Showcasing personal stories from local athletes, including Leeds Rhinos player Stevie Ward, the immersive event explores the fascinating history of sports injury.
Thackray Museum of Medicine has announced the launch of its summer season’s schedule, featuring an exciting lineup of exhibitions and events related to sports for all the family.
Entitled "On the Bench," the exhibition presents the opportunity to learn the science behind sports from different perspectives. From professional athletes and sports medical professionals to sports enthusiasts.
Launching 22 July 2023, anyone is invited to embark on an unforgettable journey into the world of sports, injuries, and triumph.
Image: Thackray Museum of Medicine
The main exhibition will focus on showcasing the incredible individual stories of injury from former Leeds Rhinos captain Stevie Ward, and the brilliant untold story of Norman Francis (Coach for Let's Do More Basketball), while the Leeds Roller Dolls Rollerderby will focus on team sport injuries.
Objects donated by the athletes alongside medical and physiotherapy equipment routinely used to treat sports injuries will be on display, telling the stories of their careers, injuries, treatment, and road to recovery.
The exhibit also includes photographs by the phenomenal Ian Beesley, showcasing his documentation of the Bradford Bulls during their peak of fame in the memorable 2001 season.
Image: Thackray Museum of Medicine
Commenting on the exhibition, Stevie Ward expressed his excitement: "It appears the injuries I had in my career are resulting in something I could never have imagined! I am so proud to be part of creating “On the Bench” alongside the Thackray Museum of Medicine.
"With Thackray at the heart of such a huge sporting city like Leeds, I think it’s going to be the first remarkable insight and look behind the curtain into how athletes recover both mentally and physically in the pursuit of glory.”
To celebrate the opening of On The Bench, families are invited to take part in activities exploring how athletes prevent injuries and how they are treated if they do across the school holidays.
From trying your hand at physical warm-up routines used by your favourite sports stars to testing your skills at sling and cast making.
To find out more about these activities and tickets to the exhibition, take a look at the Thackray Museum of Medicine's website.
A new cocktail bar is coming to Leeds city centre.
If you know a thing or two about cocktails, or just drinks in general, then you're going to be very excited about this news.
The very talented team behind Roland's on Call Lane and The Domino Club, just to name a few, are setting their sites on a brand-new venture.
Introducing Paper Plane, an intimate new cocktail bar that will be taking over the old Casa site in the city's beautiful Grand Arcade.
Paper Plane will be inspired by the glamour of 1970s air travel and will be a vinyl-only listening bar, serving a world-inspired cocktail menu alongside a carefully curated whisky collection.
The space will be lovely and intimate, with around just 40 covers, designed to transport guests somewhere completely different from the minute they step foot through the door.
And what a location too, joining a whole host of fantastic independents in the arcade such as Alfonso's Deli, Stuzzi and Sonder.
For now, we don't know many more details about the project, but we already know it's going to be exceptional cas anything these guys do turns to gold.
Not only has Roland's been consistently one of the busiest bars on Call Lane since they opened back in 2014, but The Domino Club was recently crowned one of the best cocktail bars in the world. Now that is some accolade worth shouting about.
We'll keep you updated with Paper Plane's progress, but Roland's have stated that the site is hoping to open this coming autumn. So we really don't have long to wait.
When Yorkshire is due to get hot as a fourth heatwave of the year hits the UK
Danny Jones
Yes, ANOTHER heatwave is set to hit the UK - the fourth in 2026 so far - and, understandably, Yorkshire residents are already preparing for the latest blast of hot weather and wondering when it arrives.
Yes, in case you missed the news, more high temperatures are set to spread across the UK and Ireland this month and heading into August.
The increase will gradually build throughout this week, with Wednesday tipped to be the hottest day according to various meteorologists.
While Yorkshire thankfully isn't quite slated to get the sweatiest, parts of the Midlands and the usual suspects down south are set to hit the highest numbers, but the thermometers are still on course to reach around the mid-20s over the coming days.
Estimates of 26°C were predicted for this coming Tuesday, with the levels floating in and around 24/25 on the following Wednesday.
The heat is then due to drop off slowly, with top scores of no higher than 21°C on the cards for Thursday and Friday. Although the weekend forecast is less certain at present, one thing that has been announced is reduced rainfall.
Aside from a few more trickles today (Mon, 27 July), the showers or lack thereof cease rather soon, with some of the driest parts of the country already having various effects; for instance, parched parts of Wales have even revealed lost archaeological sites last Friday (24/7/2026).
It would be remiss if we didn't mention the obvious moorland fires across our region, which were sadly exacerbated by hot weather earlier this month.
At least it'll be a bit cooler here than in other parts of the country. ☀️
Clementine Hall -
25th July 2023 
