Sadly, at present, no comprehensive record exists of all the places
where Leeds Rotarians have met over our first century and one useful
ambition in the centenary year would be to compile as full a list of
these different locations as possible. Some would be venues for the regular weekly meetings, others would be where we held
special events such as anniversary dinners or fundraising events.
One
from the first category would be the local headquarters of the YMCA where the club met from
September 1943 until May 1946. The move to the YMCA occurred after the Hotel Metropole
- our previous home - announced that they could only do fortnightly lunches from August
1943.
The YMCA had opened in Albion Place on 9 February 1908 on the site of the former stock exchange. The architect of the four-storey baroque building in ashlar sandstone was W H Thorp - this firm was also responsible for the new frontage to Oxford Place Methodist Chapel and the Leeds Art Gallery. The YMCA stayed here until 1984 after which the interior was completely rebuilt and only the historic facade now survives.
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| From Leeds City Council's website: http://www.leodis.net/ |
The
new venue was not perfect but members seemed to make the best of it –
at least initially. Said the secretary, Charles Davis: “The room
may be dull, the sandwiches may be uninspiring, and the coffee may
even be cold, but it is agreed on every side that the fellowship has
never been better, and we have the added advantage of contacts with
the Inner Wheel …” [Secretary's report 1944/05]
The
enthusiasm for the YMCA waned however. In May 1945, the secretary
reported: “Most members would prefer an hotel, and the sandwich,
which is palatable in ones and twos, becomes less so when seen in its
hundreds.” [Secretary's report 1945/05] It seems unlikely that the sandwiches
so-described were those prepared by the ladies of the Inner Wheel –
whose own meetings were at the YWCA in Cookridge Street. At least
initially, the ladies provided simple lunches for the men. The
presence of ladies was welcomed and they were said to be owed “a
very great debt for making the present arrangement possible at all.”
Instead, the offending food stuff is more likely to have been the
YMCA's in-house sandwich known as the “Yorkshire Hussar”.
Despite
such grumbling, Rotarians in Leeds did realise just how lucky they
were. Charles Davis said, in June 1946, “We should be grateful that
Leeds has escaped the worst horrors of war. Many clubs in RIBI were
bombed out of their premises 5 or 6 times, and in one club in London
the business or private premises of every member was damaged.”
Thankfully, both serving members of the Leeds club and those at home appear to have
survived the war unharmed.
Club
members hunted for over a year for a more suitable venue but
without success: “nobody seemed to want us”, reported the
secretary. Finally, on 15 May 1946, the club escaped the YMCA and
Albion Place and held its first meeting in the dining room of the
Leeds Co-operative Society in nearby Albion Street. Members were now
said to receive “a meal which in these days of more austerity will
stand a fair comparison with any at the same price and many at a
higher one.” [Secretary's report 1947/04] On 13 May 1946, a carved lectern was presented
to the ladies of the Inner Wheel to thank them for all their support during the war.
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| President's Centenary Charity |