The debate of the Leeds trams feels as if it's been going since the dawn of time.
As the largest city in Europe without a tram or metro system, it's often thought that that city is missing out on key transport links, but since the closure of the old tram network in 1959, nothing has ever been developed.
This said, that doesn't mean that there haven't been plans to do so- and one of the most exciting was the plan from Council Transport General Manager Vayne Moorland to move the existing tram network by taking it all underground, hidden from sight during the 1940s.
The plans to build a mass transit underground railway system, similar to the London Metro, were drawn up around the time of the World War using two single deck converted electric trams with a main station at City Square.
YouTuber, Adventure Me, explored the plans over the Christmas period to explain how the plans could have come to life.
There would have been seven entrances in total and two levels of services, including a large concourse area for purchasing tickets and it is rumoured that there were experimental tunnels and chambers that were dug out to see how the plans could come to life underneath City Square.
There's photographs of the 'excavation of Marsh Lane Subway' that could have been for utility tunnels, or if you want to believe that there's more to it, they could have been a part of the plans.
But one fact that has been confirmed is that there was even a prototype tram purchased for testing the subway in Leeds, which is still available to see today at the National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire.
Image: Crich Tramway Village, Jim Dignan
AdventureMe headed over to City Square to see if there were any hatches alluding to underground tunnels, explaining that there's always evidence at these sites as access is still needed for emergency measures like flooding. The YouTuber concluded that they may just be electric substations, though he was still "filled with suspicion".
So if you catch yourself walking through City Square wondering what could have been lying beneath your feet, you're not alone.
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.”
Sophie Smith -
12th March 2024 
