Buslingthorpe Conservation Area

[String o' beads]

ClaphamCommoner wrote: Slightly outside the Buslingthorpe CA, I guess, but here goes anyway!Does anyone know when Ridge Road (just off Meanwood Road, opposite the Primrose pub) was demolished, along with all the streets that led off it, like Evesham Terrace, Forres Street, Viscount Terrace, Viscount Place, Viscount Street and the Speedwells (Place, St, Ave, Row, View, Grove and Road)? In the early-mid 70s, a friend of mine lived at 60 Ridge Road, one of only two houses remaining in Ridge Road by then, the other being (I think) an old vicarage though, strictly speaking, I think that's in Wharfedale Avenue, as access to it appears to be from there. These two houses remain today, and have been the only two houses in Ridge Road since I started going there in 1974. Then, as now, the road was completely overgrown with shrubbery and trees growing in the small space between Ridge Road and Meanwood Road where Evesham Terrace, Forres Street and the Viscounts had been. It feels like a country lane, and it's hard to believe Meanwood Road is only a few yards away. On the other (south-western) side of Ridge Road, there was and is a steep grass and bracken bank between the road and the track that leads up onto Woodhouse Ridge. The roadway itself has always been muddy and grassy but, when I last looked at it in the spring, I noticed that in fact beneath the mud you can still see the original stone setts of the roadway, and beneath the undergrowth are remains of the pavement and kerb. Very ghostly!And yet, despite Ridge Road having been so overgrown, isolated and rural-feeling in 1974 (it's been partially cleared up and thinned out now so it appears less isolated and nearer to Meanwood Road than it did in the 70s), at least some of the streets off it were still there in 1965 (I have found photos of some Viscounts and Speedwells on Leodis) and the rest of Ridge Road was still there, though derelict, in 1968. (Albert Street and Mosely St, at the bottom of Ridge Rd, near the junction with Meanwood Rd, seem to have gone by 1962.) However, a friend recalls another friend of ours having lived in Ridge Road sometime in the early 70s (1971-3) which suggests not all Ridge Rd was demolished in the late 60s. I am doing some research into the area and would really love to know if anyone can confirm when Ridge Road (except the two remaining detached houses) was demolished, and when all the short little side streets (Viscounts, Evesham, Forres, Speedwells, etc) went. Also!!! One of the illustrated maps on the Woodhouse Ridge nature trail shows a house on the Ridge called Strawberry Hall. Does anyone know where this was?Thanks very much for any help you can give. You all seem to have great memories, so I'm counting on you! There's a mention of a Strawberry Cottage in the comments about Melville Street in Woodhouse on Leodis.http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... =FULLCould this be your Strawberry Hall?

[Jogon]

GeordxNice picc - like visiting me Granny there '64. Buslingthorpe has always looked Leeds 1600's to me.I urge you all to buy your eggs from Meanwood Urban Farm.

[mark1978]

Had a little wander round Buslingthorpe today and noticed a couple of developments:(1) Middle-aged couple and friend with chainsaw clearing the undergrowth to the side of the old Scott Hall Farm house. Didn't get a proper look but the upper windows have possibly been replaced too. Should have asked 'em!(2) The Springhill Tavern (latterly Gunby's electrical shop) has metal hoardings around it, 'Building Site Keep Out' signs up and the boards are off the windows! This has been the case for a month or two now and there doesn't seem to have been much action since. You can see inside the first floor though - not much to see mind, just seriously peeling paint, old striplight fittings and industrial quantities of pigeon muck.The woods on the north side of Bus Lane are an enjoyable ramble for half an hour or so - lots of ancient wooden steps set into the old hillside, and the odd pile of mossy brickwork that's probably been there since the slum clearances. I was trying to work out, without much success, where the old windmill must have stood!    

[Jogon]

The old Tavern clings on when all else is long gone, Buslingthorpe Vale is still (just) navigable on foot to the old stone bridge over the beck to Bus Green.Higher up Bus Lane 'Stonegate' tho visible on Google has now gone

[liits]

mark1978 wrote: I was trying to work out, without much success, where the old windmill must have stood!     Here's the 1891 map of the windmill overlaid on Google Earth. If you click the red X above, you'll get a bigger version.

[mark1978]

Thanks - that was more or less the spot I was looking. Bit surprised though as it suggests the mill was built into a very, very steep slope! Unless that area was landscaped when the Prince Philip fields came into existence?

[Jogon]

MarkI think this is just off Liits' map overlay, but gives a flavour of the place, looks rural.    And looking up Buslingthorpe Vale, possibly Tavern at top?A good way of getting to a selection of such shots (leodis search is cumbersome) is to search in Google > (eg) "Buslingthorpe Vale" > (not normal google search but 'Images' > This will then throw up a selection of what's available and you can either go to image or to page which will have more info.Search on egLorry BankSpringhill RoadBuslingthorpe ValeStonegate + Buslingthorpe

[mark1978]

Oh don't worry, I've spent a LOT of time going through the Buslingthorpe pics on Leodis! It looks almost idyllic, but then these old b&w snaps always seem to be taken on a very sunny day...That does look like the tavern at the top of the second one, which makes the Buslingthorpe Vale sign halfway up a little confusing.At some point I quite fancy doing a tour of the area armed with printouts of some of these Leodis shots and taking some 'then and now' snaps - anyone in?

[Jogon]

Ghost of the pastSame building & Sign mid 1950's, lower mid right