SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

My Mum asked about the pub on Dewsbury Road called Tommy Wass."Everyone at church is asking how it got it's name."Why they should be so interested in a pub name at Chapel Allerton Methodist is beyond me.Anyway, it turns out it's named after someone called Thomas Wass.What a shocker!I won't repeat what it says on the Leodis website here, they're probably on the same server anyway.Click here to find out.There's also a few pubs in Hunslet: The Gardeners Arms and the Garden Gate. These are named because a large chunk of Hunslet was a private garden in the eighteenth century belonging to a noblewoman. Who was she?Does 'The Grove' belong in this group?We can probably figure out how pubs like the Market Tavern and the Fenton got their names. I remember the smithy behind the Three Horseshoes at Headingley so there's no mystery there.What about:The Myrtle.The Eldon.The Wren's.The Roscoe.As an aside, there's a book called 'Leed Fax' which is aimed at visitors to Leeds to help them found their way around. It's got a glaring error on one of the pages. The text reads:"Members of the gay community may be interested to know that the Old Red Lion on Thwaite Gate is a gay pub."Close but no cigar.What they mean is the Old Red Lion on Hunslet Road is a gay pub.The Old Red Lion on Thwaite Gate is a Rugby League pub. Oops.The Jester?

The Old Red Lion at Thwaite Gate was pulled down about 20 years ago.Oops.I believe the Wren's , like Tommy Wass's (and Whitelocks for that matter), was named after a previous owner (Mr Wren!)The Jester has been called the Lord Darcy for many years.