Leeds store manager Jen
Specially for ‘It’s A Shoe Thing’, we’re asking our store teams to put on their favourite comfortable shoes for walking and spotlight their home towns, sharing their local knowledge with you. Hopefully you’ll be inspired to make a trip or two – and don’t forget to pop in to see them when you do, you’re guaranteed a very warm welcome!
Jen, a dog lover and Hotter expert, manages the team in our Leeds store and has shared with us the hot spots and events you need to see and do in the city. She tells us…
Temple Newsam Park
This park is a lovely place to visit with family, and especially great if you have a dog too! We took my poochon Ted along for the ‘Bark In The Park’ event recently, this was a 5 mile walk along with hundreds of other dogs and their owners, it was an amazing experience! Temple Newsam also has a beautiful Tudor house which is open to the public.
Roundhay Park
A must see! Roundhay park is one of the biggest city parks in Europe, it has over 700 acres of parkland, woodland, lakes and gardens! When we visited recently, we spent 3 hours walking and Ted loved it.
The park hosts an annual fireworks display and a dragon boat race, which is so much fun to watch, and has even hosted several pop concerts. If you’re a keen cycler, there’s also several cycle tracks so you can plan your route before your visit.
Roundhay Park. Photo Credit: Leeds City Council
Corn Exchange
Opened in 1863, the Corn Exchange, is only one of 3 corn exchanges in the country. It opened in 1863 and was later renovated between 1990-2008. Today the exchange now operates as a centre of trade, with small boutiques and tea rooms.
Store manager Jen and #HotterBus at the entrance to the Corn Exchange
Town Hall
The Town Hall was built between 1852 and 1858 and is a Grade 1 listed building. Today it’s mainly used for concerts and formal civic functions. Did you know it’s also one of the largest town halls in the UK and was opened by Queen Victoria!
Leeds City Library
This is only three doors down from our store and has been established for nearly 250 years. The library holds over 140,000 books on 5km of shelving! And each year they add over 1,500 additional books, CD and DVDS!
The Grand Theatre And Opera
The theatre is home of many great shows and plays…Gary Barlow played ‘The Girls’ here, the true story of the Yorkshire Calendar Girls.
In September 2015 the Calendar Girls joined us to celebrate the opening of the store! From the left, Christine Clancy, Beryl Bamforth, Angela Baker, Lynda Logan and Tricia Stewart.
Leeds Markets
The markets first opened in 1822 as an open air market but nowadays is one of the largest covered markets in Europe with 800 stalls.
There are so many different boutique style shops… local bakeries and cafes, meat market and fish stalls and a beautiful collection of flowers from the local florist (which we used for our opening day and the sunflowers for the Calendar Girls visit).
Assistant Store Manager Rik takes #HotterBus on a tour of the markets
Kirkgate Market. Photo credit: Leeds City Council
The Store
Find the store at 14 Commercial Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 6AL.
[separator type=”thin”]Step out in one of our beautifully lightweight active styles whilst exploring Leeds…
We’d love to hear about your favourite places to explore, share them with us in the comments below or email [email protected].
