Leeds Now And Then (2019)

I was born in Leeds in 1955 and lived there until I went to Hull University in 1973. After university I moved to London. More than 40 years after leaving Leeds, putting together a photographic book about some of the Yorkshire city’s fine buildings and other architectural features was a brilliant project for me.

The publisher Pavilion has produced a long series under the Then And Now banner. Each one follows the same formula – there are 68 spreads on which a Then image on the left faces a photo of the same location Now. Almost all the Now shots for my book were taken by local resident David North, who did an excellent job of recreating the angles from long ago.

I compiled the book while living in Kent and latterly Northumberland, both a long way from Leeds. I made two trips back to Leeds to pound the streets to check details and fill in gaps of my online research. Despite this appearing to be “just” a book of photos, Leeds Then And Now includes an introduction of about 1,000 words, while each image carries a caption of up to 160 words. In total I wrote more than 21,000 words for the text.

Early on in my planning I decided to concentrate on a relatively small area of central Leeds, even though many of the other Then And Now series include shots of suburbs of the locations. I felt there were plenty of things to highlight, examine and celebrate in Leeds city centre and given my career I featured lots of retail details. I started at City Square and radiated out from there.

One aspect of my approach was to show the same location at different times and at slightly different angles, hence these two views of City Square from 1897, when the plaza was being constructed, and around 1936 when it looked different to how it is today.

I could not resist including my grammar school, Leeds Central High School, also known as the City of Leeds School, which I attended from 1966 until 1973. It was located on Woodhouse Lane, opposite the Merrion Centre shopping precinct, which was a very early British example (maybe the first?) of a covered shopping and leisure centre.

The Merrion Centre, which was opened in 1964, was developed by Arnold Ziff, a celebrated Leeds-based entrepreneur. One of Arnold’s sons, Edward, still runs the family’s property interests, including the centre. With his mother Marjorie, Edward is the boy in the pushchair in the Then photo.

Some of the Then photos dated back to the late 19th century and showed the dramatic changes Leeds underwent as its notorious slums and decaying commercial areas were cleared away. This is the popular Victoria Quarter, now a premium retail and leisure destination.

Harvey Nichols’ Leeds store is part of the modern Victoria Quarter but the location’s fashion credentials go back to the start of the 20th century.

I was amazed to see the transformation wrought on Boar Lane when it was widened in the 1870s.

A modern programme of transformation has seen the areas alongside the River Aire converted from a virtual no-go district to a series of desirable residential and leisure complexes.

It was a real thrill for me to see the book displayed so prominently in the window of Waterstones in Albion Street, Leeds when in was published in September 2019. I think all the signed copies have gone by now but it is still in stock.

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