About
Leeds City Walking Tours
Engaging, knowledgeable, experienced and audible guide
I'm Rachael Unsworth, urban geographer and enthusiastic communicator.
I offer a mix of real tours and presentations (online and in person).
Are you interested in a private tour for your group, company or family?
Get in touch (opens email) to ask about dates, themes, prices
& vouchers - excellent gift for a special occasion.
Brief appearance in 'A House Through Time' BBC2 Sept 2021 (Episode 1, near the end)
Click here for some short tours recorded for East Leeds FM.
And here I talk about the River Aire flowing through Leeds:
If you attend a free online event, I invite contributions here:
Featured tours
Prepare to be hooked on the history and geography of our regional capital
The making of the University of Leeds
The story of how the Yorkshire College of Science became a giant of higher education
Founded “to promote education of both sexes and to provide instruction in such sciences and arts as are applicable or ancillary to the manufacturing, mining, engineering and agricultural industries of Yorkshire”, the College started with 3 professors and 24 students.
How did it become a place with more than 38,000 students and 8,000 staff?
How has a former residential area been transformed to accommodate today’s vast range of research, teaching and learning?
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Visiting Leeds with a view to studying here?
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Are you and your fellow alumni returning for a reunion?
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Interested in our "open air exhibition of architecture & social change?" - historian Professor Maurice Beresford
Book a tour of the campus - with its amazing range of buildings, spaces and art works.
Add a tour of parts of the city centre - right next to the campus.
Get in touch to arrange a time & date.
I'm offering a mix of some favourite tours developed over the years & new topics - more info & booking here
Commission your own special tour?
Choose:
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a general introduction to the city - with start and finish to suit you
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one of the topics you can find here
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a theme that fits with the interests and stamina of your family/friends
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a route that will strike a chord with your organisation's focus - such as engineering history, greening of the city, an aspect of architectural history. (I've taken on some interesting challenges).
Give me a call: 07712 739153
Want reassurance that this will be worthwhile and enjoyable? Read some of the reviews left by walkers since early 2019.
Stuck for a gift idea? Give a tour voucher
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as a welcome to Leeds
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as a Christmas, birthday or anniversary present
Request a voucher with the name of the recipient(s) - you can specify the wording and choose a topic or leave it up to the guest to choose.
Each voucher includes a unique code to be quoted on booking a tour.
Walking through the centuries
New to Leeds? Or lived here for ages without learning much about your city? Visiting for the weekend? You have visitors staying?
Come with me from earliest times to the present day - Kirkgate to the West End. I'll explain how a little town where cloth was traded became the regional capital and a major centre for financial services, healthcare, cultural activities, learning and digital creativity.
What was the importance of 'fulling'? What is the 'Navigation' and why was it so vital to Leeds? Why was Leeds well placed to become an early industrial town? When did Leeds become a city? These and many more questions will be answered.
Next chance to do this tour:
by moonlight (we know the full moon will be up there though we don't know whether it will be visible)
17:30 on Wednesday 27 December
A tour for alumni returning to Leeds after 50 years
The group asked for a campus tour in the morning of their reunion. After a pub lunch they came with me to see how much of the city centre they still recognised. Some surprises were in store. as well as some familiar old favourites.
"Everybody found the itinerary interesting and they all enjoyed your commentary. It was particularly interesting to see bits of Leeds that we didn't know existed and to hear about its evolution and plans for the future. I was amazed how much knowledge you were able to share with us. The tour certainly helped to make our reunion weekend a successful one”.
Get in Touch
This is part of the map of Leeds in the early 20th century.
Can you still find your way around?
