Love Where You Live

I posted the other day that 'We Are What We Do', and one of my target things to do was to love where I live. I live in Leeds, in Yorkshire, and I recently came back here after living in (and adoring!) Liverpool for four years with some new-found affection for it - it's funny that I never really identified with Leeds until I went away from it for a while (on those photos I've pinched, click through for the source - I went into town to take some today, but the Christmas shopping crowds proved too much of a challenge to take any half decent ones, sorry!)!


Someone the other day described Leeds as industrial, and it is, because it was built around the production of and profit from wool, so there are a plethora of mills, terraced houses, town streets, schools and pubs, but there are also parks, canals, churches (whether you're religious or not, the architecture of most churches is certainly something to look at), abbeys, museums, art galleries, reservoirs and stately homes (with animals to feed if you want to rediscover your inner child!) and I'm glad I'm starting to appreciate it.

This is the view from the park by my house - industrial and green (the creepy shadow in the corner of the second one is me!):



It's becoming the second financial capital of the UK, and besides the daunting skyline of office and apartment blocks, this comes with benefits - the shopping and social sides of the city are massively varied:





...but that's just the city centre - other places I love in Leeds include:

Kirkstall Abbey - perfect for a wander round and a picnic, weather permitting!


Saltaire (strictly speaking, this is in Bradford, but it's still very close!) - built by Titus Salt, this is a model town complete with a mill, church, pretty terraced streets, a park, allotments, a college, schools and almshouses.


Roundhay Park - lovely for a walk or to see the fireworks!


Temple Newsam - to get your fill of some local history! It's an old stately home that's now a museum, and it also has huge grounds containing a lake and a farm with animals you can feed if you're a child (or a bit insistent, as I was on my birthday this year haha). Oh yes...I briefly (accidentally) had orange hair, it was fun, if slightly obnoxious!



Aww I really do love where I live!

For more photos of Leeds, have a look at Leeds Daily Photo