www.flickr.com/photos/manxphil/6294433347/

www.flickr.com/photos/manxphil/6294433347/

some of the acts and their sets from the Queens www.setlist.fm/search?page=5&que ... all,+leeds

some of the acts and their sets from the Queens www.setlist.fm/search?page=5&que ... all,+leeds

ahh ok!

I saw many a band there in the 80's - in fact the first concert I ever went to was the Boomtown Rats in the Queens Hall.

As Gary said, the acoustics were terrible, no facilities and very few redeeming features but it was the choice venue for bands to play in Leeds.

Having said that the acoustics in the Leeds Poly Refectory weren't much better either

Two best gigs there in the '70s were Thin Lizzy circa '77, what can I say, awesome is too small a word.

And Darts, yes, Darts, the doo-wap band of "Boy from New York City" and "Daddy Cool" fame, just one huge two hour long party, packed hall, everyone soaking and slimy with sweat and on that night a full compliment of rather nice females, but before this catches the eye of Operation Yewtree can I say that my hand slipped, accidental contact and all that, it being very dark and all, there, that should do it.

Speaking of which, our kid went to a Gary Glitter gig at The Poly in the early 80s when Mr Glitter was already a forgotten joke, he went with a crowd of mates with the intention of taking the p1ss out of Mr Glitter for entertainment and amusement as did apparently everyone in the hall, but their plans were thwarted by the fact that one perosn took the p1ss out of Gary Glitter more than anyone and that was Gary Glitter himself - our kid said it turned into quite a good night.

And finally - I went to see a Monty Pythons live tour in the early 70s at the Grand Theatre

Hoisted from rlhttps://www.facebook.com/LeedsBackInTheDayrl

We've been here before but I seemed to be the only one that remembered the Merrion Centre without a roof when the number 33 bus would turn left off Woodhouse Lane at The Coburg and then right into The Merrion Centre where Shearers Music Shop is now, come through where the "square" is, turning right and down the ramp at the side of Morrisons back onto Woodhouse Lane - always seemed like a bit of a dodgy manouvre for a double deck bus

That photo is taken roughly from where Holland & Barretts is now and so the bus route would be turning right (left across the photo) just behind that kiosk.

I don't know who the bloke in the suit is though.

Building The Queens Hotel eh ?

My maternal Grandmother went for a job once at The Queens.

You need some background info - my mothers mother was a little old Irish lady from Co Mayo, innocent in the ways of the world and of commerce in general, she lived in Burley and Meanwood for most of her life and shopped only in local shops , had never had a job at all until the day that for some reason she replied to an advertisement for a kitchen hand at The Queens Hotel and she got the job by letter, no interview, just "Come down and start on Monday".

You have to understand that The Queens was not just the poshest hotel in Leeds it was probably the poshest hotel in Northern England, so my Grandmother put on her old brown coat and one of those old ladies hats with the big pins that go right through their heads to stop it blowing off in a wind and got on the number 6 bus into Leeds.

She was told to enter the hotel using the staff entrance round the back under the dark arches and report to the duty managers office, she foudn the staff entrance ok but then wandered up and down miles and miles of underground corridors looking for the duty managers office without finding it or anyone to ask, eventually she walked up some stairs and came out of a door into the Palm Court Lounge which was clearly never designed for the likes of her as there were posh people in there having morning tea and biscuits - so she walked through reception, a uniformed lackey held the door open for her and she walked across City Square, got back on the bus and went home and NEVER AGAIN entertained the ridiculous concept that a dear little old lady from Co Mayo could ever consider working in a place as posh as The Queens.

Here's one from the Facebook group that I'm sure everyone is familiar withhttps://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/72569_10200453734405462_314773261_n.jpg" >

That one is listed as being "The Assembly Rooms", not having been a client of The Plaza, no honestly I wasn't, never had a dirty raincoat with holes in thepockets at all, but isn't that the corner of the Grand Theatre building and didn't they recently refurbish those assemby rooms and find a secret hidden meeting room in there that had been boarded up and forgotten about ?

I went to one of the last performances at The Grand before it closed for refurb (Blood Bros maybe ?) and on the staircase they had started to remove the old plaster to reveal the original bottle green ceramic tiles, has anyone been since it re-opened ?

You see, some of us look at photos like that and think "Well thats not very long ago".

The Wolseley car brings back lots of memories, my dad used to have a Morris Oxford which along with the Austin Cambridge was basically the same car, a huge tank of a car with not even a nod towards health and safety, it drove like a top heavy container ship and if it hit a pedestrian then god help them because its chrome plated steel bumpers weren't there to protect anything apart from the car itself - our neighbour had the Wolseley version and misjudged his own driveway one night, hit a gatepost at speed and completely demolished it, bricks and concrete everywhere - the Wolseley had a couple of scratches on the front bumper.

... and hasn't changed that much either, at least visually.
The garage is now another bar but it all still looks pretty familiar.