Leeds: In the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies - Tapa dura

This is a fascinating new photographic history book of the 50s, 60s and 70s from the "Yorkshire Evening Post". More than 200 evocative photos from the archives of the newspaper, chronicling life in Leeds throughout the eras. Strong publicity support from the "Yorkshire Evening Post" newspaper; PoS available. There is an endless fascination in looking at old photographs. They tell us so much about a years ago - not just the buildings and the street scenes but also the fashions and clothes, all of which gives us an idea of how people lived and how life has changed. This collection of photographs and advertisements are of a comparatively recent era. Most of them are of places and people in the memory of the readers. Our hope is that they will jog the memory of everyone who is interested in the Leeds as it was in the 1950, 60s and 70s. One aspect of Leeds is immediately apparent: the buildings in 1950s and 60s Leeds were black. The accumulation of soot from a couple of hundred years of burning pure coal to power mills and factories, and also to heat homes, left the city's buildings with a distinctive matt black finish. These photographs show all aspects of life in the city. You'll find pictures of tradesman and workers in the city's industries, office workers, postmen, mill workers - all the workday aspects that make up the city. But mainly you'll find buildings. Some of them are buildings that have endured through the ages and some that were unloved have gone and been replaced - including the square light blue Norwich Union building in City Square which has been replaced by a building which the modern eye finds more appealing. Some buildings in Leeds have been re-modeled in recent years and these photographs show than as they were about 50 years ago. Many of the streets are instantly recognizable especially Boar Lane which has changed remarkably little since the era of trams. There are a few photographs of trams, buses and steam trains as these methods of transport figure highly in most people's nostalgia for the middle of the last century. Both steam trains and trams almost completely disappeared in Britain in the 1950s and 60s - although a 21st century version of the tram may yet return to Leeds' streets. "Leeds in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies" will be essential reading for Leeds residents both past and present, who take an interest in their city's colorful past.