Tuesday 8 June 2010

Photo of the Week 3 - Leeds Cityscape



Leeds is an old, old city. Nobody really knows how old, though - there are some written references to a Roman garrison town which was in the area, on the River Aire by a ford, but no remains have been found to pin down the precise location.

The forest of Loidis, or Leodis, was part of the kingdom of Elmet, from the 5th to 7th centuries AD.

As you can see above, if that Roman town WAS in the same spot on the river as Leeds occupies today, there's really no hope of ever finding it. The Waterfront in Leeds has been a very busy area for a very long time.

The above photo was taken from the staircase in the Hall of Steel at the Royal Armouries Museum on Clarence Docks, overlooking the Aire. It is centered on the parish church, and shows one of the Victorian cast iron bridges in the background, the Millennium Footbridge in the foreground, and several of the apartment buildings that comprise the redevelopment of the Dockside area. It was taken in January 2010 and, let me tell you, that frozen slush you can see was murderous to walk on.

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