The twentieth century saw that development continue. The biggest industrial change was the decline of the traditional textile industry and by 1926 tailoring, distributive trades, and engineering dominated the eighty-odd other trades being carried out in the city. By then Montague Burton’s bespoke tailoring factory on Hudson Road, employing 16,000, become the largest and most popular clothing company in Europe.

Leeds also had a major housing problem to address as considerable numbers of its back-to-backs were classed as slums. Thus, between the wars, the development of large corporation estates and areas of new private housing was undertaken. The most imaginative of these schemes was the building of Quarry Hill Flats between 1935 and 1941.

Fortunately Leeds was relatively unscathed by the bombing of the Second World War although seventy-seven Leeds people were killed and 197 buildings were destroyed. The post war years saw more and more housing estates being built, new schools erected and public facilities improved. The ethnic mix of the city also altered during the 1950s and 1960s when large numbers of West Indian and Asian immigrants settled in the city.

In 1974 Leeds became a metropolitan district with a population of 730,000. The Leeds economy today is now vibrant. Not surprisingly, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Leeds today is considered to be one of the boom towns of Europe.

This article, by David Thornton, is an edited version of the one featured on the Thoresby Society’s website.

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