Have you seen these stories popping up all over Holbeck? This one is about Hugh Gaitskell, a local MP in the 1940s and 50s and Leader of the Labour Party.
I came across the “Original Bearings” project over at the Culture Vultures blog. The stories are being posted up by The Holbeck Institute (aka Slung Low, I think) who live under the arches of the viaduct. You can read the full story here and there is even more information on the West Yorkshire Playhouse web site here.
Holbeck is a fascinating part of south Leeds and has a host of stories as Original Bearings shows. I hope they include some of my favourites:
- The riot that started on Elland Road and ended up on Briggate when the road became a turnpike in 1753 and travelers were charged to use it – a sort of early Private Finance Initiative (PFI).
- The “Battle of Holbeck Moor” in 1936 when Moseley’s fascist blackshirts were repelled
