Leeds

[sirhenry]

Somewhere like 'Millionaires' Mile' in Adel then.
Streetview

[ThisIsHardcore]

Hoof! Just seen this topic now so thought I'd have something to say.

I'm a native of Leeds, and I couldn't imagine myself being from anywhere else. It's quite a quirky city, full of unique character and even though the city centre has become a bit too yuppified, the area around the market still has that great Leeds soul.

As for good parts and bad parts. If you avoid a lot of South Leeds (Beeston, Holbeck, Belle Isle, Middleton) and East Leeds (Gipton, Seacroft, East End Park, Halton Moor), plus some parts of West Leeds, namely Armley and Bramley, you should be right. Although the areas around Temple Newsam in East Leeds are nice.

I'm currently moving in between Horsforth and Roundhay, back and forth, both really nice areas in the city. The "student" ghetto of Headingley, Hyde Park, Burley and Woodhouse is good because it's got soul and character, and like a few have mentioned the Brudenell is in the centre of it all. But you do get dodgy types hanging around because it's student central so it's "easy pickings" for them. So be careful when you're round there.

[babyshambler]

However, the area behind the corn exchange still had loads of little shops and bars last time I poked around there.

The biggest loss to that general area was Positively 13 O'clock - the 60s shop. I think it moved to the Merrion (?) then went mail order? There's been no reply to the email or two I've sent asking if they're still trading, anyway. Blue Rinse is quite good, but I swear it was better 10 years ago. Cheaper, maybe.

[paolozzi]

Leeds is great. Good if you're into gigs - could find a gig every night if you wanted.

Also, read Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew. Grim.

[Beagle 2]

Worked there for a couple of years. Far too up its own arse, very middle class, convinced it's the place to be and better than that Manchester or that London but it isn't, new build flats everywhere (half of them empty), lawyers all over the place, students all over the place, boring, they love the Kaiser Chiefs, Leeds United live there, I didn't take to the place.

[babyshambler]

Weeeee alllllll love Leeds and Leeds and Leeds, Leeds and Leeds and Leeds and Leeds, and Leeds and Leeds and Leeds, we all fucking love Leeeeeeeds.

[WesterlyWinds]

The Angel is a great place for a very cheap pint.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

If you want to mix up the getting pissed, there is another Sam Smiths pub across the river, opposite the Adelphi, called the Red Lion.

[WesterlyWinds]

If you want to mix up the getting pissed, there is another Sam Smiths pub across the river, opposite the Adelphi, called the Red Lion.

I will have to go check that place out. I might do a Sam Smiths pub crawl from The Eagle Tavern through The Angel and straight on towards the Red Lion. Having lived most of my alcohol drinking life in the south I still get chills every time I pay £1.80 for a pint.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

The Eagle Tavern...that place is open?

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

Is Leeds really considered 'middle class'? I've always thought, once you get rid of all the students, it's still a very strident working class city. The last time I went clubbing in Leeds I got called a "posh boy" for wearing a jacket. And the only bloke I know from London (Richmond) I know who lives there gets called "Hugh Grant" every other week by the locals. Hardly a middle class mecca of metropolitan values.

[phes]

I'm baffled now this is the second time that the prices in the Angel has been mentioned. I've been a few times now and i'm pretty sure it was about 3.40 or so for a pint of Sam Smith's lager and maybe tenpenny less for an ale. I guess you could call it cheap compared to the hell holes i'd be going to if I went out with the people on my course, but it's not cheap relative to a lot of the other pubs i've been to where you'll get a decent ale for between £2-3.

Perhaps i'm choosing the wrong drinks.

I also enjoyed the pub that's in the next alley along, The Ship Inn, which was just fine and had a delicious IPA on tap. Not quite as good as the Angel but fine for a change of scenery.

[Nuclear Optimism]

To return the the original post, I ended up not moving to Leeds after all.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Sam Smith's Original is still under £2 in the Angel last time I checked. Prices have risen enormously though, it used to be £1.34 in 2008. As far as I know, most of the other drinks are around £2.50.

The Ship Inn is an interestingly shaped pub but everything else about it (unless something has changed recently) is drab and depressing and the clientele are the same charmers that you find in pubs like The Three Legs.

Whitelocks has been done up and there's a new farty middle class Yorkshire menu, but more importantly at least 6 real ales, most of which are local.

One of the main things I've noticed since returning is how stridently Leeds has taken to putting on its own local ales. They're a bit more varied than Sheffield's conveyor belt of blondes and IPA's too.

Leeds is as middle class or as working class as you want to be. It's big enough that you can avoid things you don't like. Unlike Skipton which is a 4x4 infested nest of twats sporting unread issues of the Yorkshire Post/Horse & Hound, wearing flat caps and green jackets that have seen less farmwork than Paris Hilton, where half the pubs have become town-like, selling awfully kept Staropramen/Pilsener Urquell for £4 a pint where the made-its sit around talking shit about varieties of cheeses, and the other half are living museums more full of gormless idiots from the south gawping at what remains of the locals and not realising that their own presence saps the final remnants of authenticity from the place.

[ThisIsHardcore]

Worked there for a couple of years. Far too up its own arse, very middle class, convinced it's the place to be and better than that Manchester or that London but it isn't, new build flats everywhere (half of them empty), lawyers all over the place, students all over the place, boring, they love the Kaiser Chiefs, Leeds United live there, I didn't take to the place.

I'm sure if you went to somewhere like Holbeck, Gipton, Halton Moor, Belle Isle or parts of Bramley you'd see that Leeds isn't entirely a middle class city. It's not as bad for crime as Liverpool or Manchester are, and there are a lot of leafy suburbs, especially in the North of the city, but it's a place firmly rooted in a working class industrial heritage.

I remember for the two or three years when Kaiser Chiefs were relevant people from round here would back them with pride, clearly only because they were from Leeds. People obviously thought we'd finally produced a band to compete with Manchester's Oasis, Liverpool's Beatles or Sheffield's Pulp, which is a laughable notion. The best band to come from Leeds were The Bridewell Taxis, unfairly labelled as a "baggy" group because they were around at the same time as the peak of The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, et al.

And Leeds United being here is a plus! We are the Leeds scum, we are the Leeds scum, we are the Leeds scum, we are the Leeds scum!

[Dead kate moss]

The best band to come from Leeds were The Sisters Of Mercy

Fixed that for you.

[SockPuppet]

The best band to come from Leeds were Scritti Politti

Fixed.

[Dead kate moss]

Well, both pissed over the Bridewell Taxis.

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

Sam Smith's Original is still under £2 in the Angel last time I checked. Prices have risen enormously though, it used to be £1.34 in 2008. As far as I know, most of the other drinks are around £2.50.

The Ship Inn is an interestingly shaped pub but everything else about it (unless something has changed recently) is drab and depressing and the clientele are the same charmers that you find in pubs like The Three Legs.

Whitelocks has been done up and there's a new farty middle class Yorkshire menu, but more importantly at least 6 real ales, most of which are local.

One of the main things I've noticed since returning is how stridently Leeds has taken to putting on its own local ales. They're a bit more varied than Sheffield's conveyor belt of blondes and IPA's too.

Leeds is as middle class or as working class as you want to be. It's big enough that you can avoid things you don't like. Unlike Skipton which is a 4x4 infested nest of twats sporting unread issues of the Yorkshire Post/Horse & Hound, wearing flat caps and green jackets that have seen less farmwork than Paris Hilton, where half the pubs have become town-like, selling awfully kept Staropramen/Pilsener Urquell for £4 a pint where the made-its sit around talking shit about varieties of cheeses, and the other half are living museums more full of gormless idiots from the south gawping at what remains of the locals and not realising that their own presence saps the final remnants of authenticity from the place.

Couldnt this equally apply to Harrogate? Despite growing up there, and still amazed every time I go back up there how unselfconsciously middleclass it is. I suppose you don't really notice these things growing up, but it is like some bastard spawn of a London suburb that's somehow ended up in North Yorks.

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

I'm sure if you went to somewhere like Holbeck, Gipton, Halton Moor, Belle Isle or parts of Bramley you'd see that Leeds isn't entirely a middle class city. It's not as bad for crime as Liverpool or Manchester are, and there are a lot of leafy suburbs, especially in the North of the city, but it's a place firmly rooted in a working class industrial heritage.

I remember for the two or three years when Kaiser Chiefs were relevant people from round here would back them with pride, clearly only because they were from Leeds. People obviously thought we'd finally produced a band to compete with Manchester's Oasis, Liverpool's Beatles or Sheffield's Pulp, which is a laughable notion. The best and to come from Leeds were The Bridewell Taxis, unfairly labelled as a "baggy" group because they were around at the same time as the peak of The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, et al.

And Leeds United being here is a plus! We are the Leeds scum, we are the Leeds scum, we are the Leeds scum, we are the Leeds scum!

Leeds is something of an anomaly in itself for its music scene isnt it? It's bigger than either Sheffield or Manchester, has plenty of clubs/venues, and yet the only notable noticeable acts to come out of there are Kaiser Chiefs and LFO. Perhaps the water has 'non-musically inspiring' properties or something.

[sirhenry]

The best band to come from Leeds were The Wedding Present, The Three Johns, Utah Saints, Gang of Four, Soft Cell, The Sisters of Mercy, Scritti Politti, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, The Mekons, or Chumbawamba

Fixed

[ThisIsHardcore]

Leeds is something of an anomaly in itself for its music scene isnt it? It's bigger than either Sheffield or Manchester, has plenty of clubs/venues, and yet the only notable noticeable acts to come out of there are Kaiser Chiefs and LFO. Perhaps the water has 'non-musically inspiring' properties or something.

All this is true. It also has a really small airport for a city it's size.

[Dead kate moss]

The best band to come from Leeds were The Wedding Present, The Three Johns, Utah Saints, Gang of Four, Soft Cell, The Sisters of Mercy, Scritti Politti, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, The Mekons, or Chumbawamba

That's quite a haul. Chumbawumba kinda bring the side down, but it beats Tunbridge Wells, that's for sure!

[Gulftastic]

All this is true. It also has a really small airport for a city it's size.

What it lacks in size, it makes up for in altitude.

[sirhenry]

What it lacks in size, it makes up for in altitude.

Moor's the pity.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Racist

[biggytitbo]

Its very windy on the descent into LABIA[nb]Leeds and Bradford International Airport[/nb], at least it was when I was on the flight!

[ThisIsHardcore]

There's talk of expansion at LBA, but I'm not sure if it'll take off.

[WesterlyWinds]

The Eagle Tavern...that place is open?

Yeah, it's a bit of a dive and closes at about 10PM most nights but I have to go there occasionally for one reason or another.

I'm baffled now this is the second time that the prices in the Angel has been mentioned. I've been a few times now and i'm pretty sure it was about 3.40 or so for a pint of Sam Smith's lager and maybe tenpenny less for an ale. I guess you could call it cheap compared to the hell holes i'd be going to if I went out with the people on my course, but it's not cheap relative to a lot of the other pubs i've been to where you'll get a decent ale for between £2-3.

Perhaps i'm choosing the wrong drinks.

I also enjoyed the pub that's in the next alley along, The Ship Inn, which was just fine and had a delicious IPA on tap. Not quite as good as the Angel but fine for a change of scenery.

I was there on Friday night and Sam Smith's Old Brewery Bitter[nb]I think that's what it is called[/nb] is £1.80 a pint. They do sell bottles of ale for a lot more, but that's a decent pint so I never really bother.

[Keith.T]

Leeds is great for gigs and quite cheap alcohol if you know where to find it...