Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 6hYet another email purporting to come from someone you know, usually someone rather senior, whose computer is rather ancient? Why wouldn't the sender who want to ask one thing just ASK it in the email instead of asking permission to pose the question? No super-sleuth needed to detect pong of rat. 031
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 7hTaken for this afternoon's cloudscape. It happens that you can see 5 out of 7 buildings to hold the title 'tallest building in Leeds': 1. Leeds Parish Church - Minster since 2012 3. Office, City Sq - now hotel 4. W Riding House - now Pinnacle 6. Altus House 7. Cirrus Point Out of view: 2. LTH 5. BWP 031
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthBrian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I'll be talking about 'These Isles: A People's History of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales' at Howden & District u3a, east Yorkshire, on Thurs Oct 29th, 10.30am. The Shire Hall, Market Place. howden.u3asite.uk/home/ 1235
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 28/09/2026What a contrast between the 'Sunk Island' area of the north side of the Humber Estuary on 22 July ... ... and the middle of Leeds the next day. But both scenes were made by people. 011
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthReece Dinsdale @reecedinsdale.bsky.social · 27/09/2026If you would like to help me help #SaveSquareChapelArts, then click on the link on the post below and scroll to the bottom. There you will find a list of all the useful things you can do. Let’s make some noise! Thank you. 69151
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthEdmund Lee @edsrlee.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Latest addition to @natlibscot.bsky.social excellent online map collection is a layer of high resolution #lidar images optimised to highlight archaeological sites 🏺showing as subtle earthworks. Amazing imagery! More info here... maps.nls.uk/additions/#205maps.nls.uk 032
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthRachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 27/09/2026On 27 September 1726, the first known public concert in Leeds was held on the upper floor of the First White Cloth Hall – opened in 1711 for the trading of undyed cloth. Half a crown 300 years ago is about £22 in 2026. 173
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 27/09/2026On 27 September 1726, the first known public concert in Leeds was held on the upper floor of the First White Cloth Hall – opened in 1711 for the trading of undyed cloth. Half a crown 300 years ago is about £22 in 2026. 173
Reposted by Rachael Unsworthsianushka.bsky.social @sianushka.bsky.social · 23/09/2026This is great and Burnham on the money re Russian threat and who is vulnerable. Trump on the other hand… www.theguardian.com/technology/2...theguardian.comNew UK agency to fight ‘information warfare’ from likes of Russia, Burnham tells UNPM aims to ‘stem poisonous tide’ of disinformation and deepfakes with National Centre for Information Defence 07029
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The north side of Duncan St in dramatic light at 18:20 this evening. An ornate Edwardian range of buildings, mostly designed by local architect Percy Robinson and with much of the detail in terracotta. 291
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Hesperanthas in the limelight this month. Self-seeded in the broken concrete of the courtyard behind the old coach house where I live in north Leeds. #GardensHour 0102
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 21/09/2026While waiting for the next eastbound train at Edgware Road, I spied saplings of Tree of Heaven. 012
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthAncestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳 @ancestralenq.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Glasgow Life, the charity that manages Glasgow's museum & library collections has bought the archive of the Third Eye Centre & Centre for Contemporary Arts that contains material gathered over 50 years. 👇 BBC News - Charity buys archive of Third Eye centre and CCA www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukCharity buys archive of Third Eye centre and CCAExhibition records, photographs, films, posters, flyers and artists' letters chart the story of two organisations that were central to Glasgow's art scene. 072
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Hacks @privateeyenews.bsky.social discuss their book choices: Mother Tongue The Faber Book of Reportage Tickle The Public - 100 Years of the Popular Press We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families Towards The End Of The Morning Scoop New Grub Styoutube.comThe Hacks Book Club: Private Eye writers pick their favourite books about journalismYouTube video by Private Eye Magazine 000
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthEmily Cassidy @enviroem.bsky.social · 21/08/2026People are always surprised to learn that packaging, processing, and transportation are almost always small contributors (<10%) of food-related GHG emissions. The TYPE of food we eat -- meat versus plants -- is a MUCH bigger factor. 923798
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 29/08/2026My dear old friend, historian Julian Jackson, published a biography of de Gaulle in 2018. 2026 🎬 'De Gaulle: Résistance'. Director Baudry collaborated closely with Julian. Simon Russell Beale as Churchill. Millions of tickets sold in France. Out now in UK - eg: www.myvue.com/cinema/leeds... 120
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthLiz @willsmanonename.bsky.social · 19/08/2026The Society for #OnePlaceStudies has a free helpful guide to getting started. Re choosing your place, make it somewhere you have a passion for, which isn’t too big, & think about how you will access the records you need 👉🏻 www.one-place-studies.org/wp-content/u... #OnePlaceWednesday 351
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthLBC @lbc.co.uk · 10/08/2026...Still too soon for spoilers? @simonmarksfsn.bsky.social reporting a Harry Potter story has left listeners devastated and Simon can't keep it together. 108525
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Output from the heavenly watering can accumulating - at last - in a shady corner of an urban garden. #GardensHour 081
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Just been out into the courtyard to listen to rain falling on the plants and a trickle of water running into the butt that's been empty for weeks. 092
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthReader @readermagazine.bsky.social · 15/08/2026The main section of North Yorkshire's landmark new A59 Kex Gill route, replacing a stretch of road repeatedly hit by landslips, is set to open to traffic by early September.readermagazine.co.ukMain section of new A59 Kex Gill route set to open within weeksThe main section of North Yorkshire's landmark new A59 Kex Gill route, replacing a stretch of road repeatedly hit by landslips, is set to open to traffic by early September. 021
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Join me for a walking tour at 14:30 on Friday 18 September: 'Protest & riot in Leeds' www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/protest-an... That evening, Jonathan Pie will probably be even more polemical at City Varieties.eventbrite.co.ukProtest and riot in LeedsA walking tour exploring the concept and causes of protest and the sites of uprisings, confrontations & disorder through the ages 032
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 15/08/2026After a recent visit to Harewood House I reflected on the term 'south terrace'. Our 'south terrace' is but a slender strip. The late Victorian electric tram system led to a surge in demand for suburban housing. 4 Edwardian terraces (60 houses), were built on the sunny side of the early C19 house. 111
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Just been to the unveiling of new artworks at Temple Newsam: commissions from Miriam Hanid and Yusuke Yamamoto. Inspired by the historic collection and its setting - house and grounds. Get along to see these breathtaking and moving creations + film about the making of them. 193
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 04/08/2026I have to share a boisterous spray of roses on the climber by my door that’s grown up from a wee shoot inside 8 weeks. Now over 5ft - I know cos the scrumptious scent of that central bloom is at the level of my nose. Do you know its name? Plant ID on iPhone no good 😔 000
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthOpen Culture @openculture.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Salvador Dalí & Walt Disney’s Short Animated Film, Destino, Set to the Music of Pink Floydopenculture.comSalvador Dalí & Walt Disney’s Short Animated Film, Destino, Set to the Music of Pink FloydDalí long gone and Disney gone longer still, it came out. The delayed arrival of Destino had to do with money trouble at the Walt Disney Studios not long after the project began, and it seems that few... 03312
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthLeo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 30/07/2026++BREAKING++ The UK and Spanish governments have issued a joint statement overnight: "[We] agreed that this summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening our way of life." www.gov.uk/government/n... 11332501370
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 26/07/2026A recent trip to Goole, the port on the River Ouse close to The Humber estuary, which opened in July 1826. Coal and goods came along the Aire & Calder Navigation and Dutch River - canalised River Don. Looking N close to Aire St Bridge with St John’s spire beyond a general cargo boat in Aldam Dock. 030
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 26/07/2026I do occasionally escape from Leeds. Here’s a sea-sculpted piece at Spurn Point, the long spit of sand that curves from the Holderness coast into the Humber estuary. Marine erosion mimicking Barbara #Hepworth. 0211
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 26/07/2026From @leedscivictrust.bsky.social volunteers’ summer party at Moda, Quarry Hill. With much background chatter, here’s a quick summary of the succession of Tallest Buildings of Leeds. Old Leeds Parish Church had been the tallest structure for centuries. The new one was soon overtopped, and then … 031
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 25/07/2026‘Grade slip’: Old M&S skirt size 12, measuring 28”. (Note St Michael label - branding that was dropped in 2000.) Recent skirt supposedly size 8, yet the waist is 35” - that’s 25% bigger. 131
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 25/07/2026GOAD Insurance Plan of Leeds 1886, showing details of building structures & uses – major elements of fire risk. Sheet 7 includes the eastern end of Wellington St and Thirsk Row, location of the Hepworth warehouse. Available to view in Leeds Central Library. www.mylearning.org/stories/the-... 3/3 041
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Hepworths’ warehouse was close to 3 stations. The premises were rebuilt & occupied by the firm until the 1920s. Hepworths started retailing in 1890 and had >140 shops by 1906. Firm lasted until 1980. Retail side survives as ‘Next’. 2019-20:: building refurbished & opened as Tailors’ Corner. 2/3 060
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 25/07/2026OTD 1906, fire destroyed the warehouse of tailoring entrepreneur Joseph Hepworth (1834-1911), who started manufacturing clothing in Leeds in 1864. The neighbouring hotel was also badly damaged. 3 firemen were injured that day. 1/3 120
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Read 3 posts on the 200th birthday of the Port of Goole. The inland waterways were so crucial to building the pre-industrial economy & went on carrying heavy cargoes cost-effectively in the railway era. Trade still comes through Goole, though its heyday has passed. V interesting to visit last week. 030
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthResolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 20/07/2026Is welfare spending ''out of control''? It's estimated to be 11.1 per cent of GDP this financial year. That's just 1.1 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen by 0.9 per cent of GDP since 2012-13 ⤵️ 25129
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Today's newsletter - some thoughts on Rishi Sunak (and some other prime ministers') views on how they managed their time and what the lessons for Burnham as he forms his government are:ft.comBad cabinet appointments will steal Andy Burnham’s precious hoursIncoming leader would do well to take Rishi Sunak’s advice on maximising your time as prime minister 2252
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthBarbara Kempf 🇧🇴🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇪🇺#BLM #HE #FBPE 💚 @musicayamor.bsky.social · 20/07/2026leeds.greenparty.org.uk/2026/07/20/a... Our open letter to Andy Burnham on the day he becomes Prime Minister. Please share this far and wide. 🙏leeds.greenparty.org.ukAn Open Letter to Andy Burnham - Leeds Green PartyOn the day he becomes Prime Minister, Leeds Green Party has penned an open letter to Andy Burnham, demanding real commitments for our city. 021
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Coal was exported through Goole docks from coalfields of W & S Yorkshire until 1986. Powered tugs pulled a ‘train’ of coal barges. From 1865, the hoist lifted Tom Pudding containers & tipped coal into a ship’s hold. Peak 1953: >2.45m tonnes exported – over 90% of Goole’s activity at the time. 3/3 040
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Goole had only 2 docks in 1826, just before the railway era began. By 1912, 6 more docks had been added. Though traffic still comes through the port, trade has declined because it can't accommodate larger sea-going vessels. 2/3 070
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 20/07/2026OTD 1826 the port of Goole opened. Built to scale up & speed up trans-shipment of waterways cargo heading to & from the North Sea (c.80km away), this became England’s biggest inland port. From Goole, it’s 13.5km downstream on the River Ouse to the Humber estuary. 1/3 070
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 17/07/2026My American daughter is always trying to catch up with her paper edition of @economist.com My granddaughter, age three and a half, trying to persuade her mother to get her some more special 'kinetic sand': "Mum, The Economist says that if kids want something they should have it, ok?" 030
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthRob Shaw @whatisrobshaw.bsky.social · 31/03/2026Our very excellent RA on our Urban Sensory Pollution project has got themselves a permanent lecturship, so we're hiring! We're looking for an independently-minded ecologist, env scientist, phys geographer or similar. Details: jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastl... #ecology #geography #environmentalsciencejobs.ncl.ac.ukResearch Assistant/Associate (Sensory Pollution)Research Assistant/Associate (Sensory Pollution) 012
Rachael Unsworth @leedstours.bsky.social · 13/07/2026OTD 1626 Leeds Borough Charter was granted. The Borough boundary was widened to be same as parish: 32.8 square miles. Powers to: 🦉 Create Corporation – later LCC – headed by Alderman John Savile, whose family crest had 3 owls 🦉 Manage cloth trade 🦉 Hold courts and enforce local laws 180
Reposted by Rachael UnsworthTim Morton @timmorton2.bsky.social · 12/07/2026This is what the #ClimateCrisis looks like #StopRosebank #StopJackdaw 2156