Leeds: Yorkshire's Finest! Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Roman name for the settlement was Loidis (Leodis), ergo the residents are Leodensian.

Leeds has been known by many names throughout its long and fruitful history. The name Loidis (Leodis) was a name used by both the invading Romans, and the small Celtic community who inhabited the area that is now Elmet. This community lasted up until the invasion and subsequent settlement of the Anglo-Saxons.

Leeds has been officially recognised since its mention in the Domesday Book, in which time it was known as Ledes, and further renaming occurred throughout the centuries as the city became known as Leedes and finally Leeds. Not too bad for a small independent Celtic settlement that was invaded by Northumberland and faded into obscurity in 616!

And just for another little bit of trivia, the people of Leeds are also known as Loiners. This also comes from the original name of the city, Loidis. Most of the inhabitants of Leeds are also happy to be known as Tykes, even though Tyke really refers to people from Barnsley.

Answer: The Royal Armories - a large museum containing regal artifacts and medieval wares such as swords.

Armley, a suburb of Leeds that almost carried the economy of Leeds due to its milling industry, is an area of museums and giant woollen mills. The mill in Armley, which is now Armley Mills Industrial Museum, was the largest of its kind in the world when it was built in the last 18th century, and was the centre of the textile industry in Leeds up until the late 1800's. Because of this thriving industrial background, there were many Victorian homes, churches, and schools constructed in Armley, most of which are still standing. From 1872 until 1956, Armley was also home to the infamous J W Roberts asbestos handling corporation. Because of the heavy use of asbestos in the area, Armley became a hot spot for mesothelioma, an asbestos related lung cancer, and these mesothelioma clusters persist to this very day. One famous sufferer of the disease, June Hancock, brought a case forward against J W Roberts in 1993, and although Mrs Hancock won the case, the corporate restructuring of J W Roberts meant that the case could not be settled...


A few famous facts about Armley, now. The author Barbara Taylor Bradford was born and raised in this suburb of Leeds, and the memorable "tank scene" in the 1963 film "Billy Liar" was filmed in Wellington Road. Even the playwright Alan Bennett was born here!

Answer: The Cube - it's not cubic. It's a large cuboid with a point on top.

The Light, the major shopping centre that the Cube is attached to, was once the headquarters of the Leeds Permanent Building Society. When the headquarters were moved to Lovell Park in the early 1990's, the building became temporary offices for Leeds City Council until their renovation and re-opening in 2001, as the Light. Now onto the more interesting facts!

The Light contains the only multiplex cinema in Leeds, with 13 screens for the more discerning moviegoer. Although there was at one point several cinemas in the town centre, such as the Odeon on the Headrow, by 2003, the Light offered the only cinema left in the city centre. The Cube, which was also opened in 2001, contains both residential and commercial units, and currently houses 1,500 staff from the call centre firm Ventura.

Answer: Leeds Cathedral has one singular bell, but it is badly cracked, and therefore of no interest to campanologists.

Leeds Cathedral, for a start off, is unusually small. Not only is this compared to other churches in the city, but also to cathedrals in the neighbouring towns and cities. If you like more architecturally interesting or Gothic churches, visit Chapel Allerton, although many have been converted in Ramgarhia Board properties. Worryingly, Leeds cathedral is tiny compared to the one in Ripon (which is a settlement that can only be described as a small town that just happens to have a cathedral.)

Back to the bells, however. Each of the bells in the Leeds cathedral weighs only 9cwt, as I mentioned. This is unusual, as when most bells are collected in eights, each bell weighs 15cwt, to make a total weight of 120cwt. The Leeds Parish church also has a bell, but this is hung singularly and weights 40cwt. Wasn't that not-particularly-interesting?

Answer: Leeds is twinned with Dortmund, in Germany.

Most of the landmarks in the city have had their names changed many times - an example of this kind of change can be seen in Millennium Square (which was once named Mandela Gardens.) It is, therefore, unusual that Dortmund Square is still known as such.

Dortmund Square, which can be found just outside of the St John's Centre, was constructed and opened in 1980 in memoriam of the tenth anniversary of the twinning of the two cities. Although this is a small area, it serves as a busy walkway for shoppers and the workers of the city. From 1980 until 2007, a statue known as the "Dortmund Drayman" stood in the middle of the square. It was presented to the city by the people of Dortmund and sculpted by Dortmund resident Arthur Schulze-Engels. Sadly, this large bronze statue of a stout fellow carrying a barrel was cordoned off and subsequently removed.

With regards to the comment about Leeds pilots heavily bombing the city during the Second World War, this may be true, but is not in any way relevant to the question. It was the city of Dresden in Germany where the majority of the bombs fell.

Answer: The Merrion Centre

The Merrion Centre is a small shopping centre on the northern border of Leeds City Centre. The Centre itself is close to the Leeds suburb of Little London, an area so named as in the 1960's, many Londoners inhabited the area. Today, however, Little London is one of the most run-down and dangerous of the Leeds council estates. I wouldn't recommend it to any visitors.

Irish FunTrivia players may also realise that there is a Merrion Centre in Dublin, which is also the home to the Japanese Embassy to Dublin. The Leeds centre contains no such important international organisations, but is the home of the second largest static market-place outside of the Leeds Markets building.

Now back to Leigh Francis. Born in Old Farnley, a small suburb in the southern end of the city, he was "discovered" by the British television presenter Davina McCall. In subsequent television series such as "Bo! In The USA", Leigh Francis' character, along with his fictional wife Sacha, own a hotel named "The Merrion Hotel" - this, too, is a real place. The Merrion Hotel is a reasonably priced hotel attached to the Leeds Merrion Centre.

Answer: Corinne Bailey-Rae, with her eponymously titled debut.

Although Leodensian acts have been trickling onto the music scene since the early 1980's, many Leeds acts have fallen by the wayside while bands from the nearby cities of Sheffield and Manchester have revelled in the BritPop and BritRock scenes.

The other major talent of Leeds, of course, is the Kaiser Chiefs, who since the release of their debut album "Employment", have gone from strength to strength. By playing many festivals and frequently breaking the top ten with songs like "Ruby" (which got to number one in mid-2007) and "Oh My God" (a number six hit in 2006), the Kaisers have become international starts. So much so, in fact, that their second album, "Yours Truly, Angry Mob", hit the top spot in the UK, Greece, and the Netherlands.

Corinne Bailey-Rae, the main focus of this question, has achieved similar success to the Kaiser Chiefs. With her second release, "Put Your Records On" getting to number two in the British chart (and number six in the New Zealand chart), as well as hitting to top spot on the British Airplay, Download, and R&B Singles chart, this home-grown songstress has had the best possible start.

Corinne was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, to an English mother and a Kittitian father (that is to say, he was from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis. Attending Allerton High School (the school I attended, incidentally), Corinne became head-girl in 1996, and also formed an all-girl Indie band named "Helen" while she was a student. Recently, Corinne has become something of a local hero, with her image plastered on local newspapers and many reviews conducted by the Yorkshire Evening Post and the Metro (a free newspaper available on buses.)

Answer: All of these, and more! It is also a meeting point for members of the Gothic subculture!

This circular Victorian building, as the name suggests, was used as a Corn Exchange, but that is possibly the least interesting thing about this Grade One listed building and Leeds heritage site!

Although Cuthbert Brodrick's most famous building project was Leeds Town Hall (which he won £200 for designing), the Corn Exchange still stands as one of his most memorable pieces of architecture in Yorkshire. Brodrick also designed the Grand Theatre, which in 2007 was closed to be converted into The City Museum, and the infamous Grand Hotel in Scarborough. Brodrick sadly died a recluse at the ripe old age of 84 on the island of Jersey, in the Channel Islands, but his design of the three aforementioned buildings in Leeds has permanently shaped the look of Leeds.

The renovation of the Corn Exchange, which began in 1985 and was completed in 1990, saw the decidedly Victorian area of Leeds surrounding the Exchange open to renovation. As developers bought into the area and filled the 19th century buildings with high-class bars and boutiques, this became (and remains) one of the most fashionable areas of the city.

Answer: And educational bird garden, or aviary, featuring many rare species such as the Hornbill and Kiwi.

The Himalayan garden complete with its own Buddhist stupa, a massive adventure playground (where I used to pass the hours), good food, and even a tour around the house itself await those brave enough to drive half an hour out of the town centre.

The massive bird garden at Harewood House is the most extensive public aviaries in Yorkshire. In fact, so popular is Harewood House, that it won the "Large Visitor Attraction of the Year" award in 2003! Built in the 18th century for the Lascelles family, the house is now owned by George Lascelles, also known as Lord Harewood. His mother, in fact, was Mary, the daughter of George V and Queen Mary.

Now, an interesting little side argument comes with this tourist attraction. The vast majority of people in the United Kingdom are compelled to pronounce Harewood as "Harwood" - the customary pronunciation and spelling back in the 18th century. Today, however, the people of Leeds always pronounce the -e in there. To me, it will always be "Hare-wood" House.

Answer: The largest Oncology unit in Europe.

For such a metropolis, Leeds is hardly inundated with hospitals, but this is probably one of the best to visit if you don't mind sitting in A&E for five hours...

Completed in 2007, the massive Oncology unit (which was built on the former car park of this inner-city hospital) is the largest hospital department in Europe dedicated purely to the treatment of cancer.

Today, Jimmy's seems to have lost the stigma it received during the last century for its terrible ratings. In the '90s, in fact, Jimmy's was best known for its poor performance in government inspections. The loss of this stigma could be due, in part, to the production of a television series in the late 1980's and early 1990's, which showed the reality of the hospital. "Jimmy's", as the series was called, ran for seven years on Yorkshire Television and gave Saint James's something more to be famous for!

So, that was Leeds. It's not exactly the most glamorous city in the United Kingdom, but it is easily one of the largest and more metropolitan areas around. From the town centre to the tourist attractions on the outskirts, the hospitals to the shopping centres, Leeds is a place that I'll miss when I leave.

But then, I'll have Hull to explore.

Oh, good.

Flynn out.