Exiles - what do you miss about Leeds the most?

Chrism · Post by **Chrism** » Wed 09 Sep, 2009 1:33 pm

I miss traipsing round the flea market on thursdays and at this time of year I really miss The Heritage w/e. There's absolutely nothing in this little town and we'd have to travel miles to see anything worth while. In Leeds there's always something that's new.

Reginal Perrin · Post by **Reginal Perrin** » Wed 09 Sep, 2009 1:47 pm

LS1 wrote: Yeah, I was near redcar the other week and had a pint of Imperial. I havent seen it in Leeds for ages, and was starting to thinkthat I had imagined it. Wonder why you can never get it here and seems to be more readily available in the North East? Pretty sure I saw it in the Wagon and Horses on Wakefield Road in Lofthouse last time I was in.

wayniac · Post by **wayniac** » Thu 10 Sep, 2009 8:46 am

I think the things I miss don't exist any more.My regular pub was the Black Dog on East Street (gone).Spent a lot of time in the Hope which is still there.The Town Hall concerts on Saturday nights and tipping into the Vic afterwards. Taking the nippers to the Canal Gardens and feeding the ducks.Tenpin bowling at the Merrion Bowl on Thursday nights with some of the best bowlers around, such as Dave Taylor and Nigel Ogbonson.Don't miss working in the market for slave wages at Brooksbanks. Miss the fantastic variety and number of pubs there used to be. I miss 1960's prices too. 1/10d for a pint of Bitter.I also miss my old Hunslet RLFC and Parkside.Seeing the old legends play such as Geoff Gunney, Bill Ramsey, Jeff Stevenson, Alan Preece, Billy Baldwinson (who is buried with his wife next to my Gran in Hunslet cemetery).And of course the annual Lazenby Cup match and the odd thriller at Headingley where I would to watch the hated Leeds if they were playing a decent game against Widnes or Cas.

Bert · Post by **Bert** » Thu 10 Sep, 2009 6:04 pm

Chumpin for Bonfire Night and mounting round the clock guard on our stache of chumps until the big night cameMischief NightParkin on Bonfire NightRoasting potatoes in the fire on Bonfire NightTrain trips from Crossgates to see Streaks on York Station, reviving ouselves with hot mugs of tea and Wagon Wheels in the station cafeChasing after girls in Primrose Valley or in Manston Park Pea picking for half a crown a sack in the fields on the Selby RoadMushroom picking for nothing a sack in the Three Cornered field next to Three Well Woods at the bottom of Gypsy Lane in ColtonPlaying on Joe Carroll's farm in Colton and 'helping' the farm hand George CalvertBeing able to get to fantastic places like Malham, Ilkley, Ingleborough, The Strid etc etc in next to no timeClippies thanking me for my fare with a ' Ta Luv'Pea soup fogs forcing me to feel my way home along the railings in CrossgatesGoing to school smack in the centre of the city at Leeds Central High and being able to walk there from Leeds Bus Station through Kirkgate Market and through some of the greatest shopping streets, arcades and department stores in the worldGoing to the pictures at the Ritz in CrossgatesWatching John Charles play his last game for Leeds United before leaving for Juventus, with Jackie Overfield racing fown the left wing and Georgie Meek down the right (none of which is to detract at all from the later glory days of Don Revie - but I had left Leeds by the time Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter, Jack Charlton et al had hit full throttle)Cakewalking to Ed O'Donnell's Jazz Band at the TramshedsNights out in one of the most vibrant city centres I've ever experienced - and I've travelled the globe since leaving Leeds in 1962Fish and Chips with scraps on from either of the then two fish and chip shops in Marshall Street off Austhorpe Road, or Coes, or Drakes, or Porters, or the one whose name I now forget in the shed at the Corn Exchange, or the original Harry Ramsdens at Guiseley - they were all greatAnd above all, Tetley's Mild. (When I walked into my first London pub and asked for a pint of mild the landlord looked me up and down with a puzzled expression on his face, then said: "What's a well dressed young man like you doing ordering filth like that?" And when I then drank his filth - the same filth that I soon discovered passed for mild in all London pubs - I realised why he was puzzled, and what I had lost forever by leaving Leeds)

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Thu 10 Sep, 2009 9:07 pm

blackprince wrote: Like everyone else I miss the fish and chips most . I seem to remember that in Leeds you always helped yourself to salt & vinegar on the counter , every where else they ask you if you want salt and vinegar then sprinkle it on themselves, which is a bit daft. Am I right? You are - they even have this silly habit in Halifax (where I work). Very odd.

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Thu 10 Sep, 2009 9:19 pm

Yes, I got caught out in birmingham where they dumped a ton of salt on my food and rendered it inedible. They then made some sort of mewling sound when I complained that I was capable of doing it and wanted another portion instead of the pile of poison they offered me. In the end I put them right but it too some doing.

Si · Post by Si » Fri 11 Sep, 2009 10:34 am

Bert wrote: And above all, Tetley's Mild. (When I walked into my first London pub and asked for a pint of mild the landlord looked me up and down with a puzzled expression on his face, then said: "What's a well dressed young man like you doing ordering filth like that?" And when I then drank his filth - the same filth that I soon discovered passed for mild in all London pubs - I realised why he was puzzled, and what I had lost forever by leaving Leeds) A man after my own heart.This also happened to me.

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Sat 12 Sep, 2009 4:26 pm

raveydavey wrote: blackprince wrote: Like everyone else I miss the fish and chips most . I seem to remember that in Leeds you always helped yourself to salt & vinegar on the counter , every where else they ask you if you want salt and vinegar then sprinkle it on themselves, which is a bit daft. Am I right? You are - they even have this silly habit in Halifax (where I work). Very odd. Thanks for confirming that - I was beginning to think my memory was playing tricks on me.

Chrism · Post by **Chrism** » Sat 12 Sep, 2009 6:27 pm

raveydavey wrote: blackprince wrote: Like everyone else I miss the fish and chips most . I seem to remember that in Leeds you always helped yourself to salt & vinegar on the counter , every where else they ask you if you want salt and vinegar then sprinkle it on themselves, which is a bit daft. Am I right? You are - they even have this silly habit in Halifax (where I work). Very odd. And why do they seem to think that we want half a tub of salt on our chips?

exiled in essex · Post by **exiled in essex** » Sun 17 Oct, 2010 12:45 am

Just wanted to report that I am exiled in Essex no more!Back home in Leeds for good and what a relief. My husband got wind of the fact that he was going to be made redundant from his job in London so we sold up and came home (my home, he is from the West Midlands). I have been to Wilsons for some pies, had fish and chips from the Skyliner (and was delighted to pay a reasonable price for them!). I also seem to have a conversation with a random stranger every time I go in Killingbeck Asda. I missed that, no one speaks to you down south so having conversations with strangers in Asda is a real treat - it just takes me twice as long to do the shopping now!