What to do in and around Headingley

Written by Kahla Mayhew

Contrary to what you may be led to believe, should you brave the Otley Road on any given weekend, Headingley’s activities are not limited to donning a pair of knickers and a bunny tail and visiting 500 pubs in one night on a mission to drink yourself to oblivion. Not that I’m against such an activity, you understand, but there comes a time when everyone just wants to give their liver a little R&R. If such a moment befalls you, here are some alternative things for you to do in Headingley.

Eating out in Headingley

OK, so two or three bottles of wine may not exactly be the break your vital organs crave. But at least you’ll be enjoying it with a hearty meal, dim lights and soft music playing in the background so you can feel altogether more cultured about your alcohol consumption.

Dare café does good food and Mon-Thurs from around 5-6.30pm (times are approximate, you’ll have to double check) if you buy one main meal you get another free. I particularly recommend the burritos. If you want something a little more exotic, Headingley is jam-packed with Thai eateries, all of them serving delicious food at decent prices: at Thai Sabai on North Lane you can also bring your own (cheap) wine for a £2.50 corkage fee per bottle.

For Italian served by cheerful staff in a buzzing atmosphere try Salvo’s, and for cheap and cheerful you can’t go wrong with Wok On, which has recently opened and which does a set meal for two for the bargain price of £12. That’s between you, not each.

Go to the Park

Once you have tried all the yummy restaurants above, you may have put on a stone or three and be looking around for a way to get a modicum of exercise: and who doesn’t love a nice walk in the park? Within walking distance of Headingley are a surprising amount of green spaces which allow you to commune with nature on sunny autumnal days, and picnic in the summer (wicker basket not compulsory but very much encouraged).

The most obvious are Woodhouse Moor (known to almost everyone as Hyde Park) and Beckett’s Park, which are both right next to University buildings. Woodhouse Moor has a skate park as well as a children’s play area, but isn’t very big and frankly gets hideously overcrowded as soon as the sun peeps out from April onwards.

Beckett’s Park is much bigger, quieter, backs on to a wooded area and is generally nicer if you’re looking for an actual park and not just a bit of grass to sit and drink on. Meanwood Park goes one better: it has all of the above AND a stream, so a picnic there feels like a proper picnic: just beware of wet dogs surprising you from behind and ruining your frock and lunch in one joyful wriggle.

Meanwood Park is huge, so it’s good if you want to cycle or run off the main drag of Headingley. There is also Burley Park, near the Co-Op, which is handy if you live that way; and further out along Otley Road is the highly impressive Goldenacre Park – a bit out the way but the best of the lot. It even has a duck and swan lake with an island in the middle.

Go to a Class

There are quite a few classes available in Headingley for those with a crafty bent. The Bowery shop runs classes in sewing, craft work and other such arty things, and newly opened wool shop Baa Ram Ewe will teach you how to knit so you can impress everyone at Christmas with their very own handmade square of wool.

That’s what my family will be getting this year, anyway. I’m hoping to progress to scarves as soon as I improve my attention span. There are also regular classes in the various church halls: last year I went to Salsa at St Chad’s and an Urban Dance Workout at St Columba’s which were both absolutely brilliant fun.

They are usually advertised by billboards or banners outside the churches so keep your eyes peeled. At the very least such vigilance will afford you a giggle at some of the wackier church banners (my favourite this year: ‘The Easter Bunny didn’t rise from the dead’. No, and I don’t think anyone’s claiming he did).

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