The River Aire winds its way through Leeds just to the south of the city centre. At one time it was, of course, important for trade and was linked to the canal network too, by the Aire and Calder Navigation. It must have been a busy, noisy, bustling environment. Nowadays the boats are leisure craft and the yellow water taxis (see above) that ferry between the rail station and Leeds Dock where the Royal Armouries museum is. Most of the old warehouse buildings have been repurposed as residential accommodation, offices and bars.
The view above is from Leeds Bridge. You can see the tower of Leeds Minster beyond the warehouses. We walked through the original docks area, with narrow, cobbled streets that hint at what it was like years ago. I was mildly amused by the sign warning of ducks - though we didn't see any.
A footbridge connects the docks sector with The Calls, originally an industrial area but regenerated in the late 1980s, with conversion of many of the old mills and warehouses. To be honest, it now looks as though it could do with another bout of reinvestment, as there are a lot of empty buildings including what was for a while a prestige boutique hotel.
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