{"id":662875,"date":"2025-12-30T17:02:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T17:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/662875\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T17:02:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T17:02:22","slug":"historic-alleyway-like-no-other-which-thousands-walk-past-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/662875\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic alleyway like no other which thousands walk past daily"},"content":{"rendered":"

The alleyway, just off Dale Street, is filled with unqiue shops\"SecretLeather Lane in Liverpool city centre<\/p>\n

Hidden away down a historic alley, in the shadow of one of Liverpool\u2019s most legendary nightclubs, is a cluster of small, distinctive independent businesses. Just one street over from Eberle Street\u2019s GBar lies Leather Lane.<\/a><\/p>\n

This narrow passage is home to a hairdresser’s, a lifestyle store, the famed Hope Chambers building and, as of this month, a newly opened bakery. In contrast to the constant movement on the surrounding roads – with thousands passing along Dale Street<\/a> at its foot each day – Leather Lane remains a quieter space.<\/p>\n

Like many of Liverpool city centre<\/a>\u2019s old lanes and alleys, the lane is loved for preserving the medieval and early-modern street pattern on which the city developed.<\/p>\n

The lane takes its name from the former Leather Hall, a leather market that operated here until 1833. When the market relocated to Gill Street off Brownlow Hill, the name remained attached. Fast forward to today, and Leather Lane is often described as a tangible reminder of Liverpool\u2019s past, nestled discreetly among the city\u2019s larger, grander streets.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Daily Manna Bakery on Leather Lane in Liverpool city centre<\/p>\n

The latest business to call Leather Lane home is The Daily Manna. At its helm is Yesseline Diaz, a mum living in Fairfield, who has been baking in her kitchen for years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although an opportunity came up to take over shop number nine in the alleyway and she thought it was time to take her business to the next level.<\/p>\n

Inside the quaint space, decked out in light pink tones with a simplistic design, you will find pastries, flan and chocolate cake. However, it is the brownies and peanut butter cookies that have been flying off the shelves since opening earlier in December.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old owner told the ECHO:<\/a> “It\u2019s my first shop in the industry, but I’ve been working in it for years. I made everything in my home for the last two years, but I was offered this space through a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor now, we are just preparing a little bite of our desserts every day until people get to know who we are and where we are. We make them fresh every day, so we don\u2019t want to have to throw them out.<\/p>\n

\"InsideInside The Daily Manna Bakery on Leather Lane in Liverpool city centre<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sister makes cakes in our home country, and so when I visited, she taught me, and then I continued doing it in my own kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hard for me to be my own boss, but I am learning and trying as I go. All the recipes are my own, which I\u2019ve made through trial and testing. I tried some courses but thought it was better to do my own thing on the cakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yesseline moved to Liverpool after living in Spain for 40 years. Now, she has her family back together again, living with her dad, brothers and her daughter, who she is currently teaching her recipes.<\/p>\n

She explained how each days is a 5am start for her to make 30 of her best items to ensure they are fresh day in, day and out and there is as little waste as possible. For now. Yesseline is still gauging the amount of the demand there is for her bakery in the area.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cWe chose the name because it is in the Bible. There are Bible quotes all around the store, and that is something I am very passionate about. I want to let others know about the Bible through my baking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YesselineYesseline Diaz with some of her best sellers from Leather Lane’s The Daily Manna<\/p>\n

Manna in the Bible is the miraculous, bread-like substance God provided to the Israelites daily in the desert for 40 years after the Exodus from Egypt.<\/p>\n

In the future, Yesseline hopes to establish a bar and takeaway options with the bakery. Just two doors down from Yesseline\u2019s shop is the LGBTQ+ lifestyle shop, Bearskin.<\/p>\n

Although positioned within the city’s Pride Quarter, the establishment can be overlooked as it concentrates far more on its interior offerings rather than its external appearance.<\/p>\n

Manager Ken Bryce, known to many in the community<\/a> as Spiker, explained that discretion remains central to the operation as the security and wellbeing of the community is and will forever be a primary concern.<\/p>\n

\"LifestyleLifestyle store BearSkin found on Leather Lane(Image: Andy Teebay)<\/p>\n

Bearskin carries everything from sought-after underwear and fetish labels such as Locker Gear and Addiction to an extensive selection of accessories tailored for the queer community.<\/p>\n

Taking pride in being the city’s “only gay-owned and gay-managed lifestyle store”, the shop\u2019s top-selling items include Andrew Christian underwear, Breedwell harnesses and Maskulo briefs – all of which can also be purchased online.<\/p>\n

Ken, originally from Scotland but now living in Aigburth<\/a>, told the ECHO: “It took us some time to figure out what the community in Liverpool wanted and needed. The store is for everyone within the community.”<\/p>\n

The brand was established by Ken and his partner of 14 years. After Ken\u2019s partner died of covid<\/a> in 2020, he wanted to keep the business running in his honour – and with more than 30 years of retail experience, he knew he was capable of doing so.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI’ve been in retail since I was 16 and I had a similar shop in Glasgow which did a little bit of everything – punk, rock and fetish.<\/p>\n

\"ThomasThomas Rigby’s on Dale Street is at the bottom of Leather Lane(Image: TMC PLC)<\/p>\n

“So I had all the knowledge, but when I came to Liverpool, I realised Liverpool had nothing like this beforehand, nothing to serve the LGBTQ+ community anyway. It has great bars and nightclubs, but it’s geared towards a younger and club-focused crowd.<\/p>\n

“There was nothing for the older gay guys, and even those who were younger, there were no shops for them to buy from. We had to remind ourselves that we aren\u2019t in Manchester and we don\u2019t have Canal Street or as big as a community, so we had to be realistic to make the store work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company started years ago in the Baltic Market\u2019s Red Brick Market<\/a> but moved to Leather Lane to fit in with the rest of Liverpool\u2019s LGBTQ+ venues dotted in and around Stanley Street – an area where the store could be \u201cmuch more visible\u201d and in line with its target audience.<\/p>\n

Ken has been thankful for how welcoming Liverpool has been to the store – which he appreciates is an alternative to the typical idea of a clothing shop. Despite its exterior, the store has a welcoming vibe inside and boasts private changing rooms to ensure those visiting feel at ease when searching for their next purchase.<\/p>\n

The Glaswegian, who has been living in Liverpool for more than a decade, added: \u201cIt has taken a bit of time but we are starting to pick up business-wise and we are starting to get well known. Our website sales have been increasing worldwide. We think the brand has the potential to go elsewhere but are looking for investors currently as we have had some interest from Gran Canaria.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The alleyway, just off Dale Street, is filled with unqiue shopsLeather Lane in Liverpool city centre Hidden away…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,2348,179,2349,8838,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-662875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-history","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-liverpool-city-centre","14":"tag-nostalgia","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115809599408358756","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}