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Mabgate lies just north-east of the city centre, sandwiched between the busy A61 road to the west and residential areas to the east.

As the name implies it was one of the original roads into the city, and allegedly derives its name from Mable-gate, Mable being "a middle English term used to describe loose women", indicating a location where what we would now call sex workers could be found.

The area later developed from the end of the 18th century "as a series of woollen mills along the Lady Beck and by 1850 had become a dense area of industry and workers' houses" (Leeds City Council Mabgate Development Framework, 2007, quoted on Wikipedia).

Towards the end of the 20th century it became known as a centre of entertainment again, but the last two pubs (City of Mabgate and the Black Horse) have finally closed. Now (early 21st century) it is an area of "urban fringe" - small businesses, former factories, closed pubs and so on.