Sometimes you don't need to travel far to escape reality, and Bolton Abbey is the ideal spot to pack your bags to for a little R&R.
Set just an hour from Leeds city centre on the corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Bolton Abbey is where suburban Leeds meets the countryside - and it's truly stunning.
Spend days wandering through greenery or explore the Dales' quaint pubs and cafes before putting your head down at one of the most luxurious staycation options around.
Hailed by The Telegraph and Red Bull as one of Britain's coolest camping spots, Catgill Farm is host to bell tents and timber pods, as well as plenty of camping space for you to pitch up and take in the panoramic views of the Yorkshire Dales as the sun goes down.
The Timber Pods can sleep up to six, and come complete with a hot tub on a private patio, as well as a fire pit, pizza oven and fully equipped kitchen space.
Image: Catgill Farm
The spot has been racking up some serious views on TikTok too, and it's not difficult to see why. Exploring the site, you'll walk through crisp green spaces and wind your way between trees to find your chosen pod. Showing off impressive amenities like innovative pizza oven, slotted inside the fire pit and cosy deckchairs to watch the sunset on, these pods are bursting with character.
Now we all know that British weather can be temperamental (to say the least), so these pods are fully insulated with built in central heating - and if all else fails and it's blowing a gale outside, there's cosy blankets and hot chocolate so you can log into your Netflix account and swap a day out for a date night in.
Image: Catgill Farm
Prices start at £195 per night for two adults, but there's also an impressive selection of bell tents to choose from too, priced from £165 each.
These come with private patios with hot tubs and fire pits but come with yurt-style sleeping arrangements.
For the full spa home-away-from-home experience, you can add on a spa package, which gives customers luxury robes and slippers; a bottle of Prosecco with ice bucket; chocolate truffles; fairy lights and skincare products like a Sanctuary face mask and moisturiser, as well as an orange and sugar body scrub.
Well-known UK bowling activity bar Lane7 is set to open its first-ever location in Leeds in 2025.
The bowling alley and entertainment specialists already have a site in Sheffield, and another site is coming to York very soon, making Leeds the third venue in the region.
Set to pop up in the city centre, they'll be opening just down the road from popular adult playground and competitor, Roxy Ball Room - more specifically their Roxy Lanes site.
Lane7 Leeds will take over the former Wilko shop on Albion Street, which closed following the franchise's widespread financial struggles back in 2023.
The lot has been vacant ever since and now a poster plastered in the window has revealed the company's intentions another Yorkshire outpost.
With 18 locations already up and running in the UK, the Leeds bowling alley along with plans to open in Northern Ireland and Wales will see them surpass 20 different sites.
Started in Newcastle back in 2013, in just over a decade the bowling and activity bar has managed to carve a strong following in an already saturated corner of the hospitality and entertainment sector.
Like Roxys, Lane7 also offers other games like mini golf, ping pong and pool, arcade machines and more, not to mention plenty of food and drink offerings.
Most notably, each venue works with local chefs to create unique menus for each city rather than a strictly standardised offering across the board.
For instance, our friends over at The Manc are treated to the equally popular chain Fat Hippo as the in-house vendors.
The dirty burger connoisseurs also have a restaurant here in Leeds, so maybe we'll see them appear at this new Lane7 too, but we'll leave the fun of guessing what else it could be up to you.
Although there is still very little information on an exact opening date, we think we can safely expect Lane7 Leeds to arrive sometime in 2025. We'll keep you posted.
Featured Images — Lane7
Property
Planning permission submitted for new residential development with 384 flats near Leeds city centre
Clementine Hall
A planning application has been submitted to build a new 'car free' multi-storey residential development with 384 build to rent homes.
Designed by architects Woods Bagot, the proposed development would feature a host of green spaces and commercial units just off Armley Road near Leeds city centre.
The new urban community would be designed around the "principles of sustainability and placemaking".
The applicant describes the exciting project as a "car free development" with "green spaces to be enjoyed by its residents and the community as a whole".
Image: Woods Bagot / Leeds City Council
If approved, the development would create a whopping 384 new build to rent flats with on-site management and "high quality" amenities.
The apartment block would consist of a mix of 199 one-bedroom, 139 two-bedroom and 46 three-bedroom flats, along with rooftop terraces for residents and ground floor amenity spaces across three blocks.
Externally, there would be 29,000 sq ft of landscaped areas and a residents’ terrace of 5,700 sq ft.
Image: Woods Bagot / Leeds City Council
It is part of a wider plan to regenerate the area, with plans also to redevelop the vacant land on the southwest side of Armley Road at the junction with Wellington Road.
The site is subject to a previously approved outline planning consent originally submitted to Leeds City Council back in February 2021.
Leeds City Council’s planning committee has scheduled consultation for Monday 26 August, with any comments on the plans to be submitted by Monday 2 September.
Sophie Smith -
24th April 2023 
