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Sara Merritt (far left), Leeds Museums and Galleries' audience development officer, shows the precious wedding dress to (L-R) Jennifer Slater, Christina Bromley, Emmeline Bromley and Alexander Bromley, the family of Lily Cathcart.

Worn by Lily on her wedding day on September 10, 1910, the beautiful dress was filled with weights, designed to give it a fashionable “scroop” or rustling noise, but also making it fragile and requiring delicate handling by the city’s textile experts over the past five-and-a-half decades. Remarkably, it still even has several tiny pieces of confetti from the wedding day embedded in its delicate embroidery. A classic example of the elegant style of the time, the dress is made of cream silk satin with a silk chiffon pleated overlay. Its high stand collar is trimmed with lace, extremely fashionable for the period, and the front of the dress is heavily decorated with silver beads.

The descendants of Leeds schoolmistress Lily Cathcart travelled to the Leeds Discovery Centre this week, where they viewed their precious family heirloom, donated to the museum by Lily’s daughters Bessie, Jean and Isabel in the early 1970s. L-R is Lily’s great, great grandson Alexander Bromley, Christina Bromley, Jennifer Slater and Emmeline Bromley, whose namesake Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the leading lights of the Suffrage movement.

A computer-generated image showing Leeds City Council's vision for the market's blockshops area.

Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Leeds City Council’s deputy leader and executive member for economy, transport and sustainable development, pictured in October last year with some of the refurbished blockshop units at Leeds Kirkgate Market.

A computer-generated image showing plans for one part of an 88-home scheme under construction across various sites in the Seacroft and Gipton areas of Leeds.

Some of the 100 family homes built as part of a housing development in Middleton that also includes 60 extra care apartments and 16 wheelchair-accessible bungalows.

Councillor Jess Lennox, Councillor James Lewis and Tom Riordan with other attendees at the Gascoigne House opening event.

The roof terrace at Gascoigne House, pictured in November 2023.

An aerial image (from November 2023) of Gascoigne House with some of the family homes and accessible bungalows that form part of the wider redevelopment of the site.

Councillor James Lewis speaking at the Gascoigne House opening event.

Councillor James Lewis and Councillor Jess Lennox help Rosemary and Steven Brown with the cutting of a celebratory cake at the Gascoigne House opening event.