A trip to Leeds

I rarely feel the need to go shopping in Leeds anymore, though there was a time when I would enjoy it. Most things I need can be obtained more locally. One day recently I decided I'd go as there were a few things I wanted that I thought I could find there quite easily. Hmm... not so. The first three shops I had intended to visit turned out not to be there anymore, or at least not where I thought they were. Confusing! The shops I did find didn't have what I wanted, either. It turns out that going to Leeds is one sure way of 'feeling my age'! Even the act of purchasing something seems fraught these days: do you have a loyalty card? Do you want a loyalty card?  May we have your email address so we can send you an electronic receipt? No, no and no! 

I didn't have my camera but I took a few phone shots along the way. The area around the station, City Square (above), has been smartened up quite a lot lately.  Channel 4 TV moved their headquarters from London to Leeds a year ago, sited in the Majestic building (left, above). The Majestic was built in the 1920s as a cinema, and later became a bingo hall and then a night club. In 2014 a fire destroyed the interior and roof and it has been re-imagined, with soaring glass windows on the upper floors where the TV studios are. The other significant building on that side of City Square is the 19th century Post Office, fronted by a magnificent, larger than life-sized, bronze statue of the Black Prince on his horse.

Another tall office block, 1 City Square (above), originally built in the late 1990s, has recently been refurbished. It still seems 'new' to me! But I guess as it's actually 25 years old, the top-rate accountancy, asset management and law firms who use the office space need it to be right up-to-date. 

The Victoria Gate development, opened in 2016, is where John Lewis have their department store. It's very smart and rather confusing somehow, all glass and glossy marble. I find it hard to tell whether you're in the actual store or not - and hard to find my way around, harder still to find sales staff - though, when you do, they are very helpful. I noticed there were a lot of empty shop units in the mall. Even the high-end locations seem to be struggling lately, never mind the ordinary town high streets. It's not going to get any easier either, I guess. The approach road has, for unknown reasons, been painted like a rainbow - or perhaps it's a Pride flag. 

I personally prefer the old-fashioned glamour of the County Arcade (below - which I've shown before on my blog) - though I can't afford to shop there, with the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Jo Malone having stores along the mall.