Interesting Facts That You Didn’t Know About The City Of Leeds

Leeds is the biggest city situated in the County of West Yorkshire. In the past this was once a prominent industrial centre. However, today Leeds is more popular for being the biggest financial centre outside of London in the UK, as well as its impressive sports facilities, universities, nightlife and shopping. Below are a few facts about Leeds That are fascinating, informative to random and obscure.

• The Leed’s motto known as “Pro rege et lege” is a Latin term that is translated into "for king and the law."
• The railway station in Leeds features 17 platforms that have been used by over 24.5 million people which are around 2 and half million more than the years before.
• MP Denis Healey a former Chancellor Of The Exchequer is the only one to appear on the Morecambe And Wise Show.
• Cuthbert Brodrick an architect from Leeds was awarded with £200 for one of his designs that later became the Leeds Town Hall.
• The Coast Of Arms for the city features 3 stars that were derived from The Coat Of Arms from Sir Thomas Danby the very first mayor, it also features fleece to represent the wool-industry as well a 3 owls that have been taken out from the Coat Of Arms from Sir John Saville who was the very first Alderman of Leeds.
• Leeds is the home to the most Northerly commercial vineyard in the Country known as Leventhorpe Vineyard based in Woodlesford.
• Jimmy Savile who is now deceased claimed that he staged the first disco ever in the city of Leeds in the year 1943, with a twin-turntable decks and a microphone at one of the venues in this city.
• The house price average in the city of Leeds a decade ago was around £84,550 and today that price has increased to about £164,713.
• The Westgate tunnel has claimed that it is longest road tunnel that is unventilated in the whole of Europe, while the inner-ring road known as the A58 (M) was the very first urban-motorway in the country.
• In 1967, Jelly Tots were first discovered by accident in Leeds when a scientist by the name of Brain Boffey who was experimenting with powdered jelly in his quest to produce a jelly that would set instantly when it was placed into cold water.
• The city of Leeds ranks 6th on a list based on Britain’s “greenest cities” associated with quality-of-life and environmental performance.
• Edmund Happold a structural engineer born in Leeds worked on the construction projects that include international landmarks such as the Pompidou Centre based in Paris, the Millennium Dome and the Sydney Opera House. Today his firm known as Buro Happold has around 1,600 employees in 30 offices that are situated across the globe.
  The centre of city of Leeds features 3.5 million square feet in retail floor-space, an extremely large pedestrianised shopping area and around 5 miles in shopping streets.
• Leeds is also known as a “golfers’ paradise” district and features 21 private and public golf courses. Some of these include the Moortown Golf Club that once hosted the Ryder Cup in 1929.
  
• This city attracts a lot more of the annual visitors when compared to the more traditional holiday spots such as Torquay and Brighton.
• Started in the year 1967, The Leeds Carnival is the known as the oldest of the Caribbean carnivals in the whole of Europe.
• Sue Ryder a well known charity worker from Leeds, was made the Baroness Ryder Of Warsaw due to her efforts made for the country Poland. Her particular charity operates over 80 homes across the world as well as around 500 high-street charity shops along with over 8,000 volunteers.
• When the BBC local radio reached Leeds in the 1960’s, Phil Sidey the boss decided to buy a Greyhound and then name it Radio Leeds to make sure that this station was mentioned by the hostile Yorkshire Evening Post which believed that the new competition at the time was subsidized unfairly by the taxpayers.
  
• Leeds United was first formed in the year 1885 by the one Leonard Cooper and they played many of their earlier matches at Leeds Albion and Kirkstall.