This is far more than your average city centre walking tour.
At least 80 cinemas once existed across Leeds at one point or another.
Nowadays you're lucky to find more than one live showing within walking distance but that doesn't mean that they can't see the buildings that used to house some of the greatest Hollywood hits and up-and-coming indie filmmakers alike.
In the city centre, all you need to do is look up to see the giant glass arches of Leeds' lost cinemas, but with the help of Hyde Park Picture House, a new interactive heritage project is uncovering the history of the city.
Postcards of the lost cinemas have been designed by a local artist. / Image: Adam Allsuch Boardman
From small neighbourhood picture houses to gigantic super-cinemas, so many of these incredible buildings remain in our lives today – repurposed into shops, clubs, offices – strangely familiar and hiding in plain sight. And for those that are no longer standing, their legacy lives on through the stories, photos and memories that so many of you have.
The Rialto. / Image: Lost Cinemas
Even on Briggate, from 1911 until 1939 there was a cinema housing up to 600 people, known as The Rialto or Briggate Picture House.
Supported by Leeds Inspired and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, this ever evolving archive will allow you to navigate the city and learn all about Leeds’ amazing cinema heritage.
At present there's 83 cinemas on the interactive map, each with beautiful hand drawn illustrations from local artist, Adam Allsuch Boardman, and a brief explanation of the building's history.
Image: Lost Cinemas
The huge map spans from Oakwell to Farsley, with Moortown, Headingley, Halton and Meanwood all making it on to the list. Most notably, there's over 30 within the city centre to explore and an impressive number of cinemas found in Beeston and Armley too.
Paired with archived photographs from Leodis, a visual collection of Leeds' history managed by Leeds Libraries, each stop on the interactive map shows where the building was located so that viewers can imagine visiting these historic landmarks in their heyday, many of which opened during the early 20th century.
For those looking for a truly immersive experience, a walking tour from Leeds train station to Cookridge Street takes walkers through the city centre, explaining the fascinating story behind the thirteen cinemas.
Lyceum Cinema, Burley. / Image: Lost Cinemas
For instance, the Lyceum petrol station on verge between Cardigan Road and Thornville Road in Burley, used to be a cinema from 1913 until 1968, before the ground became a bingo hall and then closed to eventually become the gas station we use today.
Separating itself from the usual drab walking tours around unfamiliar cities, there's no boring facts- only exciting reminiscence of years' gone by in the city available to play through your own headphones. As a self-guided tour, there's no large groups, no small talk and you can complete the tour at your own pace.
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.
If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.
Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.
And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.
The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.
Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo
There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.
Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.
The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!
To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.
You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.
Sophie Smith -
21st December 2022 
