David Parkin finds that when it comes to double entendres he's got a big one

Photographs by Paul Berwin

THE development around Leeds railway station continues apace.

I’d say there should be more emphasis put on the word “continues” rather than “apace”.

Work is continuing at the front and back of the station.

If you don’t know which is the front and which is the back then I’d recommend you don’t ask the brains trust from Network Rail and the city council who are involved in the development, because where they are concerned, the words arse and elbow come to mind.

Intrepid lawyer Paul Berwin has been charting the development work going on at the front entrance to the station with regular photos and posts on Linkedin.

He used to tag me into his posts but I think he found that my enthusiasm for the project didn’t match his.

I’m more aligned with his brother Simon, a guru of the menswear industry, who, like me, has been a longstanding critic of the chaos around the station.

I reckon Paul has been posting photos taken from his office window of the work for the last 12 months or so.

You might be able to see from the photographs above - which were taken 10 months apart - unless you are a construction engineer, it doesn’t, as they say in Yorkshire, look like a right lot of progress has been made.

Yesterday the developers gave Paul a VIP tour of the site.

They must have been delighted they found anyone left in Leeds who gives a flying fig what they are attempting to do.

Paul’s photo of the new stairway shows at least some progress.

It only took two years to construct the Spanish Steps in Rome in the 18th century: this has taken a lot longer.

Given the chaos created where cars and taxis pick up and drop-off at the back of the railway station, you’d have thought that someone might have thought that doing the two projects at the same time might not be the best idea.

From what I’ve read, the £46.1m scheme is now predicted to finally finish in February 2026.

The works are designed to meet “capacity demands” with the number of passengers using the station forecast to increase significantly and ensure that “people can enter, exit and wait for services safely”.

By the time they have finished this seemingly never-ending project I doubt there will be many people left with the appetite to appreciate it all.

I already know lots of people who tell me they do everything they can to avoid travelling by train from Leeds and steer clear of driving into the city.

And they definitely don’t put on their bicycle clips and cycle into Leeds using the new cycle lanes, the creation of which predictably led to long traffic delays.

All this work started in 2022.

So it will have taken the best part of four years to complete once it is finally finished.

It only took the Ancient Egyptians 20 years to build the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Empire State Building took just 13 months (which is a considerably shorter time than it took me to put up an IKEA wardrobe) to complete and even the delayed construction of the new Wembley Stadium lasted only four years.

At least they are world renowned buildings worth looking at.

The entrance works at Leeds City Station will provide us with two new passenger lifts (21-person capacity in each) and some new cycle racks.

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WHILE I’m in rant mode, I know I and many others also despair of the shambles that is the road system in Leeds city centre.

But surely now Leeds City Council must take notice.

My friend sent me a photo of a reader’s letter from a recent publication.

Neil Tollfree, of Brighton, had sent the editor the following missive:

‘I don’t understand why people think being an astronaut is so difficult. You’re flying a rocket into space - it’s just straight up, it’s impossible to go the wrong way.

‘Try negotiating Leeds city centre one-way system if you want a challenge.’

Now I’m sure by this point you will have deduced that the letter in question wasn’t submitted to the Financial Times or The Economist.

It was actually in the adult comic Viz.

But when a smutty printed publication obsessed with adolescent humour is taking the mickey out of Leeds the city council has to act - now!

I urge our councillors to provide the media with a positive story about the city centre and I expect them to give them one.

Ooh err missus.

Fnarr fnarr.

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BY the time you read this I will be on my way to the Far East.

Yes, Bridlington.

I’m going to the The Business Day conference on the coast.

Last year the headline speaker was Bjorn from ABBA, this year it is a much more divisive figure than a middle of the road Swedish pop star: media personality Piers Morgan.

Some may see him as a feisty gob on legs, but his opinionated take-no-prisoners approach makes him compelling to watch and listen to, more often than not.

If he gets out of hand, I’m sure woolly jumper-wearing host Giles Brandreth will calm things down.

Despite the big names on the bill of the sell-out event organised by former East Riding Council leader Stephen Parnaby, the attraction for me is the audience.

It is a who’s who of the top entrepreneurs and business executives from Hull and East Yorkshire.

I’ll be hosting a break out session this morning organised by the impressive Hull-based education charity Run With It highlighting the business benefits of working with third sector organisations.

It is a small charity that keeps costs and staff numbers to a minimum and punches massively above its weight.

Now that’s a good news story even Piers couldn’t argue about.

Have a great weekend.