A tribute to a legendary Leeds music venue is opening in Leeds as part of a celebration of 60 years of the city's music scene.
The Duchess of York on Vicar Lane, more commonly known as The Duchess, was the setting for performances by some of the biggest names in rock and pop before closing its doors in 2000.
And now, an impressive recreation of the pub has opened in the Leeds City Museum as part of a new exhibition named Music Leeds Us.
The exhibition looks back at six decades of the city's unique music heritage.
Created in partnership with Leeds Conservatoire to mark its 60th anniversary, the exhibition has gathered memories and stories from more than 70 partners and volunteers.
The incredible Duchess model was originally created by Small Acts and commissioned by Compass Live Art for Compass Festival 2021 in tribute to the venue itself, which was founded by John Keenan.
The Duchess was awarded a blue plaque back in 2024 for its contribution to the city's music scene, and it's safe to say if those walls could talk they'd say a lot.
Famously, Oasis performed there in 1993 to a tiny audience before returning to a much larger crowd in 1994 and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain also reputedly slept upstairs on a sofa at the venue after their gig in October 1989, two years before the release of their worldwide smash hit album Nevermind.
Esther Amis-Hughes, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ community engagement manager, said: "The past 60 years have been truly transformational for music in Leeds and have seen some iconic moments that will forever be part of the city’s history.
“I’ve been blown away by the passion, diversity, and power of the city to continue to be a source of inspiration through music, and this exhibition has shown me how brilliant people, doing what they love, can make a positive difference.
“I hope this exhibition gives people an insight into the power of music in bringing people together, no matter what genre or scene you enjoy."
Music Leeds Us is a free exhibition that is open until 28 June 2026.
The tiramisu hype lives on, and this time it's coming to Leeds.
It really does feel like the traditional Italian dessert has taken the world by storm as of late.
Everything from tiramisu cups and tiramisu coffees have been popping up all over our feed, and now tiramisu in drawer form is popping up in the city centre.
Misu Tiramisu is an independent business that began at Manchester's Christmas Markets and quickly became one of the most popular operators, all thanks to its miniature tiramisu ‘drawers’.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The individually portioned and colourfully packaged desserts quickly became one of town’s top puddings, and owners Aleem and Aishah went on to launch a stand inside the Manchester Arndale too.
And now they’re branching out again in Leeds inside Trinity shopping centre for a two month residency.
You’ll find all their delicious flavours of handmade tiramisu, including classic, pistachio, chocolate, Biscoff, mango, and lemon - they'll also have some gluten-free tiramisu on offer as well, so no one has to miss out.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Misu Tiramisu owners Aleem and Aishah spent a year refining the recipe for their tiramisus after a trip to Milan, first launching with their first market stall in Sale.
Misu Tiramisu is now open inside Trinity shopping centre opposite Boots Opticians and Pop Specs.
They're open every day of the week for you to get your tiramisu fix, from 9am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and from 11am to 5pm on a Sunday.
And trust us Leeds, they're just as delicious as they are adorable.
Fossilised 320-million-year-old fish found in Leeds’ Roundhay Park
Clementine Hall
A prehistoric fish fossil has been unearthed at Roundhay Park in Leeds.
The fascinating prehistoric skull bone of a coelacanth fish was discovered by a geologist at Roundhay Park earlier this year.
It is thought the creature was frozen in time aeons ago, during an era when the park was submerged under a vast tropical lagoon.
The remarkable discovery has now been kindly donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries and added to the natural sciences collection at Leeds Discovery Centre.
Image: Leeds City Council
The Leeds fossil was found by Ru Smith of the Yorkshire Geological Society during a reconnaissance walk he was carrying out ahead of a planned field excursion in the north Leeds park.
Describing the moment he made the discovery, Ru said: “There’s a layer of rock in the park which dates from around 320 million years ago, from a time before the breakup of the continents, when what is now the park would have been situated close the Equator and under the warm waters of a tropical lagoon. West Central Africa would be a good place to find similar environments in the present.
“There’s a bed of freshwater mussels called Carbonicola at one level in the rock, and opening a piece of shale from this bed in my hands I saw something unusual – a distinctive skull bone of a large fish. I knew straight away this was something different and very rare."
The bone was verified byexperts as belonging to a coelacanth older than those found elsewhere in Yorkshire, making it the oldest fossil coelacanth discovered in the region.
Ru added: “Coelacanths are pretty amazing fish and it’s just very cool to think that at one time, you could have been standing in Leeds and watching them swim around above a bed of mussels in Roundhay Park.
“That’s really the wonder of geology, looking at the rock and time travelling in the imagination to what was a very different world.”
Clementine Hall -
13th October 2025 
