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| In pictures: A time capsule of Leeds' lost buildings | In pictures: A time capsule of Leeds' lost buildings |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Breweries, racing pigeon shops, fisheries and chippies once littered the landscape of Leeds. Photographer Peter Mitchell went about photographing these "goners" before the bulldozers removed every trace of them. | Breweries, racing pigeon shops, fisheries and chippies once littered the landscape of Leeds. Photographer Peter Mitchell went about photographing these "goners" before the bulldozers removed every trace of them. |
| Peter was working as a lorry driver when he decided to document the city's deteriorating shop fronts and businesses before they disappeared altogether. | Peter was working as a lorry driver when he decided to document the city's deteriorating shop fronts and businesses before they disappeared altogether. |
| A 29-year-old art college graduate, he had an eye for a shot and armed with his medium-format camera and a stepladder, he looked to the sky above and the ground below to frame the picture. | A 29-year-old art college graduate, he had an eye for a shot and armed with his medium-format camera and a stepladder, he looked to the sky above and the ground below to frame the picture. |
| During his shifts, he hunted for haunts on the verge of collapse and would revisit them on his days off to capture them on film. | During his shifts, he hunted for haunts on the verge of collapse and would revisit them on his days off to capture them on film. |
| But it was 1972 - he didn't earn much and couldn't afford to get all of the rolls developed. | But it was 1972 - he didn't earn much and couldn't afford to get all of the rolls developed. |
| "Film wasn't, and still isn't, a cheap process and I was doing it all off my own back," said Peter, who moved from Manchester to London, then Chapeltown. | "Film wasn't, and still isn't, a cheap process and I was doing it all off my own back," said Peter, who moved from Manchester to London, then Chapeltown. |
| "Leeds was such a strange world when I moved, the buildings always looked so vulnerable. People would ask me why I didn't shoot beautiful buildings, but it just felt right at the time." | "Leeds was such a strange world when I moved, the buildings always looked so vulnerable. People would ask me why I didn't shoot beautiful buildings, but it just felt right at the time." |
| The few rolls he did develop he intended to screen-print on to silk scarves, but Leeds Art Gallery took an interest in the images and gave him his first photography exhibition in 1975. | |
| It led to a job at the gallery and his hobby becoming a career, but he continued taking pictures throughout the 1980s and 1990s of the buildings whose days were numbered. | It led to a job at the gallery and his hobby becoming a career, but he continued taking pictures throughout the 1980s and 1990s of the buildings whose days were numbered. |
| "I used to hear, 'if Mitchell photographs them, they're goners'," said Peter. "But they weren't taken for nostalgic reasons, I enjoyed it from an architectural perspective. | "I used to hear, 'if Mitchell photographs them, they're goners'," said Peter. "But they weren't taken for nostalgic reasons, I enjoyed it from an architectural perspective. |
| "They're cheerful things really - the houses maybe all look like piles of bricks but [taking the pictures means] the memories continue." | "They're cheerful things really - the houses maybe all look like piles of bricks but [taking the pictures means] the memories continue." |
| Last year, Peter began looking through the negatives stored in trunks in his home - some of which had been untouched for almost 50 years. | Last year, Peter began looking through the negatives stored in trunks in his home - some of which had been untouched for almost 50 years. |
| He is putting together a new exhibition and currently has 500 shots to choose from of buildings he hasn't seen since he looked through the lens. | |
| One picture shows the Racing Pigeon Shop in Blake Grove, taken in the 1990s, which the BBC showed it to its former owner, John Murray. | One picture shows the Racing Pigeon Shop in Blake Grove, taken in the 1990s, which the BBC showed it to its former owner, John Murray. |
| "What happened there was that I was upstairs and my colleagues said to me, 'there's this chap who wants to take pictures'. | "What happened there was that I was upstairs and my colleagues said to me, 'there's this chap who wants to take pictures'. |
| "They said, 'come down and get in the photograph." | "They said, 'come down and get in the photograph." |
| John, who still runs a racing pigeon business, remembers "great times" on the street and often passes by his former shop, which closed in 2010. | John, who still runs a racing pigeon business, remembers "great times" on the street and often passes by his former shop, which closed in 2010. |
| "Shops weren't allowed to trade on Sundays, but we'd open our doors for a few hours to let the pigeon boys come in," said the 60-year-old. | "Shops weren't allowed to trade on Sundays, but we'd open our doors for a few hours to let the pigeon boys come in," said the 60-year-old. |
| "I remember we had to unload 20 tonnes of pigeon corn into the shop by hand - it was unbelievable. | "I remember we had to unload 20 tonnes of pigeon corn into the shop by hand - it was unbelievable. |
| "I have fantastic memories there, but also some sad - especially when we had to close due to the financial crisis. We really had a niche market so it was so sad to see it go, but like I said, great times." | "I have fantastic memories there, but also some sad - especially when we had to close due to the financial crisis. We really had a niche market so it was so sad to see it go, but like I said, great times." |
| Many of the previously unseen images are also being developed into a book as an ode to the city's lost landscape and Peter posts some of the photos on his Instagram account, Strangely Familiar. | |
| He still takes shots around Leeds with the same medium format camera and was awarded an honorary degree for his work by Leeds Arts University in June. | |
| "It was a total surprise as I keep to myself in my Yorkshire cave - I'm a hermit of the north really," says the 76-year-old, who still lives in the same house in Chapeltown. | "It was a total surprise as I keep to myself in my Yorkshire cave - I'm a hermit of the north really," says the 76-year-old, who still lives in the same house in Chapeltown. |
| "I still don't believe how this has all come about, but I think my mum would have been quite pleased with me." | "I still don't believe how this has all come about, but I think my mum would have been quite pleased with me." |
| The Lost Leeds exhibition will run next year. | The Lost Leeds exhibition will run next year. |
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