We were in Leeds to see 65daysofstatic, which I’ll tell you about on another post, but we arrived in town early and had a full day to explore first.
After a nice breakfast at Bella Italia on Briggate, we went to see the City Sculpture Projects 1972 at the Henry Moore Institute. If you don’t know the story behind this, sculpture was the talk of the town in Britain in the summer of 1972. This was down to the City Sculpture Project, a hugely ambitious public sculpture scheme that supported the commissioning of large-scale works. For a period of six months, between March and November 1972, sculptures were installed in eight cities in England and Wales. They included Nicholas Monro’s five-metre tall statue of King Kong in Birmingham, which was now in front of the Henry Moore building. It is huge and a little scary for a tiny bear like me!
Next was a visit to the Leeds City Museum and its six varied galleries. If you like natural history, then the ‘Life on Earth’ is for you… the museum has over 800,000 specimens! The ‘Collectors Cabinet’ includes the impressive heavy-footed Moa skeleton, once one of the largest birds ever to roam the earth. You can explore Asian culture and Leeds’ links with the world’s largest continent in the fascinating ‘Voices of Asia’ gallery and the history of Leeds including its surprising inventions, sporting accolades and incredible textile heritage in ‘The Leeds Story’ gallery. Find out how the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks lived their lives and paved the way for the world as we know it in the ‘Ancient Worlds’ gallery.
Having had our dose of culture, it was of course beer o’clock and we found a little gem of a pub, hidden away in a tiny ‘yard’ just off Briggate. Built in 1715, with its current famous interior dating from the late 1800s, Whitelock’s Ale House is the oldest public house in Leeds. A few pints later and Mum wasn’t feeling great, so we headed back to the hotel to chill before the gig. We were staying at what would become our preferred hotel in Leeds, the Jurys Inn at Brewery Wharf. We really like it in that part of the city, just a short 10 minute walk from the centre near to the Royal Armouries. I was very happy to see we got an extra bed in our room, so I didn’t have to sleep in between Mum and Dad, so was safely away from all the snoring and farting that goes on in their bed!