Nightlife in Leeds

Clarence Dock has many new restaurants and bars and is becoming an alternative to more established parts of the city centre

The Nightlife in Leeds centres around the city centre, however areas such as Headingley and Chapel Allerton also attract many people, while outlying areas of the city such as Otley and Wetherby are known for their pubs.

Leeds city centre

Pubs

The Angel Inn, a Samuel Smiths public houses off Briggate.

The city centre of Leeds benefits from many pubs, including several real ale pubs (Scarborough Hotel, Alexandria, Palace, Adelphi, etc,). There are four small pubs situated off Briggate: The Ship, The Packhorse, The Angel (pictured) and Whitelocks (a particularly historic pub formerly called The Turks Head). All are narrow pubs situated in ginnels and yards away from the street. The Aldelphi on Hunslet Lane lies next to the Tetley's Brewery and served as the brewery's flagship pub for many years, before Tetley's leased it out to a pub management company. In 2005, The Guildford on The Headrow became Leeds city centre's first non-smoking pub (The Original Oak in Headingley tried it in 2003 and reverted after several months) and renamed itself 'Oxygen'. The Guildford was known for its large pool hall until the 1980s, the pub now called The Northern Monkey. In recent years, there has been a growing number of gastropubs in the city.

Chains

Four pubs in the city centre are owned by Wetherspoons, the largest being Becketts Bank on Park Row and The Cuthbert Brodrick (named after Cuthbert Brodrick, the architect of many Leeds buildings), on Millennium Square. The two others are Stick or Twist, adjoining the Grosvenor Casino, and one in the Leeds City railway station simply named Wetherspoons.

Held by Town & City are many venues in Leeds with two Yates's pubs, Hogs Head, The Slug and Lettuce as well as La Tasca.

There is an O'Neil's pubs on Great George Street and two Revolution bars, one on Millennium Square and the other on The Calls.

Real ale

There are several pubs in Leeds city centre that cater for the Real Ale market including Mr Foley's Cask Ale House (The Headrow), The Town Hall Tavern www.townhalltavernleeds.co.uk (Westgate), The Scarborough Hotel (Swinegate), The Palace (Kirkgate) and The Victoria (Great George Street).

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  Leeds's first gay pub, The New Penny

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  Lounge Bar (better known as the General Wade)

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  Mr Foley's real ale house

Winebars and Bistros

Greek Street hosts many upmarket bars

Many wine bars and bistros have opened up in Leeds since the Millennium, inparticuarly around Park Row, Greek Street and Russell Street in the heart of the financial and legal districts of the city. The Electric Press has also been converted into a large atrium in which there is now a Champagne Bar. Many of these establishments are part of chains, however there is still a sizable number of independent bistros in the city.

Nightclubs

Leeds has a well established club scene and is occasionally dubbed the "clubbing capital" of the UK^[1]. There are over 30 late-licence nightclubs in the city centre, notable ones include The Cockpit on Swinegate, Oceana in the Merrion Centre, Tiger Tiger, Halo, Wire on Kirkgate and Club Mission near The Dark Arches, in the busy Queens Court area of the city centre.

Gatecrasher have recently refurbished their site on New Briggate with the new Gatecrasher7 providing both dance and R'n'B nights. Mint Club was recently voted as 24th best club in the world by DJ magazine's annual top 100 list.

These venues cater for a wide variety of revellers, with rock/indie clubs such as The Cockpit, dance Clubs such as Oceana and rave/ acid House clubs such as Mission, which attracts world renowned DJ's. Other major clubs in the city centre include Space, Mezz and Bar Risa.

Outside of the city centre, popular sites include Evolution in Kirkstall and Night Trax in Chapeltown. The West Indian centre in Chapeltown regularly hosts the night "SubDub" which attracts a large crowd.

Chapel Allerton

Chapel Allerton has a variety of public houses, bars and restaurants situated around Stainbeck Lane and Harrogate Road. Establishments in this mainly residential area are generally fairly upmarket, and cater towards a cosmopolitan feel. Many of the bars and restaurants have obtained permission from Leeds City Council to use the area's wide pavements for outdoor seating. Chapel Allerton now has a Wetherspoons freehouse at the Three Hulats.

Bars and restaurants on Stainbeck Lane

Headingley

The Skyrack

The Arc

Being Leeds' largest student centre, Headingley has many pubs and bars. Student pubs are generally situated around the Skyrack Corner area (to the South of Headingley), and these include, The Skyrack, The Original Oak, The Box, The Arc and the Headingley Taps. A Weatherspoons is also proposed in this area, on the site of a former school.^{[citation needed]} Being close to the Rugby and Cricket grounds, many of the areas patrons are sport spectators. Non-student pubs are generally situated further North in Far Headingley and include the Three Horseshoes, the New Inn and Woodies Ale House. Headingley also has a Bistro, called Arcadia (situated in the Arndale Centre) as well as many restaurants (Italian, Greek, Indian and Chinese). Many students also drink in neighbouring Student areas such as Burley, Woodhouse, Hyde Park and parts of Kirkstall.

Headingley forms part of the infamous Otley Run, which traditionally starts in Otley and finishes in the city centre. Given that the length of this is around ten miles, many cut it shorter and start in Lawnswood, or some even shorter starting it in Headingley. Only the Arc, the Headingley Taps and the 2 Leeds University Union venues lie off the route of the Otley Run.

References and notes

1. ^ http://leedsclubs.net/#

External links

• Official Leeds City Nightlife Guide (Courtesy of Leeds City Licensing Association)