Leeds Poetry Maps
This page provides access to "literary maps" of Leeds, showing where the Leeds poets lived and worked during their time in the city. They show the residences of Gregory Fellows in Poetry, and some student poets and members of staff in the Department of English Literature/School of English.
Map 1
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Map 1 is roughly centred on the University and Leeds city centre, extending to Headingley in the north and Beeston in the south.
As might be expected, there is a cluster of poets' residences around the University campus, including Gregory Fellows William Price Turner, Martin Bell and Kevin Crossley-Holland. John Heath-Stubbs often met students at Arthur Creedy's home on Cemetery Place (now part of the campus) during his Gregory Fellowship. As a student, Tony Harrison often stayed with his friend and fellow poet James Simmons on Blenheim Square, rather than travelling across Leeds to his parents' house in Beeston. Vernon Scannell stayed in a flat on Cromer Terrace in the late 1940s, but had previously rented a room in Chapeltown; he also lived in this area when he first returned to West Yorkshire in 1979. Brunswick Place, where James Kirkup took lodgings, no longer exists but is thought to be close to Brunswick Terrace in the area bordered by the Merrion Centre, Claypit Lane and the Inner Ring Road.
The map also shows the locations of some of the public houses frequented by the Leeds poets and/or used by Gregory Fellows as places to meet students. The Fenton on Woodhouse Lane, close to the University, was a popular drinking and meeting spot; Kevin Crossley-Holland sometimes met up with students in the Bricklayer's Arms, also close to campus. The Town Hall Tavern in the city centre was a popular venue for James Kirkup to meet up with artist friends including Jacob Kramer. Whitelocks Bar, the oldest pub in Leeds, was also a popular meeting and drinking location, frequented by Bonamy Dobrée, Herbert Read and (occasionally) T.S. Eliot, amongst others.
Map 2
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Map 2 shows the area of North Leeds around Headingley, Chapel Allerton and Roundhay, and reveals a clustering of Gregory Fellows and staff of the School of English around Headingley and Far Headingley. A University flat at 38 Moor Road, close to Tetley Hall, was frequently occupied by Gregory Fellows in Painting including Terry Frost (1954-1956) and Trevor Bell (1960-1963); Hubert Dalwood, Gregory Fellow in Sculpture from 1955 to 1959, rented premises at 52 Cottage Road. Thomas Blackburn lived on Heathfield Terrace, close by. Jon Silkin's flat at 144 Otley Road served as the offices of Stand magazine following its relaunch at Leeds in 1960, and was frequently sub-let to or used as a temporary base for other poets and writers. T.S. Eliot, a member of the Gregory Fellowships Advisory Committee, could occasionally be seen walking along the Otley Road in the direction of Weetwood Lane, where his mother-in-law lived.
G. Wilson Knight, Wilfred R. Childe and Geoffrey Hill were also Headingley residents. Late on in his time at Leeds, Hill appears to have moved to Roundhay; Peter Redgrove also lived in this area during his Gregory Fellowship. Paul Mills lived in a 15th century stone cottage just off Stonegate Road in Meanwood, which was thought to be the site of an ancient Celtic settlement.
Wayne Brown chose to live to the north of Leeds, in Otley, during his tenure of the Gregory Fellowship. Vernon Scannell moved to Otley around 1983, after returning to Leeds from the south in 1979; he continued to live there until his death in November 2007.
