Seven Pub Signs in Leeds: Places Where the Stories Are Better Than the Beer

When you walk the streets on a rainy Tuesday afternoon carrying a sketchbook, people sometimes ask, "What are you drawing?" Most of them are expecting buildings or landscapes, so when I say pub signs, there's this lovely little pause. I quite like that moment of hesitation. I was the same way at first.

I've lived in Leeds for over twenty years, and it's been about ten years since I started properly paying attention to pub signs. Whenever I hit a wall with 3D work, I'd head out for a walk, and one day a sign I'd passed every single day just jumped out at me. From that day on, I started sketching them one by one, and now I've filled three notebooks. I've picked out seven of them here. The criteria are simple — signs that made me stop and think of something.

Signs that make you stop

The Pack Horse, Woodhouse Lane — This sign shows a heavily laden horse with its head bowed. It's right on the route coming down from the University of Leeds towards the city centre, but most students never look up. A pack horse originally referred to a horse used to carry goods — they hauled salt and wool along the mountain paths of northern England. The horse in the sign has this look of quiet resignation about it, and on days when I'm chasing a deadline, I can't help feeling a certain kinship.

The Adelphi, Hunslet Road — The sign itself, honestly, isn't much to look at. Gold lettering on a dark green background. But once, sheltering from the rain outside this pub, I ended up listening to an elderly bloke next to me go on about what this neighbourhood used to be like. He said factory workers during the Industrial Revolution would stop in right after their shifts. The name Adelphi was most likely borrowed from London's theatre district, and when you think about why they'd give a name like that to a place in the middle of a factory zone, it's a bit funny and a bit sad at the same time.

The Midnight Bell, Water Lane — I liked the name of this pub near the canal on the Holbeck side before anything else. The midnight bell. The sign shows a bell tower under moonlight, and the way light spreads across the water is done with real care. On a midwinter evening, if you walk around here, the streetlights reflect off the canal, and there are moments when the sign's image and the actual scenery sort of overlap. I once tried to capture that in my sketchbook but gave up because my hands were too cold.

The Eagle and Child — Pubs with this name exist all over Britain, and Leeds had one too. The sign depicts a scene of an eagle snatching a child, which is a bit unsettling the first time you see it. The story comes from the coat of arms of the Earls of West Derby, connected to the family's origin legend. The pub of the same name in Oxford is more famous as the meeting place of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, but looking up at this sign on a Leeds street has its own charm.

Whitelock's Ale House, Turk's Head Yard — It's said to be one of the oldest pubs in Leeds. Hidden down a narrow alley and easy to walk right past, the sign at the entrance is weathered with age but has beautiful lettering. Victorian tile decorations survive inside as well, so when you step in, time seems to move a little differently. I remember that when I sketched this sign, the light fell from above in a narrow strip into the alley, which made getting the contrast right a proper challenge.

The Victoria, Great George Street — A sign with Queen Victoria's portrait gazing straight ahead. It's right near the Town Hall, and the old-fashioned colours of the sign go remarkably well with the stone façades of the surrounding buildings. Around noon, when the sun hits just right, shadows fall across the sign at a gorgeous angle. I once stood there for over thirty minutes, and someone coming out of a café spoke to me thinking I was waiting to ask for directions.

The Garden Gate, Whitfield Place, Hunslet — As the name suggests, the sign shows a garden gate, and there actually is a small garden-like space beside this pub. One summer I sat there with a glass of ale, looking up at the sign, and thought, "This is what a pub sign should be." It's a rare case where the sign doesn't describe the place — the place describes the sign.

I'm not saying these seven are the best signs in Leeds. They simply happened to be along my walking route, found their way into my sketchbook, and each one drew out a story. Next time you're walking through Leeds city centre, try looking up. You don't have to drink beer — the signs alone are worth the price of a pint.