Suzy Mason - co-founder of Leeds’ Kit Kat Club, Vague, and SpeedQueen - takes us to New Briggate after dark. This episode explores a snapshot of some of the street’s nightlife stories, transporting us back over 50 years of dancing, drinking, taxis, takeaways, and a few celebrity customers along the way.

Content information: Due to the social and historical content being discussed in this episode, there are references made to drug-taking, sex, alcohol consumption, and bathhouses or saunas.

Sounds of New Briggate is East Street Arts’ podcast series - hosted by local people, telling local stories - which celebrates New Briggate, a unique and vibrant high street in the heart of Leeds. 

Podcast Contributors:

Suzy Mason, co-founder of Leeds’ Kit Kat Club, Vague, and SpeedQueen

Lucy Fishwick, DJ, promoter and founding member of Mile High Club

Jez Willis, DJ, promoter and founding member of Mile High Club. One half of electronic duo Utah Saints

Amanda Hammond, DJ at Mr.Craig's in the 80s

Mark Wilks, fashion designer and owner of Tortoise on New Briggate in 1990s

Val Rose, Head Waitress at Cinderella Rockafella's in 1970s, owner of Mint Club on Harrison Street in Leeds until 2019.

Jojo Kelly, worked as a cigarette girl for Suzy at SpeedQueen

Track Listing:

Iggy and the Stooges - Dirt 

Utah Saints - What Can You Do For Me

N-Joi - Anthem

Spice Girls - Wannabe

Bee Gees - You Should Be Dancing

The 5th Dimension - Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In

PRS Interactive Webcasting Licence: LE-0033352

Podcast Production: East Street Arts

Read a transcript of the podcast at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dlOAVkg8q8QION5QwfRbt_m9TmX_EjRnNbJXHdIpmcc/edit?usp=sharing 

Hidden Histories of New Briggate is supported by Leeds City Council and Historic England as part of the New Briggate High Street Heritage Action Zone regeneration programme. To find out more about the project visit www.eaststreetarts.org.uk

Throughout the 1860s to the 1920s, New Briggate was a hub of Jewish life, laying the foundations for a rich and diverse Jewish history reflected in artefacts on the street and the stories of people. In this episode, Simon Phillips explores the Jewish heritage of New Briggate and how this links to the wider social history of the Jewish community in Leeds. 

Sounds of New Briggate is East Street Arts’ podcast series - hosted by local people, telling local stories - which celebrates New Briggate, a unique and vibrant high street in the heart of Leeds. 

Podcast Contributors:

Simon Phillips, Leeds Jewish Housing Association

Nigel Grizzard, local historian and walking tour guide

Sophia Lambert, Leeds Jewish Living History Project

Louisa Parker, Leeds Jewish Living History Project

Robert Dyson, local historian and walking tour guide

Leeds Jewish Living History Project event - 25th March 2024

For more information: https://milim.org.uk

MiliM Festival Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/milimpage 

The book mentioned by Sophia, Louisa and Robert is ‘From the Leylands to Leeds 17’ by Diane Saunders and Philippa Lester.

Podcast Production: East Street Arts

Read a transcript of the podcast at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LQ8khgHRHa_6_QbirzD3eYQBaRFcRkRJjv204mDzjmM/edit?usp=sharing 

Hidden Histories of New Briggate is supported by Leeds City Council and Historic England as part of the New Briggate High Street Heritage Action Zone regeneration programme. To find out more about the project visit www.eaststreetarts.org.uk

Chapel FM’s John Toolan interviews Steve Crocker from Jazz Leeds about the jazz history of New Briggate, and its role in the artistic and cultural development of Leeds.

Sounds of New Briggate is East Street Arts’ podcast series - hosted by local people, telling local stories - which celebrates New Briggate, a unique and vibrant high street in the heart of Leeds. 

Podcast Contributors:

Steve Crocker, Jazz Leeds

John Toolan, Chapel FM

Track Listing:

The Yorkshire Jazz Band - Savoy Blues

Ivy Benson & Her Girls Band - I’m In The Mood For Love

Big Bill Broonzy - The Glory Of Love

Duke Ellington - Single Petal Of A Rose

Nikki Iles & NDR Bigband - Red Ellen

Xero Slingsby and the Works - The Allegroes

Aaron Parks - Roadside Distraction

PRS Interactive Webcasting Licence: LE-0033352

Podcast Production: Chapel FM and East Street Arts

Read a transcript of the podcast at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hK3A1I_1EJrOGxqsuRQdM9z2dsG-ywXn1w50Fcy0Dfc/edit?usp=sharing

Hidden Histories of New Briggate is supported by Leeds City Council and Historic England as part of the New Briggate High Street Heritage Action Zone regeneration programme. To find out more about the project visit www.eaststreetarts.org.uk 

Joe Williams from Heritage Corner Leeds takes us on a tour of New Briggate and its connection with Leeds’ Black community, via celebrated African-American Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge; a slave owner buried in St John’s churchyard on New Briggate; and Leeds’ infamous West Indian Carnival.

Content information: Due to the social and historical content being discussed in this episode, there are references made to the transatlantic slave trade, outdated terms of reference around racial identity, themes of colonialism, and racism.

Sounds of New Briggate is East Street Arts’ podcast series - hosted by local people, telling local stories - which celebrates New Briggate, a unique and vibrant high street in the heart of Leeds. 

Podcast Contributors:

Podcast Production: East Street Arts

Read a transcript of the podcast at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JiKwkRjLJbDra0VUYaCt1RT_PgmblGVU5rYB5h5qIXI/edit?usp=sharing 

Hidden Histories of New Briggate is supported by Leeds City Council and Historic England as part of the New Briggate High Street Heritage Action Zone regeneration programme. To find out more about the project visit www.eaststreetarts.org.uk

What do photography archives mean to marginalised groups, and why are they important for heritage projects? Socially-engaged artist Emma Bentley-Fox is joined by photographer and archivist Stuart Linden Rhodes, performance artist Harry Clayton-Wright, and East Street Arts’ Alice Boulton-Breeze to explore this, plus Stuart's Hidden in Plain Sight: Queer Leeds exhibition on New Briggate, queer safety, and queer history.

Content information: Due to the social and historical content being discussed in this episode, there are references made to homophobia and transphobia.

Sounds of New Briggate is East Street Arts’ podcast series - hosted by local people, telling local stories - which celebrates New Briggate, a unique and vibrant high street in the heart of Leeds. 

Podcast Contributors:

Emma Bentley-Fox, social-engaged artist and art practitioner

Stuart Linden Rhodes, photographer and archivist

Harry Clayton-Wright, performance artist, writer and radical creator

Alice Boulton-Breeze, East Street Arts’ programme producer

The legislation that Alice mentions in the podcast is draft non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education. You can read this guidance at https://consult.education.gov.uk/equalities-political-impartiality-anti-bullying-team/gender-questioning-children-proposed-guidance/supporting_documents/Gender%20Questioning%20Children%20%20nonstatutory%20guidance.pdf

Podcast Production: East Street Arts

Read a transcript of the podcast at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g-kTnzyml5jjgKGVYS4ZzKawlLSqXoi2BLvVfvZ5_WQ/edit?usp=sharing 

Hidden Histories of New Briggate is supported by Leeds City Council and Historic England as part of the New Briggate High Street Heritage Action Zone regeneration programme. To find out more about the project visit www.eaststreetarts.org.uk