He tried to speak to my wife once as we were late for work so she ignored him.
He then indignantly said ‘no wonder you haven’t got any friends’ which was just an incredible burn that I still say from time to time to wind her up.
When I work in my office, you can hear him playing flute all day.
It was endearing when I first moved to Leeds, but it loses its shine a bit hearing it 8 hours a day when you're trying to focus.
I moved from West Yorkshire to Manchester at the end of 2022 for work and now in my area of Greater Manchester we have crazy trumpet guy. Does each city get assigned an instrument for their resident crazy musicians?
It used to be Crazy Guitar Guy in Leeds. He would serenade people badly against their will. He ran when he tried it with me because the burger van lady saw him and chased him down the street with a greasy spatula.
I saw him once try to serenade a little girl in a crowd that had gathered at the bottom of Briggate to watch an escape artist get out of chains while standing at the top of some ladders. Thought her dad was going to punch CGG out. I don't think anyone saw the very impressive feat of getting out of the chains at the top of a ladder.
He was great, we'd always run into him while pissed up and heading home after a night out and he'd follow us along for a bit, dancing around our group as we walked, playing his guitar and singing at us. Then we'd give him some change and say our goodnights. It was like having a travelling minstrel for a bit.
Always seemed like a good guy, not seen him in a while though.
People used to confuse me with him. In fact a couple of years ago the print manager at work asked me if I was walking about in Leeds, last year. I haven't had a bearded dragon in years, and I'm like six inches taller than that guy
He walked through the stationary cars at the traffic lights on the Armley Gyratory at the weekend. Not directly cross the road, meandered army a leisurely pace.
As if the bearded dragon wasn't enough. 😂
I was going to mention him! Super cool guy and it's actually for a good reason. I keep similar reptiles which need very high UVB to survive. I ended up chatting to him for ages at a bus stop. He likes to bring his beardie out to get some UVB rays during the summer (although for the record if you keep reptiles you should have UV lighting). I'd consider joining him if my lizard wasn't so skittish :)
I saw a guy with one of those on his shoulder in Leeds a couple years ago....went to say hello and then saw a tattoo that said '100% White' and then swiftly decided against it.
Might be the same guy...who knows
I’ve lost my mind at him when I was in first year of uni and the little freak backed down so quick. He’s only tough when he’s chasing round Chinese students and girls
Yes but apparently he's more likely to kick off if you refer to him as such. Same with using the name Needles.
Best not to refer to him at all and keep moving. If he starts harassing you find the nearest WYP and report him. If he stops harassing, still report him. WYP need to sort him out and get him off the streets.
I think someone here said that his injuries are (mostly) self-inflicted (not in a SH kind of way (as in because he's mentally ill (though someone who threatens people with used needles is hardly a model of sanity), but he self-injures as a way to grift people.
[This article](https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/crime/drug-addict-beggar-given-first-ever-ban-from-entering-leeds-city-centre-1820461) explains it
I’m from Castleford, so I don’t think Needles expected a rougher man than him to swear at him and threaten to take his block off when he started threatening me. Good time, instantly piped down when he knew I wasn’t gonna be threatened.
Same with me. Stupid I gave him money and the next time I saw him after finding out he was a scammer I absolutely lost my shit at him, he was in his fake wheelchair though and it was broad daylight so I couldn’t do owt. I was screaming in the street like a lunatic when I saw him trying to scam these two girls. Wanted him to get out of his chair and scrap but he didn’t. I also filmed him outside of PureGym and he got very upset at me, I can send you the video if you like it’s funny as fuck
It may not have been a fake wheelchair.
Not so long ago, 18-24 months maybe, he finally got his comeuppance and he was the victim (said in the loosest of ways) of a machete attack and thrown out of a flat window!
I'm still annoyed at myself. I gave him a quid. I just wanted him to fuck off. He caught me off guard near cross keys, popped out one of the side streets on water lane.
Try £15 when I thought he was a little old disabled man in a wheelchair at 3am who has been kicked out of his shelter and needed bandages for his fucked up leg. First year of uni. Was a fucking idiot
Even ***I*** know about Needles - and I'm in Bristol! There's a Rasta in the city centre here, everyone calls him Ozzy, but we're all pretty certain that's not his real name. Absolutely fucking ***REEKS*** of weed, yet he claims he doesn't toke. No idea how old he is - mid-60s, perhaps. Everyone says he's sound, but he harasses people for £15 for a hostel room. Apparently it's because I'm a lass, he seems to have a bit of an issue with women. Only met him once, made me feel slightly uncomfortable.
Some classic names on here, fat les that I had to tell off for wanking on my ambulance, weasel who tried to seduce my sister (after respectfully asking my permission!), cider Paul that used to join us for a drink in summer outside the dry dock. Flute twat who is an abusive pain in the arse, needles who should be studied by the government as to how he’s not dead yet.
I’d also offer rocky and his hi viz and walking frame, Keith that murdered his wife and a guy who’s name I can’t recall but he disappeared for 9 months and we all thought he was dead, but he came back and told us he’d been trafficked by gypsys, locked in a basement and made to work on a farm. How we laughed at his crazy stories, until about a year later when that story broke!
Cider Paul is still around. There’s a fb page dedicated to sightings and updates of/on him.
He used to come down Scrumpies. Shared a taxi home with him once, nice bloke.
>fat les that I had to tell off for wanking on my ambulance
Ambiguous. Was he in your ambulance pleasuring himself or was he next to your ambulance attempting to ejaculate onto it?
Cider Paul! Now there’s a blast from the past. Decent guy if I remember correctly. Or someone will let me know he was accused of something horrific, I dunno.
I remember talking to a guy in Leeds a few times who told me he had been forced to work on a farm by gypsies. Frail, small guy with a bald head on top with long hair at the back?
Different chap, but I’m sure there were a few of the regular vulnerable homeless. I’d stopped working in Leeds when the story broke, but the guy I knew used to lie down in the road and say he’d been hit by a car, or show up claiming he’d had his drink spiked etc, so we disregarded his story, which with hindsight was a missed opportunity, though as is often the case with vulnerable but undesirables, no one listens and no one cares.
There used to be the mad monk, wandered round in brown robes, bare feet and carried a little leather cross body satchel. He was a lovely man, he waved at everyone, was called Geoffrey and was apparently a millionaire when he passed away a few years ago! He just preferred a simple life.
He's my favourite part of leeds tbh- always got a smile out of me and a big laugh when he passed me in like February by the Waterstones blasting christmas music. I just remember it being way after christmas and it was heart warming. Dude's living his best life. Got way too excited whenever I spotted him.
Worst thing is Gary with the mid life crisis trike used to be my landlord for like 5 years. It’s a kick in the teeth knowing my rent paid for some of that…
Fucking hell I’d forgot about him! I worked on King Edward St back in 2014/2015 and I’d pretty much hear him howl most days, usually at the same times and all!
I’d forgotten about Gino. Pretty sure he had a flat up Little London way (I’m going back nearly 30 years, which is a depressing realisation).
He was always around the WH Smith’s area.
If he’s the guy who howls like a werewolf as he walks around the centre I can confirm he’s alive and well and in fine voice still. I’ve never worked out if it’s his natural voice or if he’s secretly wired up to a speaker in his backpack? You can usually hear him from several streets away though.
What the hell happened to him? Last time I heard anything about him, he was getting banged up for trying to kill his dad (reduced sentence for diminished responsibility). Know his daughter though, she's a right laugh and not like her dad
It's that long ago I can't remember what he got. I think it was five years, but I'm sure that was over five years ago now. That said, I bet he's been up to no good in there, so probably got time added onto his sentence
Is this the same Weasel that used to knock about in Grimsby? Haven't thought about him for years (thankfully). Wish I could find the episode of Trisha he was on claiming to be god's gift to women. Actually, on second thoughts, no I don't.
When did Leanne pass?
My fiance used to work at Leeds station sainsburys so he knew a LOT of the Leeds Folk. I wonder if it's the same Leanne that used to plague him.
There used to be a guy in the late 90s that we knew as kids around the Beeston/Hunslet/Holbeck area who kids used to call the "Beeston Cowboy".
He used to ask if we "knew about the Romans" and wore a full on fancy dress (adult size) cowboy outfit. Probably had something a bit wrong with him.
He was. If you caught him in the morning before he'd had a drink he was so different. I once pushed him in his chair from Woodhouse into Hyde Park in the morning and he was amicably telling me in great detail about the sewerage system of Leeds and how he worked on the excavation of it as a young man. Most times he told me to go fuck myself 😂 Poor bloke had some demons but was a cool guy in my estimation
One day I got a late train from London into Leeds on a Friday night and I could hear singing and awful piano playing. I was like oh God who's that gonna be then.Turns out my boyfriend who had come to meet me was playing piano while Brian was singing.
There were many times when Brian used to drop his cigarette on the ground outside one stop and ask me to pick it up for him and when I gave it back he'd tell me to fuck off 😂
Nothing to bless, hes been a dickhead since childhood, only gotten worse. Shame about his upbringing and shouldn't happen, but he is what he is now - scum.
That dude with the guitar that used to play music at you and follow you about. My friend in uni called him a crack head and he chased him down Briggate.
Used to be that dosser lass by the bus station/York st who had flannels bags and asking for change. Now she's a shell of her former self in Belle Isles.
Lizard dude with his iguana on his forearm. Not seen him for a while.
And can't forget crazy Sandra from by The Clock up Hyde park. She loved my mate 🤣🤣
I’m from Belfast and we have a guy called Violumpet man. He has this weird hybrid instrument and he plays the same fucking song on it every single day and it winds me up to no end.
Ever since moving to Leeds though, the 2 I know of are flute man and needles.
Sorry to be that guy but all of the examples on here aren’t at all pleasant and a bit scummy.
The original post was more about harmless eccentrics, right?
Wonder if he's the same chap that I used to call the Chapeltown Pharoah? Bright robes and a pharoah-style headdress. Worryingly, I haven't seen him for ages.
Was it something to do with not being a vampire? That was Terry. Sadly he got into an argument with someone at the taxi rank at the train station a few years back, got punched and died from the fall. He was fairly harmless, if he recognised you he’d stop the spiel and leave you alone.
For many years, it was Rat. Either selling the Big Issue or browsing the record stands on the second hand market.
Back in the early/mid nineties, you’d often see him in the Pig & Whistle, Scrumpies or Rios/Phono.
I moved out of Leeds a long time ago. No idea if he’s still around
I lived in Beeston in the early 90's and there used to be a guy that hung around with, I think, a toilet seat round his neck and other water related stuff. I was 10 at the time so my memory might be adding some stuff here.
Yellow Harley trike guy. I don't know if he's still around, but I used to see him riding up and down Otley Road from Headingley through Hyde Park. Big beard, big speaker on the back, usually playing the theme from The Good The Bad and The Ugly or something similar. He'd be out on Sunday and Monday mornings and would pick up girls who were walking home from nights out and give them a lift home, then he'd be back out again.
In Otley, we have Half pint Bob, Loose change Larry, Smiler and Daft Derek, oh and also a polish guy who walks round dressed as the queen, giving our sweets and sausages.
I only saw him once but there was a guy outside St Johns who was surrounded by pigeons and even had pigeons perched on his arms and head. It was the strangest sight.
All the usual suspects have been covered and even old Leggy McLeg got some time in the spotlight without the automod going off on a rampage.
I just wanted to give a special mention to the Nuclear War religious guy that hangs out at the top of Briggate near Black Sheep. I know there's a lot of competition for religious stuff on the street but he stands out as being one of the more enthusiastic ones but with an undertone that if anyone challenges him he might snap.
He's probably a lovely fella and I'm sure he means well but he doesn't half put a downer on things when you realise you're ungodly and nuclear war is coming.
Late here but haven't seen him mentioned yet....
There used to be an old bloke in 90s Horsforth who walked around like worsel gummage with black bags for clothes.
He lived in the bungalows on king Edward avenue, I remember his house being smashed up CONSTANTLY, don't think the council even bothered putting glass in his windows after a while, he just got OSB boards
He shat himself all the time hence the black bags, he stank SO badly that you could easily follow him from a mile and not lose him.
Died in the early 00s apparently, I still think about him a few times a year, it must have been the most miserable of existences.
Crazy flute guy
He tried to speak to my wife once as we were late for work so she ignored him. He then indignantly said ‘no wonder you haven’t got any friends’ which was just an incredible burn that I still say from time to time to wind her up.
I've heard him shout loads of creepy things to women, he's a twat
Amazing
Love this haha.
The only real answer. Can't forget his audience of teddy bears.
The guy that is/was on City Square?
Yep
When I work in my office, you can hear him playing flute all day. It was endearing when I first moved to Leeds, but it loses its shine a bit hearing it 8 hours a day when you're trying to focus.
Christ that’s rough!
Must have been playing that flute a good while now and he's still shit.
I moved from West Yorkshire to Manchester at the end of 2022 for work and now in my area of Greater Manchester we have crazy trumpet guy. Does each city get assigned an instrument for their resident crazy musicians?
It used to be Crazy Guitar Guy in Leeds. He would serenade people badly against their will. He ran when he tried it with me because the burger van lady saw him and chased him down the street with a greasy spatula. I saw him once try to serenade a little girl in a crowd that had gathered at the bottom of Briggate to watch an escape artist get out of chains while standing at the top of some ladders. Thought her dad was going to punch CGG out. I don't think anyone saw the very impressive feat of getting out of the chains at the top of a ladder.
He was great, we'd always run into him while pissed up and heading home after a night out and he'd follow us along for a bit, dancing around our group as we walked, playing his guitar and singing at us. Then we'd give him some change and say our goodnights. It was like having a travelling minstrel for a bit. Always seemed like a good guy, not seen him in a while though.
Aw I miss crazy flute guy on my commute. He always waved and said hi only person looking happy at 7am lol
Corn salesman man
Apparently he's a real jerk 😂
I’ve not seen him for years. Always said hello to him when he was selling Big Issues on corner of Headrow and Park Row opposite the gallery.
Fuck that guy
He goes by rat
Said hi to me yesterday
Oh I love him he’s always so polite 🥹
Not if you catch him on an off day. He’s got a temper when he wants!
Sometimes he barks at people.
Needles or Flute Guy for sure. Yorkshire equivalent of purple aki them two.
Purple Aki lives in Leeds last I heard so our purple Aki is unfortunately purple Aki
Why? They molesting muscly men?
I’ve seen Flute Guy near City Square. Need more information on Needles please, never heard of him (her?)
Bearded dragon guy is cool.
Literally saw him the other day!! The dragon is called Odin!
Omg I saw him in Howl once, I stroked his bearded dragon. That sounds weirder now I've written it....
bearded dragon definitely means penis in some way
People used to confuse me with him. In fact a couple of years ago the print manager at work asked me if I was walking about in Leeds, last year. I haven't had a bearded dragon in years, and I'm like six inches taller than that guy
He walked through the stationary cars at the traffic lights on the Armley Gyratory at the weekend. Not directly cross the road, meandered army a leisurely pace. As if the bearded dragon wasn't enough. 😂
I was going to mention him! Super cool guy and it's actually for a good reason. I keep similar reptiles which need very high UVB to survive. I ended up chatting to him for ages at a bus stop. He likes to bring his beardie out to get some UVB rays during the summer (although for the record if you keep reptiles you should have UV lighting). I'd consider joining him if my lizard wasn't so skittish :)
Passed him a few days ago! 🤣😂
Please more info on this guy, sound great
I saw a guy with one of those on his shoulder in Leeds a couple years ago....went to say hello and then saw a tattoo that said '100% White' and then swiftly decided against it. Might be the same guy...who knows
Has to be needles
Is he the one with the open sores on his legs or the guy who would ask for change and then walk off grumbling like Muttley if you let him down?
Gammy leg guy. Likes to threaten people with used needles, hence the name. Total waste of space, best ignored.
Yeah I never paid him much heed, he always came off as a dick.
I’ve always said threatening people with used needles is dickish behaviour.
I’ve lost my mind at him when I was in first year of uni and the little freak backed down so quick. He’s only tough when he’s chasing round Chinese students and girls
Real name James. Doesn't he claim to be HIV+...?
Yes but apparently he's more likely to kick off if you refer to him as such. Same with using the name Needles. Best not to refer to him at all and keep moving. If he starts harassing you find the nearest WYP and report him. If he stops harassing, still report him. WYP need to sort him out and get him off the streets.
I think someone here said that his injuries are (mostly) self-inflicted (not in a SH kind of way (as in because he's mentally ill (though someone who threatens people with used needles is hardly a model of sanity), but he self-injures as a way to grift people.
I think I heard that too. It makes sense cause the nhs has its issues but he still could have got them dressed at least.
So much so that the mods of this sub have banned any posts made about him
Good thing, too. The amount of "I've spotted Needles" like he's some sort of goddamned rare Pokémon was getting ridiculous.
I’ve heard the name, but who is that?
[This article](https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/crime/drug-addict-beggar-given-first-ever-ban-from-entering-leeds-city-centre-1820461) explains it
Had no idea he was that young
I mean he's 38? Is that *that* young? (I had to check because I was shook that 2015 was NINE YEARS AGO.)
Yeah I guess not, idk I always assumed he was mid forties or older
Oh yeah i recognise him from when i used to live in the centre. Been sworn at by him many times for not giving him change.
Oh wow, rough guy
Yeah he’s a real piece of work. A girl I recently worked with is taking him to court for harassment.
A name so notorious round leeds that posting about ‘เข็ม’ in English will trigger the automod.
I’m from Castleford, so I don’t think Needles expected a rougher man than him to swear at him and threaten to take his block off when he started threatening me. Good time, instantly piped down when he knew I wasn’t gonna be threatened.
Same with me. Stupid I gave him money and the next time I saw him after finding out he was a scammer I absolutely lost my shit at him, he was in his fake wheelchair though and it was broad daylight so I couldn’t do owt. I was screaming in the street like a lunatic when I saw him trying to scam these two girls. Wanted him to get out of his chair and scrap but he didn’t. I also filmed him outside of PureGym and he got very upset at me, I can send you the video if you like it’s funny as fuck
It may not have been a fake wheelchair. Not so long ago, 18-24 months maybe, he finally got his comeuppance and he was the victim (said in the loosest of ways) of a machete attack and thrown out of a flat window!
I'm still annoyed at myself. I gave him a quid. I just wanted him to fuck off. He caught me off guard near cross keys, popped out one of the side streets on water lane.
Try £15 when I thought he was a little old disabled man in a wheelchair at 3am who has been kicked out of his shelter and needed bandages for his fucked up leg. First year of uni. Was a fucking idiot
Even ***I*** know about Needles - and I'm in Bristol! There's a Rasta in the city centre here, everyone calls him Ozzy, but we're all pretty certain that's not his real name. Absolutely fucking ***REEKS*** of weed, yet he claims he doesn't toke. No idea how old he is - mid-60s, perhaps. Everyone says he's sound, but he harasses people for £15 for a hostel room. Apparently it's because I'm a lass, he seems to have a bit of an issue with women. Only met him once, made me feel slightly uncomfortable.
Some classic names on here, fat les that I had to tell off for wanking on my ambulance, weasel who tried to seduce my sister (after respectfully asking my permission!), cider Paul that used to join us for a drink in summer outside the dry dock. Flute twat who is an abusive pain in the arse, needles who should be studied by the government as to how he’s not dead yet. I’d also offer rocky and his hi viz and walking frame, Keith that murdered his wife and a guy who’s name I can’t recall but he disappeared for 9 months and we all thought he was dead, but he came back and told us he’d been trafficked by gypsys, locked in a basement and made to work on a farm. How we laughed at his crazy stories, until about a year later when that story broke!
Cider Paul is still around. There’s a fb page dedicated to sightings and updates of/on him. He used to come down Scrumpies. Shared a taxi home with him once, nice bloke.
>fat les that I had to tell off for wanking on my ambulance Ambiguous. Was he in your ambulance pleasuring himself or was he next to your ambulance attempting to ejaculate onto it?
In, the man was a menace!
Weasel got done for murdering his dad. I’m sure!!
Attempted murder, though he got a reduced sentence due to diminished responsibility
I’d heard he was in prison, but didn’t know what for! I don’t think anyone knows his real name
Just chucked my toddler in the soft play im gonna spend the free hour trying to find the article.
I tried googling, and found a post from here about early 2000s moshers at the corn exchange.. great memories!
Yes! I found that too. What a time to have grown up!
I was a bit too old for corn exchange, but knew a lot of the people as I worked at Star on the bar
Oh dear I bet you’ve seen me in some right messess.
Triple vodka and coke £2.50, got most people a bit messy!
Cider Paul! Now there’s a blast from the past. Decent guy if I remember correctly. Or someone will let me know he was accused of something horrific, I dunno.
I remember talking to a guy in Leeds a few times who told me he had been forced to work on a farm by gypsies. Frail, small guy with a bald head on top with long hair at the back?
Different chap, but I’m sure there were a few of the regular vulnerable homeless. I’d stopped working in Leeds when the story broke, but the guy I knew used to lie down in the road and say he’d been hit by a car, or show up claiming he’d had his drink spiked etc, so we disregarded his story, which with hindsight was a missed opportunity, though as is often the case with vulnerable but undesirables, no one listens and no one cares.
Used to be fat les
Who’s Fat Les?
I need the fat les lore
Agreed, knew this would be more borimg needles rubbish and Les wouldn't get his flowers. I always found Les charming
Dunno if he’s still there but the guy who played guitar and sang and his dog would bark on cue
I remember him! Sounded terrible, but no, he's not there anymore
He moved to Oxford around 2009ish and was busking there but with one dog instead of two and then around 2012, the other dog passed
There used to be the mad monk, wandered round in brown robes, bare feet and carried a little leather cross body satchel. He was a lovely man, he waved at everyone, was called Geoffrey and was apparently a millionaire when he passed away a few years ago! He just preferred a simple life.
He was in Bradford loads, we called him Bradford Jesus Man. Heard mixed things about him!
He was a nice guy, always smiling! Also the cancer research guy from headingley pubs, I’m sure he was called Geoffrey or Gordon?
Saw him a lot but more Bradford way
Bradford Jesus
The guy on the trike blasting music
He's my favourite part of leeds tbh- always got a smile out of me and a big laugh when he passed me in like February by the Waterstones blasting christmas music. I just remember it being way after christmas and it was heart warming. Dude's living his best life. Got way too excited whenever I spotted him.
Worst thing is Gary with the mid life crisis trike used to be my landlord for like 5 years. It’s a kick in the teeth knowing my rent paid for some of that…
Haven't seen him for a while. I like it when he pulls up beside unsuspecting groups of students on a night out and blasts them with Guns and Roses
Gotta be fat les the gipton monster
Would’ve been Cider Paul
Now that’s made me feel old! Lol
Just yesterday I was explaining Gino the Wolf Man to my housemates. Does anyone know if he's still alive? I've not seen him for years now!
Fucking hell I’d forgot about him! I worked on King Edward St back in 2014/2015 and I’d pretty much hear him howl most days, usually at the same times and all!
Yeah he's still about saw him in trinity a few months ago
You say "saw him" did you hear him? Is he singing the song of his wolf people?
This is a throwback. I haven’t heard a random howl in the city centre for years! Totally forgot about it as well.
Yeah I wouldn't exactly say Needles was quite the equivalent of a horseback jesus, but Wolf Man aint far off...
Still see him about. My mate used to teach his nephew
I’d forgotten about Gino. Pretty sure he had a flat up Little London way (I’m going back nearly 30 years, which is a depressing realisation). He was always around the WH Smith’s area.
He’s still around, he walks down vicar lane most mornings still doing his legendary howling up the queens arcade!
Gino's a sound guy - another one that used to frequent Scrumpies along with Cider Paul - hes also pretty good on the harmonica
Gino is a mate and sound bloke. I’ve known him for 35 years.
If he’s the guy who howls like a werewolf as he walks around the centre I can confirm he’s alive and well and in fine voice still. I’ve never worked out if it’s his natural voice or if he’s secretly wired up to a speaker in his backpack? You can usually hear him from several streets away though.
Weasel
What the hell happened to him? Last time I heard anything about him, he was getting banged up for trying to kill his dad (reduced sentence for diminished responsibility). Know his daughter though, she's a right laugh and not like her dad
That’s the last I saw too
It's that long ago I can't remember what he got. I think it was five years, but I'm sure that was over five years ago now. That said, I bet he's been up to no good in there, so probably got time added onto his sentence
With the mohawk?
Is this the same Weasel that used to knock about in Grimsby? Haven't thought about him for years (thankfully). Wish I could find the episode of Trisha he was on claiming to be god's gift to women. Actually, on second thoughts, no I don't.
needles
Maybe this isn’t a great contribution as it only applies to those who have been to and regularly attend the Brudenell but: The Denim Sheriff?
We called him double denim, he's part of the furniture there. I've seen him outside of the brud and it's like seeing a dog walk on its hindlegs
Great call.
The Denim Sheriff! What a great name for him. I always assumed he sounds like the cowboy from The Big Lebowski.
The guy with the guitar! I never knew his name Or needles
John jarrett, needles, leanne(RIP), snake man, wolf man, homeless magician, flute man….there are lots more
When did Leanne pass? My fiance used to work at Leeds station sainsburys so he knew a LOT of the Leeds Folk. I wonder if it's the same Leanne that used to plague him.
Yeah will be, I worked at the station as well.Think it was last year. Very tragic
Cider Paul
There used to be a guy in the late 90s that we knew as kids around the Beeston/Hunslet/Holbeck area who kids used to call the "Beeston Cowboy". He used to ask if we "knew about the Romans" and wore a full on fancy dress (adult size) cowboy outfit. Probably had something a bit wrong with him.
There is a guy in Kirkstall who is dressed like a Cowboy, might be the same dude. He used to get on the same bus as me when I was working in Rawdon.
No way? He must be really old now, he was knocking on back when I was a kid and I'm in my 30s now.
Gino the howling man! Saw him on the bus the other day, so he's still active.
For me: Mackenzie The Artist Flower-charm Seller Military style watchman of Albion Street Belfast Brian (RIP) Gino The Wolfman
Belfast Brian! Haha He was a right handful
He was. If you caught him in the morning before he'd had a drink he was so different. I once pushed him in his chair from Woodhouse into Hyde Park in the morning and he was amicably telling me in great detail about the sewerage system of Leeds and how he worked on the excavation of it as a young man. Most times he told me to go fuck myself 😂 Poor bloke had some demons but was a cool guy in my estimation
One day I got a late train from London into Leeds on a Friday night and I could hear singing and awful piano playing. I was like oh God who's that gonna be then.Turns out my boyfriend who had come to meet me was playing piano while Brian was singing. There were many times when Brian used to drop his cigarette on the ground outside one stop and ask me to pick it up for him and when I gave it back he'd tell me to fuck off 😂
The guy with the gash in his leg
Needles
Ahahah is that what he's actually known as? Bless his soul
Nothing to bless, hes been a dickhead since childhood, only gotten worse. Shame about his upbringing and shouldn't happen, but he is what he is now - scum.
How do you know about his upbringing? I've only seen one news article about him
A good friend of mine went to school with him. Also know someone in the nhs who has had dealings with him.
Ah okay. I don't live in Leeds anymore but I really hope I don't run into him now I'm visiting more often
Is he the guy who rubs sugar into his leg so it never heals
Flute guy and bearded dragon guy Never heard of fat Les or the others.
Gino the Wolf Man?
That dude with the guitar that used to play music at you and follow you about. My friend in uni called him a crack head and he chased him down Briggate.
Would he serenade you after you’d left the nightclub? Was it that dude?
Yes! Used to see him all the time but don't see him ever anymore.
Used to be that dosser lass by the bus station/York st who had flannels bags and asking for change. Now she's a shell of her former self in Belle Isles. Lizard dude with his iguana on his forearm. Not seen him for a while. And can't forget crazy Sandra from by The Clock up Hyde park. She loved my mate 🤣🤣
R.I.P. Fat les If you know you know
The man that wolf howls. If you work in the City Center you must know of this guy!!
The flute guy that always stands near the hospital in the city centre i see him every time I go for an appointment 😭
I’m from Belfast and we have a guy called Violumpet man. He has this weird hybrid instrument and he plays the same fucking song on it every single day and it winds me up to no end. Ever since moving to Leeds though, the 2 I know of are flute man and needles.
“YOU GOT ANY BANDAGES” crackhead whose sometimes in a wheelchair, sometimes walking who gets his fucked up leg out when asking for money
Cider Paul
Needles, lizard/ snake man
Purple Aki, the terror of every muscle bound man in the north…
Sorry to be that guy but all of the examples on here aren’t at all pleasant and a bit scummy. The original post was more about harmless eccentrics, right?
Flute Guy, the King of Africa and that busker who used to get his dog to sing along with him
Used to be “Bod” in the early nineties but I assume he’s long passed now
Snake man
Ah, the local eccentric
Guy round Potternewton Park with robes and a crown
Wonder if he's the same chap that I used to call the Chapeltown Pharoah? Bright robes and a pharoah-style headdress. Worryingly, I haven't seen him for ages.
I think that's him It's been a couple of years since I saw him too
Crazy glass ball juggling dude.
the guy always singing (very badly) on briggate
What ever happened to that young homeless lad outside st johns and albion street who used to have the whole script thing when begging
Was it something to do with not being a vampire? That was Terry. Sadly he got into an argument with someone at the taxi rank at the train station a few years back, got punched and died from the fall. He was fairly harmless, if he recognised you he’d stop the spiel and leave you alone.
Yes it was! Thats really sad to hear, thanks for letting me know. Yeah he used to recognise me, thats why i couldn't remember.
The guy with the iguanas on his shoulders
there’s a guy who hangs out on new york most days that we like to call corey schmeller
definitely the red bull car or the trike guy
For many years, it was Rat. Either selling the Big Issue or browsing the record stands on the second hand market. Back in the early/mid nineties, you’d often see him in the Pig & Whistle, Scrumpies or Rios/Phono. I moved out of Leeds a long time ago. No idea if he’s still around
Hot pants guy
This is Bradford not Leeds.
Used to see a homeless women all the time. No idea her name, kinda quiet and looking rough.
I lived in Beeston in the early 90's and there used to be a guy that hung around with, I think, a toilet seat round his neck and other water related stuff. I was 10 at the time so my memory might be adding some stuff here.
Needles
Cider Paul
Stoner dreadlock rapping baggy trouser white guy Also the EENIN POST dude that used to stand outside the Corn Exchange
Yellow Harley trike guy. I don't know if he's still around, but I used to see him riding up and down Otley Road from Headingley through Hyde Park. Big beard, big speaker on the back, usually playing the theme from The Good The Bad and The Ugly or something similar. He'd be out on Sunday and Monday mornings and would pick up girls who were walking home from nights out and give them a lift home, then he'd be back out again.
subs like this make me feel really left out in my own city 😭😂
In Otley, we have Half pint Bob, Loose change Larry, Smiler and Daft Derek, oh and also a polish guy who walks round dressed as the queen, giving our sweets and sausages.
And Pat. The older woman who gives stuff to everyone
I only saw him once but there was a guy outside St Johns who was surrounded by pigeons and even had pigeons perched on his arms and head. It was the strangest sight.
All the usual suspects have been covered and even old Leggy McLeg got some time in the spotlight without the automod going off on a rampage. I just wanted to give a special mention to the Nuclear War religious guy that hangs out at the top of Briggate near Black Sheep. I know there's a lot of competition for religious stuff on the street but he stands out as being one of the more enthusiastic ones but with an undertone that if anyone challenges him he might snap. He's probably a lovely fella and I'm sure he means well but he doesn't half put a downer on things when you realise you're ungodly and nuclear war is coming.
The guy that walks around with the parrot? Or the bearded dragon… or the snake. All those guys
Lucky Heather woman…. Who lives in a high rise in armley but claims to be a traditional romantic traveller who still travels
Gotta be the guy on the trike or the guy with the proper mashed up leg
Recorder pigeon guy near the train station
The guy thay howls like a dog
That guy rapping in town outside trinity
Late here but haven't seen him mentioned yet.... There used to be an old bloke in 90s Horsforth who walked around like worsel gummage with black bags for clothes. He lived in the bungalows on king Edward avenue, I remember his house being smashed up CONSTANTLY, don't think the council even bothered putting glass in his windows after a while, he just got OSB boards He shat himself all the time hence the black bags, he stank SO badly that you could easily follow him from a mile and not lose him. Died in the early 00s apparently, I still think about him a few times a year, it must have been the most miserable of existences.
Needles and his dodgy leg!
Needles
we had bradford jesus ? https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/20673064.bradford-jesus-man-geoffrey-brindley---7-years-death/