 

The Kippax Brass Band, The Victoria Quarter, Leeds, 20/12/14.

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Arcades, Brass band, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Cornet, Eb Bass, glitter balls, Kippax, Leeds, mirror balls, Music, The Kippax Brass Band, The Victoria Quarter Leeds

Established in 1814, the Kippax Brass Band currently have vacancies for a “Eb Bass” and a “Cornet“(if you’re interested, follow the link and click Vacancies). They sounded great in Leeds last Saturday and I hope they will sound great for many years to come. If you want to know where they are going to be playing next, it might be worth consulting their Facebook page for details of up coming performances.

Mirror Ball Christmas Tree, The Victoria Quarter, Leeds, 20/12/14.

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Arcades, Christmas decorations, Christmas Tree, Leeds, Mirror Ball Christmas Tree, Reflections, The Victoria Quarter Leeds, Victoria Quarter, window shopping.

Christmas 2014.

Looking good! As odd as it sounds I’ve only ever seen it, if memory serves me, in the weeks between Christmas Day and Epiphany, so it was nice to see it surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the Victoria Quarter on the last Saturday before Christmas.

With a view of the County Arcade, the fountain and a bobble hat.

You can follow this link to the photograph I took almost a year ago of the same Christmas Tree: https://anticsroadshowblogspot.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/the-mirror-ball-christmas-tree-the-victoria-quarter-leeds-020114/.

Nymph Wearing a Scarf, Leeds City Square, Leeds, 20/12/14.

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Alfred Drury, architure, Colonel Thomas Walter Harding, Edward The Black Prince, English Heritage, Grade II listed building, Leeds, Leeds Artillery Volunteers, Leeds City Square, nymph, Queens Hotel, scarf, The Black Prince, Thomas Brock, Tower Works Holbeck

It was a bit chilly out.

Nice knitwear.

I always find that a walk around City Square settles my stomach after the train journey to Leeds and I never tire of the statues that stand in front of the Old Post Office, particularly the nymphs. I noticed that one of the nymph has acquired a scarf since my last visit to Leeds!

The nymphs are the work of Alfred Drury who, a certain on-line encyclopaedia informs me, did some work on the main entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum, including a statue of the Prince Consort.

Amongst the nymphs stand beside an equine statue of Edward the Black Prince, which was covered in pigeons at the time. The statue was commissioned by Leeds based industrialist Colonel Thomas Walter Harding, who inherited a pin factory which became known as the Tower Works in Holbeck, because of its Italianate chimneys, which can still be seen on the skyline from the train (if you’re coming in from the direction of Wakefield Westgate, as I often do).

The Prince and the pigeons.

Thomas Walter Harding started to style himself The Colonel following his retirement from the local artillery volunteers after 33 years service, when the volunteers made him their Honorary Colonel. Leeds Art Gallery have a portrait of him by Hubert Von Herkomer, when The Colonel was Mayor of Leeds. The Black Prince was work of Thomas Brock, who would go on to create the Imperial Memorial to Queen Victoria, which stands outside Buckingham Palace.

Behind the Black Prince can be seen the Art Deco, Grade II listed, Queens Hotel (English Heritage Building I.D 465900), which opened in 1937. If you arrive in Leeds by train, it will be the first thing you see; you can’t miss it!

The Northern Ballet’s “Peter Pan”, The Grand Theatre and Opera House, Leeds, 20/12/14.

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ballet, dance, Leeds, Northern Ballet, Peter Pan, The Grand Leeds, The Grand Theatre and Opera House Leeds, Theatre

Outside The Grand before the matinee performance.

I have never seen myself as a reviewer before, but I found myself, on the 17.05 East Coast service from Leeds to London King’s Cross, scribbling down notes on the performance in my pocket book and it wouldn’t do harm to share them with you.

Firstly, The Grand is a great venue and the staff are first rate; I’ve never had any problems there. If I had to say something negative it would be that it got got a bit warm up in the Dress Circle, but there isn’t a lot you can do about that!

Over the years I have tried to learn the dancer’s names from the programmes and the cast sheets they put in them, so I was concerned at first that I hardly recognised any, but I needn’t have worried. Mlindi Kulashe, for example, is a new name to me, but he gave a wonderful performance as Peter Pan and I’d be very interested to see what his next role will be with the Northern Ballet. Luke Francis, another name I’m not familiar with, played Peter Pan’s shadow in a scene that I’m sure will prove memorable.

Dreda Blow delivered, not one, but two enthralling performances as Mrs. Darling, the mother of Wendy, John and Michael, and the incredibly graceful Never Bird. I checked my programme in the interval and wasn’t surprise to find that the roles were being performed by one of the company’s Leading Soloists [and that evening I looked through some of my other programmes and I Dreda Blow’s name appeared more than once; most notably in “The Great Gatsby” at The New Theatre in Hull back in 2013].

The Mermaids received a universal gasp of amazement from the Dress Circle as they appeared, shimmering, on the stage [I’m not a big sequin fan, as a rule, but everything has its place and a Mermaids tail is one of those places]. Nana The Dog, played by Olivia Holland, was also well received.

I’m saving the last paragraph for Joeseph Taylor’s performance as both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook. I had never given much thought to either character or how they might relate to each other before that Saturday matinee. The final scene sees the children return home and the children look at their father as if he were Captain Hook and I found it very moving, as did some other audience members within earshot of me on Row F.

Raymond Briggs’ “Father Christmas”, Leeds, 21/12/14.

Tags

Christmas, Father Christmas, flask, haversack, illustration, Leeds, Raymond Briggs, Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas, webbing bag, West Yorkshire Playhouse

I have been a fan of Raymond Briggs’ work since the first time I watched The Snowman on television back in the 1980s, so I was very pleased to see Father Christmas with his flask and webbing bag; a bag very similar to the one I take on my adventures! I wont have time to visit the West Yorkshire Playhouse to see Father Christmas, but I’m sure it will be great fun.

Christmas Tree, Leeds Corn Exchange, Call Lane, Leeds, 20/12/14.

Tags

architecture, cameras, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas Tree, Cuthbert Broderick, Leeds, Leeds Corn Exchange, Photography, Wellington House Hull, West Yorkshire Camera: The Proper Camera Shop

The photographers amongst you might be interested to know that West Yorkshire Cameras: The Proper Camera Shop is situated in the Leeds Corn Exchange [it is just to the right of the tip of the Christmas Tree, in fact].

A certain on-line encyclopaedia informs me that the Leeds Corn Exchange opened in 1863 and was designed by Hull born architect Cuthbert Brodrick. As well as designing Leeds Town Hall, The Mechanics Institute (now the Leeds City Museum) and the Grand Hotel in Scarborough, the Hull Daily Mail informs me that Brodrick also designed Wellington House in Hull, which I photographed back in 2013 [https://anticsroadshowblogspot.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/photo-archive-wellington-house-hull-c-2013/]; it has since been demolished.

Peace, Leeds, 20/12/14.

Tags

candle, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas lights, Leeds, lights, peace

The Carousel, Leeds Christmas Market, Opposite The Civic Hall, Leeds, 20/12/14.

Tags

carousel, Christmas, fairground rides, horses., Leeds, Leeds Christmas Market, light bulbs, merry-go-round

Notices Regarding Stolen Bicycles, Streetlife Museum of Transport, Hull, 29/11/14.

Tags

bicycles, Edwardian, Hull, Hull City of Culture 2017, Museums, notices, stolen bicycles, Streetlife Museum of Transport, Streetlife Museum of Transport Hull

“The Model Riche Gloria” (1903 Pattern).

I’d swear that I notice something new every time I visit the Streetlife Museum in Hull and this occasion it was these notices in the window of the bicycle shop, which forms part of the Museum’s comprehensive bicycle collection.

The other Police Notices.

I do not ride a bicycle myself; it was more the language of Edwardian bicycle that caught my attention. I noted in my diary, as you can only get an impression of the notices through my photographs, some of the names and features. I found “The Victor” bicycle, the “Albion Saddle” and “Lucas’s King of the Road lamp” particularly noteworthy, amongst the impressive lists of patriotically named bicycles and accessories.