The Cloth Halls, normally used for the sale of cloths manufactured in the area, seem to have been used for many events when not employed for their normal purpose.
In August 1815 Signor de Montfort, the Prince Regent's Pyrotechnical advisor, organised a magnificent exhibition of Chinese fireworks at the White Cloth Hall.

If not fireworks then perhaps music was your pleasure. In January 1832 the very famous violinist Niccolo Paganini performed for two nights at the Music Hall in Albion Street.

For something less cerebral how about a game of football ? Here's a match from 1773.

'A grand football match was played last Tuesday, for twenty guineas, betwixt the married gentlemen and bachelors of Walton, near Wetherby.
The success of the game was obstinately disputed for upwards of an hour, and many falls and broken shins given on each side, at last the wife of one of the married gentlemen, being among the number of spectators, and seeing her husband hard pressed, enter'd the field to his assistance, when instead of being intimidated with seeing him fall by superior strength of his antagonist, like a true Amazon she pursued the ball, and soon determined the victory'.

It's a shame we didn't have the World Cup then !

For a community heavily dependent on agriculture a keen eye was kept on changes in the seasons. Items in the newspaper then appear very strange today:

On October 11th 1774 it was reported that 'on Saturday, a cowslip, in full bloom, was discovered in the midst of a bed of balm in the garden of James Damson of Mabgate in this Town.' And in February five years later we had, 'There is at present, in the garden of Mr Smith at Haigh-Moor, near this town, a cherry-tree in full blossom.'

Perhaps in simpler times simple stories were required.

Then ,as now, newspapers printed stories without checking their facts;

The mercury, September 1782: 'Sunday, being the Halton feast, the daughter of a sandman at Moortown, came to see a friend in March-Lane, and at dinner ate a half peck loaf (a peck is equal to two gallons, corn being measured in gallons) made into sops (dipped in gravy), seven pounds of beef, and a large apple pye, and drank a gallon of ale; at tea she was quite moderate, only drinking ten cupfuls and eating four muffins; and at supper her stomach seemed to fail her, as she only ate three quarters of a leg of mutton, and drank two quarts of beer; but was seemingly in good spirits.'

Just the girl to take home to meet mother!

The following week the newspaper admitted..' we were misled last week in regard to a person's eating in March-Lane, as we are now informed the account was greatly exaggerated.'

Hey, I know some girls from Moortown and I believed it!

With our modern, jaundiced , eyes it is difficult to see why the newspaper printed this next item…'Thursday afternoon, four men accidentally met at the sign of the Boot & Shoe (an inn) at the Bank (Richmond Hill) near this town, whose ages when put together amounted to upwards of three hundred and twenty six years. They drank each a social pint of ale.'

Some of these sights fair take the breath away!.

Sometimes it was where something came from that caused the interest.

The Leeds Intelligencer printed this article in May 1792:

'William Peckover, a native of Pontefract in this county, and now gunner of His Majesty's ship 'Tremendous', is the only person living who has sailed four times round the world. He was a gunner of the 'Bounty' at the time of the mutiny, and one of the honest fellows who chose to share the fate of Capt. Bligh. The hat which he wore, during their beating of the waves for four thousand miles in an open boat, is now in Mr Crosthwaite's museum at Keswick. It was procured for the owner by Capt. Dixon, the circumnavigator, and is made of the leaves of the palm tree, plaited by the natives of O-Whyee.'

I don't know if this story is true, the mutiny took place in 1789, but the story is too good to disregard for the sake of a few facts. Sounds like a modern news editor.