When Bill Haley stayed at Queens Hotel in Leeds – Yorkshire Post Letters

I READ the report of an upsurge in bookings at the Queens Hotel in Leeds (The Yorkshire Post, January 29) with interest.

Famous Queens Hotel in Leeds records upsurge in booking revenue after £16m refurbishment

I recall passing through the adjoining railway station each morning full of the precocious attitude often synonymous with early teens on my way to school thinking the grand old lady has stood there since time immemorial, not realising she only had a few years on me, five I’m now informed from the report.

On one memorable occasion the homeward bound journey through City Square had such a profound influence on me and I still cherish the memory.

Among some notable guests you disclosed had stayed there the presence of Bill Haley on Valentine’s Day in 1957 was omitted preceding his appearance at the city’s Odeon Theatre that evening, and only the sixth date of a monumental tour that has passed into 
folklore introducing Britain to rock’n’roll.

The enormous crowd outside the hotel almost erupted when he waved from a window and brought traffic to a standstill, buses and all, captured for posterity with accompanying photos in that day’s Yorkshire Evening Post which I still retain today.

I recall a further two visits to Leeds by the artist in 1968 and 1974, sadly with much less impact, but nevertheless I can never walk through City Square without speculating to whoever will listen just which window he waved from!