Leeds is amazing. If you read this blog, you know it already.
But have you ever found yourself in that situation where a friend from out of town has come to stay and they ask “so what is there to do in Leeds?”
Er… Harvey Nichols? The Armouries? Bundobust? And then you get stuck. You know there’s loads of stuff to see and do here but you can’t remember now.
Let me help you with that! How about:
- The massive bird garden at Lotherton Hall
- Kirkstall Abbey and the reconstructed Victorian street at the Abbey House
- Thackray Medical Museum
- Meanwood Valley Urban Farm
Leeds is also home to some of the absolute finest food & drink establishments in the North, and with my Leeds Beer Quest hat on I’m tempted to say it’s the beer capital of the entire UK.
Perhaps it’s so difficult to think of Leeds in this way because it’s been overlooked by the traditional overlords of where’s hot to visit in the world: the makers of printed guidebooks. They would dedicate more pages to York or Whitby or — gasp! — Manchester.
So enter The Leeds We Love: we’re planning to write a 160-page full-colour printed guidebook to the city, just like the ones you have on your shelf to every other amazing city in Europe. With a copy of this book you’ll never be at a loss for something to do on the weekend or somewhere to go out for date night.
But we can’t do it without your help! We need to raise £14,000 – that’s not going into our pockets but it’s the minimum it’s going to cost us to get the book produced to professional standards, then printed and shipped.
And of course we’re not asking the lovely people of Leeds to give us summat fer nowt! Every pledge of £5+ will get a copy of the ebook when it’s done, and £10+ will get you a copy for your bookshelf.
If you’ve got your own local knowledge, get in on the discussion about what’s going to be in the book by pledging a little bit more to gain access to our insider forum. There are lots of other things you can pledge for too: check them out on our Kickstarter page.
Oh yeah: who are we to say we can do this? We’re Rich Daley — half of Leeds Beer Quest, which has visited every bar in Leeds city centre — and Lorna Parkes, a travel writer who has written and edited loads of stuff for Lonely Planet. We’re both crazy about Leeds and know all kinds of interesting history and less-well-known things to do.
Aren’t there other guidebooks out there already? Amazingly, no. There are online guides, and books of listings, but in our experience these are either not very good (focussing mainly on food & drink businesses) or they’re paid for by the people they feature, which means you’re not going to get a fair review.
If you’ve got a fiver or a tenner to spare, head on over to our Kickstarter and give us a pledge. If we don’t hit our goal by 7th December, your card won’t be charged. And if we do — well, you’re going to get an amazing book in a few months’ time!
Follow @LeedsWeLove on Twitter or on Facebook for updates.