Musings 04 - The Perfect Leeds Friday Night Out

AliceCake · Post by **AliceCake** » Fri 13 Jun, 2008 9:55 am

What I would like to see in Leeds, not just on Friday night but every night, would be the Leeds City Markets open later. When you visit European cities such as Barcelona the market stays open later and this gives the city on an evening a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

simonm · Post by **simonm** » Fri 13 Jun, 2008 11:03 am

Like Cnosni, i too rarely venture into town on either Fri or sat nights. I would like to add, however, that there does seem a distinct difference between the two.From what I have seen, on my rare ventures, is that Fri nights seem full of the city centre office staff blowing off after work. This mingled with the usual clubbers lends to a calmer night out. Sat night on the other hand, seems full of "out of towners" and clubbers aimed solely on getting as smashed as poss!Or am I just an old fart? (No need to really answer that one)

Post by **chameleon** » Fri 13 Jun, 2008 10:44 pm

Munki - off topic, but is there yet any news of the book you mentioned in Pilot Light? Can't find a reference any where yet.

Post by **cnosni** » Sat 14 Jun, 2008 3:45 pm

AliceCake wrote: What I would like to see in Leeds, not just on Friday night but every night, would be the Leeds City Markets open later. When you visit European cities such as Barcelona the market stays open later and this gives the city on an evening a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Alicecake,i know exactly what you mean about Barcelona.However i dont think the market being open would do the trick.In Barcelona families live in the centre and on its fringes,as opposed to Leeds and most large UK cities whos really close inner city populations were moved to the shiny new worlds on the edge of town.The communities to support a Barcelona style culture is no longer there,add to this the different approach to lifestyle ,culture and importantly weather and you have the missing components necessary for the enviable lifestyle that they have there.Having said that they dont have Fish and Chips,Indian Restaurants and a wide range of Real Ale,oh and of course water!!

munki · Post by **munki** » Mon 16 Jun, 2008 12:47 pm

That's an interesting point about the communities no longer being there near the city centre, Cnosni. Are you thinking about particular physical areas where there used to be a residential population closer to the centre, or about groups of people who used to travel in but no longer do.

munki · Post by **munki** » Mon 16 Jun, 2008 12:48 pm

chameleon wrote: Munki - off topic, but is there yet any news of the book you mentioned in Pilot Light? Can't find a reference any where yet. Is this the Around Leeds book of walks? If so, then no. I was expecting it to be out in May & have been looking in the 'Local Interest' sections but have not seen it yet. If I do, I will certainly let people know.

Post by **cnosni** » Mon 16 Jun, 2008 1:33 pm

munki wrote: That's an interesting point about the communities no longer being there near the city centre, Cnosni. Are you thinking about particular physical areas where there used to be a residential population closer to the centre, or about groups of people who used to travel in but no longer do. Its something that has been mentioned before on a seperate thread.What immediately springs to mind are the communities around the centre itself which are no loger there,ie Quarry Hill,the Bank/East Street,Regent Street/North Street.Just look at the opening credits for Queenies castle and see how busy the market is,exactly as i remember it as a kid,all hustle and bustle,lots of ordinary folk from the immediate area using the market as we do now with the supermarket.You also had those from the outer communities who came in on the bus on a saturday for weekly shops,in the time before supermarkets and mass private car ownership.I believe that these factors (in addition to other certain circumstances)have also led to the enormous loss of community pubs in those outer areas that we are seeing now.Barcelona,with its Eixample district designed by engineer Ildefons Cerdà,is a graet example of how the city centre can be designed to facilitate families in and around parks,museums ,art galleries,shops and all the amenities you need to live a modern life,without the need to drive a few miles to do your shopping then you can simply just walk to the nearest shop or the large market and get everything you need in your immediate vicinity.We however,in the need to remove the slums that were around the city centre,built estates on the periphary and simply replaced the slum areas with nothing more than sheds and industrial units,or nothing at all.To be fair the Eixample district of Barcelona was actually built as an extension of the medieval city beyond its walls,as opposed to a post war need to remove poor housing,but as to why these areas,which until recently,were allowed to simply die is beyond me.

Post by **chameleon** » Mon 16 Jun, 2008 7:49 pm

munki wrote: chameleon wrote: Munki - off topic, but is there yet any news of the book you mentioned in Pilot Light? Can't find a reference any where yet. Is this the Around Leeds book of walks? If so, then no. I was expecting it to be out in May & have been looking in the 'Local Interest' sections but have not seen it yet. If I do, I will certainly let people know. Thanks munki - you can often pre-order expected books from a large on-line organisation but it's not even showing there yet.