Remembering Temple Works

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On a frosty October evening in October 2009 I was stood with about thirty-five shivering people in Holbeck experiencing a light and sound show called “Bloom” at the opening “Final Days” event at Temple Works. Thirty-five was the maximum allowed owing to the place being an uninsured building site (though I have always suspected it also had something to do with the fact that there were fewer than 40 hard hats to go round.) “Bloom” dominated the two acre Main Space, assaulting eyeballs, shredding eardrums, pulverising internal organs and making the crowd huddle together in awe just inside the loading bay entrance. It lasted over half an hour. There were no chairs. No railings to hang on to. We forgot to mention it was bring your own hot water bottle… “Bloom” was beautifully brutal.

After the show the organisers and stewards guided the people into the unheated, starkly lit Joiners’ shop of Temple Works. We wanted to give them a drink or two, mainly I thought at the time to reward their fortitude.

Half the people who came to the opening show had worked at Temple Works when it was Kays Catalogue Company. I got talking to Doris who’d worked on the shop floor for over 30 years – she’d pointed out her spot in the left hand corner before Bloom began, though I couldn’t quite grasp what her job was – who came with her daughter, also a worker at Kays in the admin department. I dragged across the best seat available, dusted off the debris, and refilled Doris’s plastic glass with a generous glug of the best wine I could find in Holbeck.

“What did you think of that?” I asked, honestly a bit worried about the response. The show wasn’t exactly easy listening. I was baffled by it. And the conditions were far from cosy… standing for half an hour on bare, broken concrete in 2 acres of unheated Victorian monolith is not generally considered a pleasant evening’s entertainment.

Doris pondered for a second, took a sip of wine, and shuffled on the hard plastic chair.

“Ee, love” she said, “it were better than’t telly…”

I must have recounted this story thousands of times – at a rough estimate I must have done approaching 800 separate tours over the past seven years, for well over 5000 people, so plenty of people have heard it – and it’s still my favourite tale about Temple Works.

Please, nobody ask about the damned sheep!

Sadly, Temple Works as a cultural project is no more. The gates are shut, I’ve handed in my keys, and the big boys have taken over. I’m expecting great things… Things that’ll make people like Doris switch off the telly and go and do something cool instead. Well, let’s hope they can afford to heat the place at least…

At the end of the month there’s going to be a retrospective exhibition held at Leeds Central Library, organised by the brilliant Dave Lynch, the guy who put on Bloom, the first big event at Temple Works. I’m trying to get together a few pics/memories/mishaps from people who came along on the tours and got to listen to me making things up and avoiding any insinuation about sheep on the roof. If you have any pictures or fancy contributing a few words get in touch…