Where? 1901-1904 Central Leeds

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Tue 30 Oct, 2012 5:20 pm

Good one of the old post office here, taken further towards Bishopgate St than the OP photo/ picture. Cloth hall on the left and post office 1/3 in from the right near the top.

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Tue 30 Oct, 2012 5:22 pm

Another looking up park row, Infirmary Street to the left.

James · Post by **James** » Tue 30 Oct, 2012 7:15 pm

Si wrote: And here's Atkinson Grimshaw's view of Park Row. I guess he set up his easel (or camera tripod) at the corner of Bond Street. Alexander Robertson observes that Atkinson Grimshaw's painting of Park Row was commissioned by the directors of Beckett's Bank, seen on the right, to depict their premises and the handsome street on which they stood. According to the Leeds Mercury, this picture had "the same wonderful effects, the same gradations of tone, the same close attention to minuteness of detail which most of his previous paintings have displayed".

Si · Post by Si » Wed 31 Oct, 2012 10:18 am

Beckett's Bank doesn't appear on the earlier map - it looks like a terrace of big houses - but it is on the 1908 map. The new St Anne's has been built by now.

Si · Post by Si » Wed 31 Oct, 2012 10:38 am

A nice find from Leodis of the original St Anne's. Bank of England centre, town hall left.

Si · Post by Si » Wed 31 Oct, 2012 10:41 am

I also found this interesting picture of the covered doorway as seen in the foreground of AG's painting, but seen from the opposite direction. AG's view-point is just beyond the group of blokes. This is Leodis' caption: "Description:Undated. Situated on Park Row, the building was originally the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society headquarters, built in 1821, designed by Robert Chantrell. The museum section was enlarged in 1861/2 with a new entrance on Park Row. An air raid in 1941 caused severe damage to the museum; the Park Row entrance was destroyed. A concrete frontage replaced it but the museum finally closed in 1965. Service was transferred to a floor in the Municipal Buildings joining Leeds Central Library and Leeds Art City Gallery. The museum was closed in 1999 when the building was renovated. A new museum was opened in the Leeds Institute building (Civic Theatre) in 2008."

Si · Post by Si » Wed 31 Oct, 2012 10:51 am

Another Leodis pic from the early 1920s showing the Philosophical Hall/Museum, with Beckett's Bank in the foreground.