Leeds Civic Trust

25/08/2026

🏰Heritage Open Days festival will see hundreds of free events in Leeds that unlock hidden histories of our city.

🎉One of our highlight events is William Gascoigne (1612-1644) or How a Spider put Leeds at the forefront of the Scientific Revolution

🔭William Gascoigne invented the telescopic sight and micrometer - instruments crucial to the advance of astronomy.

🪐He was killed during the Civil War at the age of 32 and for a while it seemed his achievements would be consigned to oblivion, for most of his papers had been lost.

🌠 Learn how his work was rescued and how it came to be central to the rise of modern precision astronomy - and the part played by a spider!

📆Tuesday 15 September
⏰19:30
📍Belle Isle Working Men's Club, Belle Isle Road, Leeds, LS10 3PE
🎫No booking required, just turn up!
🔗https://zurl.co/LebMW

👉 The festival runs 11-20 September. Our guide lists all the events on in Leeds: https://zurl.co/yRm7k

***
Image Description
📸Image 1: A graphic showing a picture of William Gascoigne's blue plaque with a pink banner at the bottom with the event title and Heritage Open Days logo.

24/08/2026

🔵 Blue Monday!

This week we're looking at our 200th blue plaque unveiled in 2024 for Nadine Senior!

Nadine Senior founded the in 1985. It remains the only conservatoire for dance in England outside of London.

Nadine's revolutionary approach harnessed young people’s natural ability and fostered their creativity, expressive skills and confidence. Nadine’s teaching and leadership in Leeds over three decades widened opportunities and raised aspirations for children and young people through dance, radically transforming the city’s cultural landscape.

Learn more about NSCD at their 40th Anniversary Heritage Open Day event!

📆Sunday 20 September
⏰ 10:30 & 13:30
🎫Free, booking required

At the event there will be:
🩰Exhibition of newly created and archive photos celebrating the legacy of Nadine Senior and the pupils of Harehills Middle School
🩰 A sculpture and research materials relating to the experiences of Chapeltown’s Windrush community and Leeds Black Elders
🩰 A sculpture, archive materials and research relating to the United Hebrew Congregation and the history of the NSCD building as Leeds New Synagogue
🩰 Oral history listening stations
🩰 Zine making with the NSCD archive
🩰 Archive film reflecting on Harehills Middle School, Chapeltown and the impact of NSCD
🩰 A heritage trail for young people and adults

👉Book your free ticket using our Heritage Open Days guide (link in bio)

✏️The plaque's wording is 'NADINE SENIOR MBE. Visionary educator who championed dance education in Leeds. She founded the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 1985 as the first public sector conservatoire dance school, following the success of her dance teaching as deputy head at Harehills Middle School. Many former pupils have become successful professionals in the arts. 1939-2016’

🔍The plaque lives at Northern School of Contemporary Dance, 98 Chapeltown Road, Leeds LS7 4BH

📸 1: A photograph of the plaque with Sharon Watson
📸 2: A black and white photograph of Nadine (Terry Cryer)
📸 3: A photograph of Nadine handing out dance clothing to children (Terry Cryer)

22/08/2026

🏰Heritage Open Days festival will see hundreds of free events in Leeds that unlock hidden histories of our city.

🎉One of our highlight events is Come and Sing Mozart's Requiem

🎵Under the leadership of the renowned Artistic Adviser and Conductor Simon Wright, Mozart's Requiem will be learned, finishing with an informal performance. Music will be provided for those without copies. You can book to sing with the Chorus or join the audience for the performance without booking.

📆Saturday 19 September
⏰13:30 registration; 14:00 - 16:15 rehearsal session 1; 16:45 - 19:00 rehearsal session 2; 19:30 performance
📍Leeds Minster, Kirkgate, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7DJ
🎫Booking required
🔗https://zurl.co/74lPI

👉 The festival runs 11-20 September. Our guide lists all the events on in Leeds: https://zurl.co/yRm7k

***
Image Description
📸Image 1: A graphic showing a picture of Leeds Festival Chorus with a pink banner at the bottom with the event title and Heritage Open Days logo.

20/08/2026

🏰Heritage Open Days festival will see hundreds of free events in Leeds that unlock hidden histories of our city.

🎉One of our highlight events is Our Histories: Leeds in the 2000s

🖊️The West Yorkshire Archive Service preserves local, everyday histories of Leeds people. Through photographs and diaries, records of community projects and local businesses, and with personal memories and stories, these archives capture what life has been like in Leeds from the year 2000 to now.

📖 Don't miss this pop-up exhibition of archives showcasing Leeds in the 2000s. Discover how the archvie preserves today’s experiences for future generations too!

📆Friday 18 September
⏰10:00-16:00
📍West Yorkshire Joint Services, Nepshaw Lane South, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7JQ
🎫No booking required, just turn up!
🔗https://zurl.co/llA76

👉 The festival runs 11-20 September. Our guide lists all the events on in Leeds: https://zurl.co/yRm7k

***
Image Description
📸Image 1: A graphic showing a picture of archive themed badges with a pink banner at the bottom with the event title and Heritage Open Days logo.

19/08/2026

The Battle of Holbeck Moor 90th anniversary celebration. It is the greatest anti-fascist victory in Leeds’ history!
Fighting fascists and the far right in Leeds from 1936 to 2026. 🗓️ Sunday 27 September ⏰ 5pm Assemble on Holbeck Moor for a march followed by music, food, stalls and book launch of ‘Bye Bye Blackshirts’ by Mark Krantz. All anti-fascists welcome! Please share.

19/08/2026

🔎 Heritage Watch!

🛠️Our Heritage at Risk List includes over 90 buildings in Leeds worthy of preservation, but at risk of disrepair. The Grade II listed Harewood Old Corn Mill on the River Wharfe, to the west of Harewood Bridge, joined our list in 2012.

🌽This building was constructed around 1800 for milling corn. It was last in use in 1976. The building is no longer wind or watertight and is heavily overgrown with ivy.

🌊The listing entry from 1986 described the building as a fine survival, with the waterwheel with wooden buckets and historic machinery still intact.

🚧Harewood Estate, the current owner, has encountered difficulties in managing the continued flood risk to the building. The future of the building remains uncertain unless a solution can be found.

👉See our full Heritage At Risk List here: https://zurl.co/7UUcP

***
Image Description:
📸Images 1-2 are graphics showing photographs of the Old Corn Mill on an orange background.

18/08/2026

🫵Could your organisation be Leeds Civic Trust's 100th corporate member?

🎉We are delighted to welcome Leeds College of Building as our 99th Leeds Civic Trust corporate member!

❓Who will be our 100th corporate member? Get your organisation to sign up today to receive all the ordinary Leeds Civic Trust member benefits, which cover all staff at your organisation, along with:

👉 CORPORATE LUNCHES - an opportunity to discuss the issues affecting our city with like-minded colleagues over lunch

👉 ANNUAL BREAKFAST BRIEFING – exclusive breakfast briefing with the Leader and Chief Executive of Leeds City Council.

👉 FUTURE LEADERS NETWORKING LUNCHES – events for junior members of staff from our corporate members to network with each other and hear from high-profile speakers about their careers. (2026 keynote speakers announcement 🔗https://zurl.co/A2mx7 )

Other benefits include receipt of our monthly newsletter, bi-annual magazine, discounts and priority booking on events and the opportunity to help shape our views through dialogue and discussion.

🦉 We have over 80 corporate members covering all sectors and disciplines. Why not follow Leeds College of Building's lead and join our community today!🔗https://zurl.co/vkjUR

***
Image Description:
📸Image 1: A graphic with a yellow background and the white text 'New Corporate Member! WIll your organisation be our 100th?'. The Leeds Civic Trust logo is in the bottom left.

17/08/2026

Check out this new talk from Vickers Oils, telling the tale of this nearly 200 year old family business

Nearly 200 years of Vickers Oils - told through the people, decisions, and developments that have shaped our family business.

In his talk, This Family Business: The History of Vickers Oils, our Archivist, Robert Curphey, explores the company’s history, from its beginnings in Leeds in 1828 through seven generations of the Vickers family.

Drawing on material from our archives, Robert shares some of the stories behind the business and considers how Vickers Oils has continued to develop while remaining connected to its heritage.

Thank you to Leeds Civic Trust for hosting the talk.

Watch the full presentation via YouTube on the 11th September 2026.

17/08/2026

🔵 Blue Monday!

This week we're looking at our 166th blue plaque unveiled in 2018 for William Gascoigne!

🔭William Gascoigne (1612-44) was born into a wealthy family in Middleton, Leeds. He made his own lenses and telescopes.

🕸️ One day, returning to his telescope, Gascoigne found that a spider had spun its web inside—a few centimetres from eyepiece. Rather than sweep the web aside, he adopted a curious attitude and bent to look through the telescope. To his astonishment, he saw that, not only was the web in focus, so too were distant objects. With the spider's help, Gascoigne had invented modern-day telescopic sight.

🪐Gascoigne’s invention of the telescope micrometer enabled the diameter of celestial bodies to be measured. Later, the invention helped Isaac Newton to establish the universality of the ‘Theory of Gravitation’ in his famous book Principia.

🌎 His inventions enabled the calculation of the path travelled by the Earth in orbiting the sun.

⚔️Gascoigne was killed at the age of 32, fighting for the Royalist’s during the Civil War’s ‘Battle of Marston Moor’ near York.

🦉 Find out more about William Gasgoine and his invention at the free Heritage Open Days event on Tuesday 15 September, 19:30 at Belle Isle Working Men's Club. You don't need to book to attend this talk, just turn up! Find more details on our Heritage Open Days guide: 👉 https://zurl.co/oFHwp

✏️The plaque's wording is 'WILLIAM GASCOIGNE c.1612-1644. Pioneer of modern precision astronomy, inventor of the telescopic sight and the telescope micrometer, lived at New Hall on this site. He lost his life in the English Civil War at the age of 32.'

🔍The plaque lives at 10–16 Town Street, Middleton, LS10 3PN

***
Image Description:
📸 1: A photograph of the plaque

16/08/2026

🫵If you love Leeds, become a Leeds Civic Trust member!

🦉We have over 500 members in our community who enjoy a range of perks guaranteed to please anyone interested in Leeds.

🔵 Your support enables us to carry out our work, from putting up blue plaques, to influencing planning and design in the built environment, to coordinating Heritage Open Days festival and much, much more.

🎁Gift membership is also available!

👉 Sign up today to be part of the Leeds Civic Trust community: https://zurl.co/DC7Ym

***
Image Descriptions:
📸Images 1-10 are graphics, each listing a feature of membership at Leeds Civic Trust:

🦉 Welcome Pack: Our welcome pack includes our recent publications, information about the Trust and other goodies...
🦉 The Owl: our one of a kind, fun and colourful magazine about Leeds, sent to members twice a year
🦉 Outlook: Monthly e-newsletter containing the latest news in planning, transport and more....
🦉 Pin badge: Members only enamel pin badge
🦉 Discounts & Priority Booking on Events: Members get first dibs on our event tickets, which often sell out quickly. Tickets are cheaper for members too!
🦉 Members Only Events: Parties, guided tours, walks and more!
🦉 Voting Rights at our AGM: Have your say in the future of Leeds Civic Trust
🦉 Annual Report: A printed magazine containing a summary of our work and achievements over the last calendar year