The group started off in the beautiful Tiled Hall Café, joined by a special guest, Librarian Josh Flint, who kindly came to talk about the fascinating history of the Tiled Hall, looking at photos of the many changing faces of the hall whilst the group enjoyed drinks and sweet treats.
They then headed up to the Local and Family History Library, where Senior Librarian Rhian Isaac and Librarian Helen Skilbeck had prepared some fascinating treasures to show, including a beautifully illustrated botanical book, a toxic book, a photo album of an Antarctic rescue mission, rare plagiarised versions of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist called Oliver Twiss, theatre playbills, posters, Leeds photographic archives and historic Leeds maps.
Helen’s selection sparked many memories, a playbill had one member telling stories of how she was friends with Frankie Valli’s brother at school and knew the family, another was a photo of a Leeds square and showed the house they were born in.
The group had a wonderful morning catching up and sharing stories and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of a special visit to Leeds Central Library
The Whinmoor Library Social started in June 2022 with a Jubilee memories session. One member who has been coming since the first session, expressed her thanks and what a difference it has made. Her husband rarely left the house and went anywhere with her, and since he met the group for the first time on a heritage tour at Central Library in 2023, he now never misses the socials.