R.A.F aerial photography over Leeds in 1951.

liits · Post by **liits** » Thu 03 Oct, 2013 10:55 pm

Great Job, well done!I'd never realised that there were so many prefab houses in Leeds.

Post by **mhoulden** » Fri 04 Oct, 2013 4:40 am

Interesting stuff there, especially along Kirkstall Road and York Road. Leodis has lots of photos of houses taken just before they were torn down for slum clearances, but there aren't many photos taken halfway through, like the alphabet streets between Burley Road and Kirkstall Rd on flight line 5. It's also interesting seeing Kirkstall power station and the rows of houses on the site of what's now Cardigan Fields. Again, Leodis has a fair few street level photos but there aren't many aerial views that give it some sort of context of just how many there were. Holbeck is pretty unrecognisable because it's changed so many times and it'll be interesting sitting down with Old Maps to see how it compares.

yorkiesknob · Post by **yorkiesknob** » Fri 04 Oct, 2013 6:04 am

Great Stuff Phil, as a ex surveyor who use to do ground control for map making from aerial photos I found these of great interest. Going to re post a couple of photos on the Burley Road group on facebook if you don't mind. Thanks again Tony

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Fri 04 Oct, 2013 7:03 am

Glad you find them of interest fellas Yes by all means use what you like Tony. That's why I put them on the internet.Some of the photos are hard to recocgnise with all the changes to the areas over the years yes. I particularly found this York Road photo confusing at first, If it wasn't for the unmistakable Star Cinema on Glenthorpe Crescent.York Road doesn't exist as we know it today, a big space of grassland where the Torre's now stand. The background looking pretty rural indeed. I'm glad I've got them in flight order to scroll down, It's much easier to work out a few of the places I'm unsure about at the far parts of Armley and over Farnley. You can pretty much pin point the locations you know and find the exact line the plane flew this way. It's just a quick check on Google earth and old maps to verify then.

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Fri 04 Oct, 2013 8:51 am

mhoulden wrote: Interesting stuff there, especially along Kirkstall Road and York Road. Leodis has lots of photos of houses taken just before they were torn down for slum clearances, but there aren't many photos taken halfway through, like the alphabet streets between Burley Road and Kirkstall Rd on flight line 5. It's also interesting seeing Kirkstall power station and the rows of houses on the site of what's now Cardigan Fields. Again, Leodis has a fair few street level photos but there aren't many aerial views that give it some sort of context of just how many there were. Holbeck is pretty unrecognisable because it's changed so many times and it'll be interesting sitting down with Old Maps to see how it compares. IIRC the council condemned the alphabet streets in the 30s and started clearing them just before the war. Conflict and austerity meant that the job wasn't completed for 15 years. Most of the clearances were originally scheduled to be done in the 1940s and 50s. There must be a book about somewhere..

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Fri 04 Oct, 2013 9:18 am

Amazing Phil, thanks so much for adding them. Can't wait for the links to be up and running!

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Fri 04 Oct, 2013 9:22 am

LS1 wrote: Amazing Phil, thanks so much for adding them. Can't wait for the links to be up and running! Thanks Lee. I thought you would like them. It's a pity they haven't quite caught the bottom of Sheepscar and North Street that interests you. I'm not sure how they did these photos, if they looked on a map and picked the most industrial and logistical areas??They did 6 sweeps over Leeds, and almost every area was captured. But some areas are in the distance on all the angles. I'm going to mark the flight paths on a google image to see how they flew over Leeds, and any kind of pattern to it. I'll add some more photos and text over time.I have about half the links to the full size photos finished. I'll have the rest done by today Cardiarms wrote: mhoulden wrote: Interesting stuff there, especially along Kirkstall Road and York Road. Leodis has lots of photos of houses taken just before they were torn down for slum clearances, but there aren't many photos taken halfway through, like the alphabet streets between Burley Road and Kirkstall Rd on flight line 5. It's also interesting seeing Kirkstall power station and the rows of houses on the site of what's now Cardigan Fields. Again, Leodis has a fair few street level photos but there aren't many aerial views that give it some sort of context of just how many there were. Holbeck is pretty unrecognisable because it's changed so many times and it'll be interesting sitting down with Old Maps to see how it compares. IIRC the council condemned the alphabet streets in the 30s and started clearing them just before the war. Conflict and austerity meant that the job wasn't completed for 15 years. Most of the clearances were originally scheduled to be done in the 1940s and 50s. There must be a book about somewhere.. The photos were definitely taken in 1951.The actual tin of negatives was marked Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield 51/52.And the Festival of Britain on Woodhouse Moor at the time. There are a row of Spitfires parked on the grass. This photo is zoomed in from some considerable distance. It was taken from the Lovell Park area. That's amazing sharp quality for 60 year old pre-digital photography.

geoffb · Post by **geoffb** » Fri 04 Oct, 2013 11:03 am

This is brilliant, well done Phill. I am amazed at the quality, the questions it has set me to. Solve already, I will be busy for weeks. One to solve is when was Eastgate completed,I thought it was before 1951, and sheepscar gas holders, when were they replaced. It goes on and on. Once again thanks Phill

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Fri 04 Oct, 2013 11:23 am

geoffb wrote: This is brilliant, well done Phill. I am amazed at the quality, the questions it has set me to. Solve already, I will be busy for weeks. One to solve is when was Eastgate completed,I thought it was before 1951, and sheepscar gas holders, when were they replaced. It goes on and on. Once again thanks Phill Yes I was surprised the bottom of Eastgate wasn't finished by 1951 too.The Eastgate photos were done on the same 'line one' fly past as the Univerisity and Woodhouse shots.The Festival of Britain ran from the 23rd June 1951 to the 14th July 1951. It was opened by the Princess Royal. So we can narrow the date those photos were taken right down. It looks like they are still erecting this entrance on my aerial photo. There are only two of those festival star symbols visible.More info about the Festival of Britain in Leeds herehttp://leeds.festivalofbritain.woodhousemoor.com/191-2/

geoffb · Post by **geoffb** » Fri 04 Oct, 2013 1:59 pm

Is that a paddy train near to crossing by the Bridgefield from Waterloo pit, wow!!!