Sunday in Leeds

We planned to go Leeds Parish Church for the main morning service at 10:30. It was only 15 minutes walk away and we could see its tower from the entrance to Clarence Dock. An earlier plan to end up at Upper Armley (where Bill our present parish priest was curate) for Saturday night was shelved when we read advice that told us not to moor overnight between the centre of Leeds and Rodley.

View from Crown Point Bridge

St Peter's church is very large - built in 1841 to replace a former medieval church, which was also substantial, but which had become in such poor condition that it was not realistic to repair it. It is very much true to the style of the mid nineteenth century at the time when the Oxford Movement was beginning to make its mark on church architecture and liturgy.

Leeds Parish Church

Today it aspires to almost cathedral worship, with normally a full robed men and boys choir - they take a break in July and August. We were told that the congregation is normally around 100, with many coming in from the suburbs for the standard of music. As it is the holiday season and with no choir, numbers were down to about 35.

We were warmly welcomed and introduced to the church and there was generally a much friendlier atmosphere than can sometimes be found in places with such a formal style of worship. The sermon was well thought through, focusing on hospitality as one of the parts of becoming a Minster church later this year. (We did ask several members of the congregation what this meant but everyone seemed rather vague!) Afterwards we stayed for coffee in the pleasant small coffee shop and took a longer look around the church. Only one of the eighteenth century stained glass windows was transferred to the new building - images dedicated to St Peter - doesn't he look fearsome! A baptism party started to arrive so we left discreetly!

Detail of St Peter's Stained Glass Window

We then walked back to the boat and were pleased to see that there was room for us to have a 'proper' mooring, following the departure of a couple of the smaller boats whilst we were away. We half planned to stay the day in Leeds but a look at timings indicated that we did not have time to reach the top of the section of locks which are locked overnight. One disappointment, however, was to discover that the electricity bollards do no take the normal cards and special ones have to be bought from the local CaRT office - only open Mondays to Fridays! Overall, there seems to be the view from folk we chatted to that Clarence Dock is unimaginatively managed and much more could be done to encourage visitors to what is a largely unused,s but pleasantly laid out, facility.

Part of Clarence Dock

Lunch and then a chance to wander into the city centre - not as far away as we had been led to believe. For once it seems that the city has managed to retain a vibrant retail centre and not lose out to retail parks,leaving only the cheap shops behind. On a warm, albeit overcast, summer Sunday afternoon there were plenty of shoppers and a goodly number of street entertainers - in some cases the term did stretch our interpretation of that expression!

Street with Modern Arcade

Street without arcade

 Arcades form an important part of the historic retail legacy and several have been well-developed. In one case a modern canopy creates a positive advantage that the near identical street does not have.

Older Shopping Arcade

We went all the way up to the top of the main shopping areas and found a Morrisons supermarket where we were able to re-stock our cupboards in preparation for Alice and Jess's visit in a week's time.

Corn Exchange

On the way back we stopped to look inside the former Corn Exchange - just missing the end of a dance event that had been taking place in the midst of the shops and eating places.

Inside Corn Exchange

0 miles - 0 locks