Great British Cities with Susan Calman S01E04 - Leeds

In this episode, Susan travels to Leeds, locally known as the Capital of the North.

She starts by delving into the city's industrial past, visiting the iconic Armley Mill. Now a museum, Susan gets up close and personal with the working conditions of the industrial revolution.

Susan then travels to Hyde Park Picture House, a surviving first World War cinema, to investigate a claim that Leeds is the birthplace of modern cinema. After viewing what could be the first example of moving pictures, Susan explores the mysterious disappearance of the man responsible, Louis Le Prince.   

Next Susan visits the Victorian Town Hall, taking in the majesty of the architecture and checking in on the restoration of the epic Town Hall Organ, once one of the largest in Europe, before heading into the murky depths of the prison cells to learn how Leeds put an end to one of the Victorian age's most prolific criminal careers.

At the Thackray Museum of Medicine, Susan samples a Victorian street exhibit to learn about living conditions and public health during the Industrial revolution. She then meets Dr Laura Sellers to find out about the surgeon who helped create the Leeds Teaching Hospitals, and revolutionised amputation surgery for work-related accidents.

Following the trail of the city's textile industry, Susan investigates the Leeds Jewish tailoring community of the early 20th Century, and legendary Burton's founder Sir Montague Burton.

As her journey to Leeds comes to an end, Susan meets Arthur France, the man responsible for the Leeds West Indian Carnival. Still one of the biggest in Europe today, she learns about Arthur's passion and determination to unite people and communities during the 1960s, helping Leeds to become the multicultural society it is today.