Born in 1943, Peter Mitchell joined the Ministry of Transport as a trainee straight from school, but thought better of it and went to study art at Hornsey College of Art in north London instead, specializing in silk-screen printing. Then, in 1973, he traveled to Leeds to visit friends living in a squat in the city's northern suburb of Headingley, and chose to stay. "I set up a silk-screen studio in the basement of where I was living,"
he says.
He has lived in Leeds ever since, and for most of that time has been earning his living as a graphic designer. But to pay the rent in 1973, he got a job as a lorry driver with a company called Sun Electrical. For the compulsive I-Spyer, it was a dream position. "I delivered electrical items such as fridges and heaters to factories and homes all over the city," he says. "For a couple of years, every day I went all round Leeds."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpONB7gG2q9lF1nxU9ibX5HlruJO9o2H1wcG78-rulVbGlOBzPjulB2auVh7I-pf9ofWxIUAmzl1IXicKSZ0ZJ-sn5LTtOazVxEtLiGmcM4s2ctub3JbnORu3Db3j6g7oUuT7hHuXQ_lh/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-1.jpg) |
Eric Massheder, dripping-refinery worker, Vulcan Street, spring 1975. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafAsOp5rgyY_HQ7UDLOvBgAWeF3iwJgTPFx6mTlf2HDM7iuArHYz8pe_zdZrBLl04FC4VoY4JcV0Qh3EStiuT9Y4jfIkUaFfDqbBsKvtEnQWepnprC3WHJWdle5lsP0n9mIr-IdkBZSlM/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-2.jpg) |
Ready Mixed Concrete Ltd, Elland Road, summer 1977. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsTEcZ4PxQvsEvT8d4uSvSfANBPEQ9ulLynYkeZ6eHMTwWko19Hu-6dOk8fRfvbU-5PBUNHV53ZOHbxK0vVB5HzsdaDBG9mXyPRQllf5OFg4jJGZjMJDywov3qiRcEsOMTPrGo7JCuC0b/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-3.jpg) |
Mr Pearson, steam-grab driver, Victoria Bridge, spring 1974. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOCFNtVsa4cJvaa2Rsb-HwiuFbsDKmuOsBC3gf2s3MTuFgtiDddnP8sWKvjLSgJMPf3uJpRQy8hbUhc2bw6R4vaUOH_Yg8s2oYwUrDpcyzqooD9oFuNxm_kDTjr9w0ZGvJtAmxIvAzR-d/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-4.jpg) |
Mrs Collins and Mrs Clayton, Robinsons' Famous Fisheries, Beck Road, summer 1974. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlaRT2McbWQqBWHE_82kIk9IK0X0Z9q7gX3QTM-gulyQZezTj55Seoy3Yvwg6Ai2rJ6DriR10LqVVcESnO1qVi1muepFhCNQBqgcu1Nh815Sj7yan65Y7PZs1gEXFyEuiS34PN3xTJNdB/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-5.jpg) |
Mr Reuben, Rugby Cabinet Co Ltd, Lucas Court, summer 1974. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSdgTnOVeU0S_YSTX_D38L9lZtp8fKWI-ziz1LgGdqLOXIzmKI6qEbnspSRPiwpKThKGeGInjSYu0NJjqkAciO0OVWqRYwDgvjqih3gTD6IY1b31tF2PPzfTBvKcb6EOktngvC59Z02Bj/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-6.jpg) |
Mr Gower, Cabin Cafe, Upper Wortley Road, winter 1975. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGzION1zLxUCYv0Lx43IPfCxCu9vJUCnn9_Ln-0NWvKRuhnyZKvG-0OBSTbm-uYkSZb3BZPThbqDxZW7fXURR96kBFQQTa9qyz8HrgZALmQMbepz7zcbRTBFzX61sD8YmkUxKuXDg3vGd-/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-7.jpg) |
Tivoli Cinema, Sissons Lane, summer 1976. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6mfYpdSJ9WGieVKxB7qqNk5_HZwA3jYHf7tQqKtVOr0supNkaxp7MxbWXfEEHrVCprn7xkHfHL5rw4aR58ZUb-DpZwYCQWnSkX0DgO6kMUV8V50NZc6sz9CF0Ssh5TNZ3H0FmNDjs6ud/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-8.jpg) |
Raine Bros Ltd, plumbers' merchants, Crown Street, spring 1974. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkxfQOCAzgbPv4GhyzhyphenhyphenRMZUOhGrq5R4ypF1yAH2nPkjrIL6F5XoubccbpenHPqpdUbbS6kxM01FzR17l5I-7V7BY-HuDaewEYdBxlzvp4BGobkSTg0VLgCq4DYSV1aOaVJyQVgsi6s38/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-9.jpg) |
View to the West, Quarry Hill Flats, summer 1977. 'The Kitson House telephone was the only one on the estate,' says Mitchell. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3V7tEqSt-TSqa9IIdHFvUlKx-PgLNmZGUhaHRWxVOKoCqLZVAFXML4mTgFUufI3gs3coqT9JzO8Q_rbBMVM7CwHo3vZ6cEH3tcRp8y492f_pbKhNn1jmuZ3geH3IBGgbVI39PKhAvRuq/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-10.jpg) |
Francis Gavan, ghost-train ride, Woodhouse Moor, spring 1986. 'Francis built this apparition himself and was stuck in Leeds for the next three days with a broken generator.' |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimSJk9XVXpUSSVd803S5QDFEPwpntm-n5A4yWiUrq65c13iur8xdpBT2gCc34PTq-jcnNaKIpxDiUK5SPSZZnnIrmxDlr2AVG9U5V4vZQ0-oN8PwGzijCPPBx54bBSZKGKLzO1d5WkL_RF/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-11.jpg) |
Elaine Whitehead & Linda, Red Brick Cafe, Dewsbury Road, summer 1992. 'Sandwiched between the tarmac and the sky, and with those red bricks, Elaine's cafe is so Leeds.' |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixthEJtGYUpzmK5LJWzHi8CePxqWbDDwm8r1EM4_3BTzsS5odCyiUQI2FvjLMvZSi0WCZK5pttHINzjU4u2uJ767iF8lHm5P7SNiZF66hAVCZ3BSgdwWH1ooNZZTvREBFCL_C3PnGvMy9Q/s640-rw/leeds-1970s-12.jpg) |
Noel and his lads, demolition men, Quarry Hill Flats, summer 1978. 'The last arch of Quarry Hill. Noel, with a real sense of occasion, got his men to pose for posterity.' |
(via
The Independent)