'I'm an 88-year-old geographer and my last book had to be on my home city - the landscapes of Leeds'
For more than eight decades, Leeds has been home for Anthony Silson. He’s trodden many of its paths, from the rural countryside on the very outskirts to the bustling city centre pavements, lined with towering buildings.
There was only ever going to be one topic then for his last book then, which he’s recently had published at the age of 88.
In Leeds: 21st Century Landscapes, Tony takes readers on a tour of the varied landscapes within the whole district, exploring why very rapid changes have occurred in some places and not in others.
“My purpose was to talk about the changes in Leeds, describe and try to explain them, give reasons for them. But also I wanted to point out that lots of it hasn’t changed in the last 20 years or so,” says Tony.
"It’s the first time I’ve had the chance to write about Leeds as the whole place not just bits of it. I wanted to consider the extent to which Leeds has changed and why it has done...I hope people get a picture of Leeds that they haven’t had before.”
Tony is the author of several books on Leeds, largely focusing on the district of Bramley, where he lives.
Since being a child, he’s been a keen writer and remembers fondly, even all these years on, writing stories for other children as a boy himself.
At West Leeds High School for Boys, he recalls having to choose either geography or history as one of his subjects for GCE O-levels, despite enjoying both.
He chose the former, going on to study the subject at Liverpool University and for many years teaching it to teens in Barnsley, Bradford and Leeds.
Near his retirement, his interest in history was rekindled and he’s since written a number of articles exploring the heritage of Yorkshire.
Landscapes have always featured heavily in his work, an interest sparked by geology fieldwork as a youngster.
Between 2000 and 2019, Tony observed and recorded the various landscapes of Leeds, initially doing so for a book he was then writing on the whole of West Yorkshire.
But for years after its publication, he carried on exploring for fun and decided to present his work in a book dedicated to his home city.
He’s visited all of the places mentioned in the book, mostly on foot, and the majority of photographic illustrations have been taken by Tony himself.
But as he has got older, he has found walking long distances more of a struggle. “So I think this is the last book I will write,” he says.
"I hope that at least parts of it will get people thinking about what we should do in the future...For much of my life I have enjoyed walking in Leeds, in the rural areas, the farmland and I’m concerned that we keep this as long as we possibly can.”
- Leeds: 21st Century Landscapes, A Geographer’s Exploration, by Anthony Silson, published by Beecroft Publications Leeds, is out now.