Leeds Goth Hall of Fame update
26 April 2025
Over the last couple of years, one project has dominated my time working under the Leeds Nomad banner, namely Leeds’ heritage as the place where Goth culture began.
It’s been a fascinating yet often intense journey with few opportunities to pause and reflect. Much of the time has been spent working with members of the alternative communities here (a shout out to Leeds Festival of Gothica) to try and make this important part of our history known more widely and be adopted into the city’s broader story and mythology.
During that time, one key moment has always stood out, as much for its striking visuals as anything, but also something I felt marked the story’s second or perhaps third chapter.
In 1986, The Mission posed for their first band photoshoot at the Bear Pit in Headingley, Leeds. A resulting black-and-white photo by John Blackmore provides a suitable aesthetic of a band which has had the genre ‘Goth’ bestowed upon it.
The Bear Pit is a Victorian folly which was at the centre of the vast zoological and botanical gardens that once covered the surrounding area, and here, perched atop its walls, precariously close to the edge, with one hand against a crenellated tower, is singer Wayne Hussey, with his band mates to the right.
Shot from below, they gaze into the distance as if surveying the landscape before they go into battle in the charts and the venues across the land and beyond.
The band, formed in part out of one-half of quintessential gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy, look confident, and quite rightly so.
I’ve just emailed The Mission to see if they’d like to come back to the Bear Pit to recreate the photo.
Let’s roll forward 38 years to the part where I say to my brother: “I’ve just emailed The Mission to see if they’d like to come back to the Bear Pit to recreate the photo. They won’t say yes, but who knows?”
His response: “Why wouldn’t they?”
The historic site was about to undergo significant renovation by its owners, Leeds Civic Trust, making the photo a possibility for the first time in a long time. The timing aligned nicely with the start of the next leg of the band’s current world tour, on 19 September in Holmfirth, so it felt like the best chance to make it happen.
While I agreed with my brother’s logic, I couldn’t help feeling like it was a long shot. They’d be busy. The email’s gone into spam. They’re not here for long. Do they even remember the photo? All these reasons and more prevented me from believing it would actually happen.
But, of course, it did. When tour manager Tim finally replied to suggest a date, I was a bit stunned. The band asked if I had a photographer in mind, and, fortunately, my friend Justin Leeming is as good as there is.
This had all been done with the Trust’s enthusiastic permission, and we started to make plans.
Roll forward to 17 September, and a group of us, including Trust representatives Jodie and Clifford, Justin and local BBC reporter Olivia, are watching a gardening team as they strim the grass ahead of the band’s arrival.
I used to live just round the corner, a few streets from Eldritch.
The band arrive together, casually strolling round the corner, and I’m instantly struck by their interest in being there. It’s an opportunity to reminisce. Wayne remembers a great nearby sandwich shop and wonders if it’s still there.
He points. “I used to live just over there, a few streets from Eldritch,” he says.
It feels a bit emotional. They’re happy to pause, spend time here, soak it all up, and hear about the site’s history and future. To my delight, Wayne agrees to a radio interview and disappears with Olivia while Justin starts to set up the shoot.
And then it’s soon time for action.
First, the shot is recreated. Not quite faithfully (safety first), but in a way that captures the band as they are now: triumphant, having battled and skirmished their way through a long and extraordinary career.
Then it starts to get creative with further shots in front of the building. There are requests for Craig to take his hat off or put it back on. Tim and I are tasked with holding lights in various awkward positions. The band are relaxed, jocular and amenable but with ideas of their own. It’s a fun collaboration.
The gardeners are still there and enjoying the strange show. It’s interesting how few passersby even notice.
An experimental shot by Justin of the band standing together in front of the arched entrance, backlit by a warm flash, is especially powerful.
We all had our reasons for being there and for wanting this to happen, and, for a brief hour or two, I think something very special did.
This idea started as an opportunity to recreate something. On the day, it also became a moment to reflect and reminisce.
For me, the recreated shot recognises how far the band have come, and the new ones show the band as they are now.
For the Bear Pit itself, and the Trust, I think it marks the start of its next chapter, one with a new story now firmly cemented into its old stonework.
On the Friday, I caught the band at their second Holmfirth show, expertly demonstrating exactly why they have stayed with us all this time. It was an appropriate end to the week and a time for me, finally, to pause and reflect on my own little journey.
You can listen to Wayne’s thoughts on returning to the site on BBC Sounds here.
