Entries by Sara Merritt

Sporting chance to relive city’s Olympic glory days

Generations of the city’s sporting heroes are being celebrated in a new exhibition looking at the unique history of competition, games and play in Leeds. Boxing gloves worn by the city’s own double Olympic champion Nicola Adams and a bike and kit belonging to Horsforth’s Alistair Brownlee, the only athlete to hold two Olympic triathlon […]

Deadly discoveries in store as secrets of city’s danger room revealed

A black widow spider found inside a box of supermarket grapes is among the hair-raising discoveries safely stored in Leeds’s hidden danger room. The highly venomous arachnid is one of hundreds of specimens secured inside the unassuming Store 2 at Leeds Discovery Centre, home to parts of the city’s collection designated so dangerous, they need […]

Historic umbrella project is a brolly good show

A collection of beautiful umbrellas is being saved for a rainy day thanks to a painstaking conservation project. More than 230 umbrellas and parasols housed at the Leeds Discovery Centre are being carefully documented and catalogued by students from the University of York working with curators from Leeds Museums and Galleries. The huge collection, which […]

Things can only get batter as vintage Leeds chippy stars in new exhibition

One of the city’s very first chippies is among the fascinating tales featured in a new exhibition exploring the people and places that helped forge a Leeds community. Hardisty’s Fisheries became one of the earliest places for locals to grab a tasty chippy tea when it opened its doors on Kirkstall Lane in the early […]

Paws for thought as museum’s menagerie gets a makeover

A remarkable menagerie of endangered animals has been getting some delicate care and attention this week as curators prepare to open a new chapter in the story of life on Earth. The one-of-a-kind collection of taxidermy at Leeds City Museum was being conserved as the attraction gets ready to welcome back visitors to its newly-revamped […]