ABBEY HOUSE MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: closed
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12 – 5pm
Sun: 10am – 5pm
Last admission: 4.30pm
Address
Abbey Walk
Kirkstall
Leeds
LS5 3EH
Ticket Provider
ABBEY HOUSE MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: closed
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12 – 5pm
Sun: 10am – 5pm
Last admission: 4.30pm
Address
Abbey Walk
Kirkstall
Leeds
LS5 3EH
Ticket Provider
LEEDS ART GALLERY
Opening Hours
Mon: Closed
Tues -Sat: 10am – 5pm
Sun: 11am – 3pm
Address
The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AA
LEEDS CITY MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: closed (11am – 5pm on bank holidays)
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat & Sun: 11am – 5pm
Address
Leeds City Museum
Millennium Square
Leeds
LS2 8BH
Ticket Provider
LEEDS DISCOVERY CENTRE
Opening Hours
Visits by appointment/special event only.
Free public store tours are now available by booking in advance. Please call or email us.
Address
Leeds Discovery Centre
Off Carlisle Road
Leeds
LS10 1LB
LEEDS INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: Closed (10am – 5pm on bank holiday Mondays)
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat – Sun: 12 – 5pm
Last admission one hour before closing.
Address
Canal Road
Leeds
LS12 2QF
KIRKSTALL ABBEY
Opening Hours
Mon: closed (10am – 4pm on bank holidays)
Tues – Sun: 10am – 4.30pm
Last admission: 4pm
Address
Abbey Road
Kirkstall
Leeds
LS5 3EH
Ticket Provider
LOTHERTON
Opening Hours
Open Daily
Estate opens: 7.30am
Café: 9am – 5pm, hot food finishes 45 mins before
Hall: Open (Downstairs only) 10am-5pm
Wildlife World: 10am – 5pm
Estate closes: 7pm
Last entry 45 mins before estate closing time
TEMPLE NEWSAM
Opening Hours
House: Tues – Sun: 10.30am – 5pm
Home Farm: Tues – Sun: 10am – 5pm | Open Bank Holiday Mondays and throughout summer holidays
Last entry 45 minutes before
THWAITE WATERMILL
Address
Thwaite Lane
Stourton
Leeds
LS10 1RP
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Privacy and data
Boxing Belt Mystery Thickens…
Behind the Scenes, Collections, Social HistoryPreviously we wrote about a mystery boxer’s belt found in our collection with no other information associated with it. Since then, thanks to one of our volunteers, we have learned some more about the belt – and learned that there’s more we’ll possibly never know.
Have we met before?
Our eagle-eyed volunteer Craig spotted this photograph of a boxer wearing a very similar looking belt while researching potential leads. The boxer is Alf Reed, one of the best lightweight boxers in London in the Edwardian period (1901-1910), whose family still have the belt today. The photograph and a biography of Alf were featured in Issue 1 of the Old Timer Boxing magazine produced by Miles Templeton, a boxing historian.
Alf wearing the belt, credit to Miles Templeton, boxinghistory.org.uk
If you look closely you can see the belt has some remarkable similarities to the one in our collection. Both belts have the same central plate of two men boxing, surrounded by plates with similar heraldic lion imagery and floral designs.
The plot twist
However, there is one significant difference between the belts. Alf’s belt is inscribed with the following: ‘Presented by Mr Joe Smith for the Featherweight Championship won by Alf Reed 1903’. Ours, however, doesn’t have any inscription; the plot thickens. This led us to believe that perhaps our belt was never awarded to anyone and maybe wasn’t commissioned for a specific fight as we had previously thought.
I reached out to Miles Templeton to check out our theory and he agreed. Miles explained that our belt was one of a number of similar ones awarded to boxers at this time and that it’s possible that many of these belts were produced and available for purchase ‘off the shelf’ rather than commissioned for individual fights. Essentially, an older and fancier version of the plastic trophies you can buy online today. The fact that these were so widely available for purchase demonstrates the popularity of boxing at the time.
Our belt, with an identical centre plate.
The end – for now
Whilst this is an interesting bit of history in itself, it does likely mean our investigation has hit a dead end, as the belt is too common to narrow down its origin. Perhaps the fight it was bought for never took place or perhaps someone bought it for personal use to display in their home. Perhaps it was collected by a curator at Leeds Museums and Galleries with an interest in silver engraving, or by someone working on a predecessor to our current Sports Heritage project. Maybe one day we will find out exactly who purchased the belt, why, and how and when it ended up in our collection, but for now it remains unsolved.
If you’d like to get involved in the Sports Heritage project and join our team of detectives/volunteers please email Catherine Robins.