There's a track-gauging unit at Stowmarket
A Visit to the Conservatoire, Leeds, West Yorkshire - 17th October 2026
Fred's off to an open day to suss out music degrees at the Leeds Conservatoire, so Nosher goes along too in order to bankroll accommodation, food and beer. We get the train down, with two changes - Stowmarket and Peterborough - and arrive the night before, with a room at the Premier Inn round the corner from the railway station. Within fifteen minutes of checking in, we've found the excellent Whitelock's Ale House, despite its Harry Potter Platform 10¾ invisible entrance. The next day, we walk to the Conservatoire, and whilst Fred's watching various talks and doing tours or whatever, Nosher's roaming around the extensive outdoor and indoor markets. The journey back is a bit more challenging, as we have to change at Doncaster - a relief as the train out of Leeds is standing-room only - and Peterborough, then get a bus to Cambridge, change at Stowmarket and finally end up back in Diss.
previous album: An Irish Wake for Louise, Booterstown, Dublin - 11th October 2026
Graffiti under a bridge near Peterborough
A hut in the middle of nowhere
A Class 91 with Mark 4s InterCity 225 rolls in
Fred gives a vintage Mark 4 the hairy eyeball
We've arrived at Leeds
A first view of Leeds city centre
Leeds City Square
There's a giant horse statue in a shopping centre
Fred walks up Briggate
We find the awesome Whitelock's Ale House
Part of the pub's real ale selection
A funky lantern over the pub door
Fred in Turk's Head Yard
Old-school pub glass in the Luncheon Bar
Turk's Head Yard/alley
Black and white tiling in the pub bogs
Briggate at night
The view from the Premier Inn room
We walk through the 1937 part of the station
A more modern part of the station
We get a kebab from German Doner Kebab
Fred waits for another toilet stop in the station
The remains of a Premier Inn breakfast
Saturday morning on Whitehouse Road
Back on Briggate
Fancy pre-Art Nouveau on King Edward Street
A sheep's head mural near the market
Fred walks up Dyer Street
The impressive Vitoria Gate car park
Saint Peter's Square, near the Conservatoire
BBC Yorkshire's offices and studios
The Leeds Playhouse on St. Peter's Street
An assortment of buses at Leeds Bus Station
Fruit and veg on the outdoor market
Inside the vast indoor market
A globe in an empty part of the market
Graffiti art in the indoor market
A Syrian market stall
Boxes of broken and packet-less biscuits
Some very impressive Scotch Bonnet chilli peppers
The Spice Corner Indian provisions stall
The market gets fancier as it gets nearer Kirkgate
An Afro hairdreser off Back New York Street
It's like New York on Back New York Street
The amusingly-named Döner Summer
One of the few remaining factory buildings
Crown Street, round the back of the Corn Exchange
Under the railway arches
Graffiti on the railway arches
A derelict building on Crown Street
Wall art on early-20th Century buildings
The impressive Corn Exchange
The Victorian roof has been modernised
Cloth Hall Street
Urban decay, Leeds style
More buildings in black and white
A fresh Elephant Leg is topped with tomatoes
The grand Leeds City Markets
The entrance to Whitelock's is mostly invisble
There's an actual cat café on Kirkgate
A back alley off Kirkgate
A very impressive ceiling in Queen's Arcade
Queen's Arcade in Leeds
Yet another fancy indoor market
A flower stall and Thai Street Food
The home of the first Marks and Spencer stall
Random wigs in a shop window
Bowls of pomegranates
National Express coaches
There's a Dalek in BBC Yorkshire's reception
Fred emerges from the Conservatoire
Giant wall art
The Sally Army band is playing in Market Kitchen
The impressive Salvation Army Band
An autumn view of City Square
There's some sort of fancy-dress meet up
Back at Leeds City Station
The giant, if utilitarian, platform hall
Fred pushes up a window blind on the InterCity 225
It's the first empty carriage we've seen
A Victorian signal box at Eastfield
We've made it to Cambridge Railway Station
Greater Anglia's Class 720 Pride unit
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There's a track-gauging unit at Stowmarket
There's a track-gauging unit at Stowmarket
Graffiti under a bridge near Peterborough
A hut in the middle of nowhere
A Class 91 with Mark 4s InterCity 225 rolls in
Fred gives a vintage Mark 4 the hairy eyeball
We've arrived at Leeds
A first view of Leeds city centre
Leeds City Square
There's a giant horse statue in a shopping centre
Fred walks up Briggate
We find the awesome Whitelock's Ale House
Part of the pub's real ale selection
A funky lantern over the pub door
Fred in Turk's Head Yard
Old-school pub glass in the Luncheon Bar
Turk's Head Yard/alley
Black and white tiling in the pub bogs
Briggate at night
The view from the Premier Inn room
We walk through the 1937 part of the station
A more modern part of the station
We get a kebab from German Doner Kebab
Fred waits for another toilet stop in the station
The remains of a Premier Inn breakfast
Saturday morning on Whitehouse Road
Back on Briggate
Fancy pre-Art Nouveau on King Edward Street
A sheep's head mural near the market
Fred walks up Dyer Street
The impressive Vitoria Gate car park
Saint Peter's Square, near the Conservatoire
BBC Yorkshire's offices and studios
The Leeds Playhouse on St. Peter's Street
An assortment of buses at Leeds Bus Station
Fruit and veg on the outdoor market
Inside the vast indoor market
A globe in an empty part of the market
Graffiti art in the indoor market
A Syrian market stall
Boxes of broken and packet-less biscuits
Some very impressive Scotch Bonnet chilli peppers
The Spice Corner Indian provisions stall
The market gets fancier as it gets nearer Kirkgate
An Afro hairdreser off Back New York Street
It's like New York on Back New York Street
The amusingly-named Döner Summer
One of the few remaining factory buildings
Crown Street, round the back of the Corn Exchange
Under the railway arches
Graffiti on the railway arches
A derelict building on Crown Street
Wall art on early-20th Century buildings
The impressive Corn Exchange
The Victorian roof has been modernised
Cloth Hall Street
Urban decay, Leeds style
More buildings in black and white
A fresh Elephant Leg is topped with tomatoes
The grand Leeds City Markets
The entrance to Whitelock's is mostly invisble
There's an actual cat café on Kirkgate
A back alley off Kirkgate
A very impressive ceiling in Queen's Arcade
Queen's Arcade in Leeds
Yet another fancy indoor market
A flower stall and Thai Street Food
The home of the first Marks and Spencer stall
Random wigs in a shop window
Bowls of pomegranates
National Express coaches
There's a Dalek in BBC Yorkshire's reception
Fred emerges from the Conservatoire
Giant wall art
The Sally Army band is playing in Market Kitchen
The impressive Salvation Army Band
An autumn view of City Square
There's some sort of fancy-dress meet up
Back at Leeds City Station
The giant, if utilitarian, platform hall
Fred pushes up a window blind on the InterCity 225
It's the first empty carriage we've seen
A Victorian signal box at Eastfield
We've made it to Cambridge Railway Station
Greater Anglia's Class 720 Pride unit