Up in Harehills, Leeds is a haunted old hospital building that's attracted ghost hunters for years.
If you're fascinated by the ethereal and fancy hunting ghosts in the dead of night, this overnight ghost hunt at this old haunted Leeds hospital should be just the ticket.
Now home to the Thackray Medical Museum, its dark and murky history stretches back decades - with the building having also been a workhouse, an infirmary, and a museum in its 163-year history.
Reportedly one of Leeds' most haunted buildings, it's thought to be home to many trapped spirits.
First built in 1858, in the buildings' workhouse days over 700 people toiled away here in miserable conditions - surviving on little more than bread and gruel in the bleakest hours of the industrial revolution.
The set-up for the workhouse's residents was really closer to prison, with forced labour, meagre meals, and many heartbreaking stories told by residents with nowhere else to go - bringing much despair.
Image: Thackray Museum of Medicine
Later on, when needs had changed, the workhouse was discontinued and the building became an infirmary instead. In the early days of modern medicine, this often meant operations were conducted with no anesthetic, and as a result survival rates were often low for patients who came in for treatment.
It continued to be used as a hospital during the First World War, renamed to East Leeds War Hospital to recognise that staff here were looking after armed services personnel. Now, it's home to the Thackray Medical Museum.
By day, the museum reenacts Victorian life and educates on the development of medicine through history. But at night is when it really gets interesting.
Those who feel brave enough can now explore the terrifying Thackray Medical Museum in the dead of night, an imposing old Victorian workhouse that has a particularly grim and grisly history that spans centuries.
Ghost hunts run from 8 pm to 2 am, giving those fascinated with the spectral world the chance to see the building's eerie happenings in the flesh - so to speak.
Haunted Happenings, who organise the hunts, have warned that they're not for the faint-hearted and we're happy to take their word for it.
Given the building's history, we're sure a terrifying night is in store for those who dare attend.
"The Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds sits in the old Union Workhouse building designed to house nearly 800 of the poorest people, who worked their short lives in harsh and terrible conditions," say organisers.
"An overnight ghost hunt at The Thackray Medical Museum will no doubt reveal some of the many spirits that still reside here, in its many dark corridors and rooms."
Tickets are on sale now from £65, with dates available in October 2023, January 2024 and the option to sign up to the waitlist for future events too.
One of Britain's best performed to a pack-out crowd at Leeds' historic Kirkstall Abbey.
If there was ever a venue designed to make you feel like you've accidentally wandered into the coolest history lesson of your life, it's Kirkstall Abbey.
Ancient ruins, blazing sunshine, pints in plastic cups and thousands of people flocking for the one and only Loyle Carner? Not a bad way to spend a Saturday we think.
And it wasn't just Loyle who we were treated to either, the entire day as part of Above All Else Festival saw a bill of groove-fuelled acts take to the stage.
Bricknasty, Kofi Stone, Kokoroko and Jordan Rakei delivered fabulous sets and warmed us up very nicely indeed for the man himself.
Fresh from the release of Hopefully!, Carner arrived to deafening cheers, wasting little time before settling into the laid-back confidence that has become his trademark.
And he didn't waste time getting into his catalogue of hits either as he seamlessly transitioned from one banger to the next.
It really felt like a celebration of his work, and he himself welled up at the sea of people singing his songs back to him over and over again.
Of course, highlights included Loose Ends and Ottolenghi but dedicating Hate to Nigel Farage was nothing short of iconic.
This is a rapper that has executed the delivery between syncopation and rhythm perfectly, but it's his lyrics that keep you going back for more.
Of course Kirkstall Abbey itself deserves plenty of credit, as the sun went down the abbey was lit up and created probably the most cinematic backdrop for a gig you can imagine.
What stood out most, though, was the atmosphere. There was a proper sense of community throughout the evening, with strangers dancing together and friends rapping every word arm in arm.
Loyle Carner has long been regarded as one of Britain's most thoughtful voices in hip-hop, but nights like this show why his appeal stretches far beyond the genre.
What's next for Loyle Carner? We're not sure, but we feel very lucky to have shared this moment with him, and you could tell he did too.
The Maccabees at Kirkstall Abbey – musical reunion of the decade?
Daisy Jackson
When bands reunite, it's usually pretty easy to guess what the motive is. A looming tax bill, an incoming divorce, a tanking solo career, for example.
But with The Maccabees, those scenarios feel a long way removed.
This is a band that called it a day at the top of their game - and then have returned even stronger, and seemingly because they just missed being on stage together.
Addressing the near-decade apart while on stage at Kirkstall Abbey, The Maccabees frontman Orlando Weeks sums it up simply: "For a long time we were a band, and then we weren't a band for a bit, and now we're a band again."
He's as softly-spoken a frontman as they come, but then The Maccabees never have leaned entirely on their frontman for their live energy - not when he's flanked by the White brothers.
Felix White spends half the gig sporting an ear-splitting grin, and the other half screaming words of encouragement at the audience like a crazed Top of the Pops presenter. The organised-fun patter might grate if he weren't so phenomenal the moment the music starts again.
Then brother Hugo is a brooding, powerful figure, usually standing with his legs so wide apart I'm surprised he doesn't split his trousers. His stage presence is so cool, so confident, it's hard to take your eyes off him.
Orlando's otherworldly voice is really allowed to shine through with songs like Spit It Out, when the stage reduces to a single spotlight and the other band members actually squat down to minimise the distractions.
The tempo shifts of Marks to Prove It, the urgency of X-Ray and the layered beauty of Wall of Arms all underline just how tightly the band play together.
There will be new music on the way, eventually, and they give us a glimpse into that with The Ballad of So Long, a swooping epic that suggests they still have somewhere new to go.
It's hard to complain that they don't have much more to show us yet - not when the alternative is a greatest hits, belt-every-word live show.
By the end of the night, as The Maccabees wrap up their show at Kirkstall Abbey, there's a quiet confidence about them. They know this comeback works, and we'll be lapping it up for as long as they'll stick around.
Judging by the reaction inside Kirkstall Abbey, everyone else does too.
Georgina Pellant -
9th October 2023 
