SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Hi All. back again.I'll add my bit in small chunks so I don't get confused. I easily get confused!!As Pashy2 mentioned, there was the tunnel under the railway embankment at the back of Cow Close Road. In the mid to late 70's this was "blocked" at the end with oil drums filled with concrete and steel beams set upright in them. There was enough room at the side of them to walk through easily and into the short tunnel. At the other side of the tunnel you emerged into a steep sided "valley" with the footpath curving round to the right and up towards the Fireclay. As you followed this path from the tunnel, the first thing on the left was the remains of what my Uncle told me was the waste water pumping station. There remained the foundations and lower brickwork of where it is believed the pump stood. At the end of this structure was what appeared to be the top of a brick lined shaft, probably about 15 feet in diameter. This was about 20 feet deep and filled with rubble etc. I don't know if it was deeper than this and had been filled/capped, but I didn't get too close to the edge to find out. (I don't like heights!) Also in this area were several small brick lined tunnels emerging from the valley sides which led into drainage channels and small square ponds (Good for Tadpoles) around the brick structure. Continuing up the path, on the left was a large, steel lined chute with red brick walls to the sides. I would have imagined this would have been used for filling trucks of some sort, although it was a fair distance from the actual rail track bed. The path continued on into the then developed Fireclay. There was no evidence at that time of where the path or indeed rail tracks went further.I hope I'm not rambling on too much! If I remember correctly, there was one line that branched from the main line at Farnley Junction that went over the tunnel at Royds Lane, again over the bridge further round at the back of the coal yard (both now gone), along the back of Makro and the Kirkdales to D&R. I seem to remember various sets of points at the front of Dunlops forming sidings. There were various capstans around the Dunlops site that were used to drag the railway trucks with cable hawsers into the buildings for loading. The rails carried on over the D&R bridge over Whitehall Road as 2 lines. One stopped at about the area of the previously mentioned tunnel with buffers. The other line seemed to carry further on, but the track had been lifted by the 80's.Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of the things described!More soon.O

Omegaman wrote: If I remember correctly, there was one line that branched from the main line at Farnley Junction that went over the tunnel at Royds Lane, again over the bridge further round at the back of the coal yard (both now gone), along the back of Makro and the Kirkdales to D&R. IO On Royds Lane, next to where Markro now is was Yorkshire Henebique - a concrete company who must have gone bust in the seventies, they were always a bit dodgy. If I remember correctly they built the cooling towers at Fiddlers Ferry Power Station Widnes.

Trojan wrote: Omegaman wrote: If I remember correctly, there was one line that branched from the main line at Farnley Junction that went over the tunnel at Royds Lane, again over the bridge further round at the back of the coal yard (both now gone), along the back of Makro and the Kirkdales to D&R. IO On Royds Lane, next to where Markro now is was Yorkshire Henebique - a concrete company who must have gone bust in the seventies, they were always a bit dodgy. If I remember correctly they built the cooling towers at Fiddlers Ferry Power Station Widnes. Hi Trojan,I believe this site was where the Makro is actually built. I dimly remember walking here with my parents in the early 70's. It was a large area with the obvious signs of large amounts of concrete all over. There was also a small concrete company (Tarmac Topmix) on Royds lane. This is the overflow car park next to Makro now.Great stuff, this!!O

[quotenick="Curlew"] Chris W wrote: Does anybody have any information of a railway branch that ran into New Farnley, Leeds?The remains to which you refer are those of a mineral railway track that carried the raw materials, (coal, iron-ore and clay) to the Farnley Iron Company and Fireclay Works during the Industrial Revolution. The Company was founded in 1844 by the four Armitage brothers, sons of Edward Armitage of Farnley Hall.From your siting near to Well Holme Farm, the track curved in a S.W. direction past the brick structures which were air-shafts for underground workings and through the field to the west of Low Moor Side Lane and the site of the now demolished Long Row (originally miners' terraced cottages) to Sowden Pit. This pit was situated to the west of Low Moor Side Lane, close to the junction with Walsh Lane. From Sowden, the railway continued in a S.S.E. direction, crossing Low Moor Side Lane and through the field to the S.W. of Walsh Lane to meet and cross Whitehall Road at a point between what is now the Jewish Cemetery and the adjacent semi-detached houses, (the gateways still remain) Here, the railway headed in a S.E. direction down what is still called the 'wagon line' to a point just before it met the footpath from Wentworth Farm across the fields to Gildersome. Here it forked, with one element heading S. to Farnley Briggs Pit, (A large pit owned by Farnley Iron Co. In 1896, 125 colliers worked here extracting ironstone and manufacturing quality coal). The other section of track continued S.E. to the pits located close to Gelderd Road at St. Bernard's Mills. These were Farnley Simpson Pit, ( another large Farnley Iron Co.-owned pit, employing 96 men in 1896 on the extraction of manufacturing grade coal and ironstone), and Farnley Wood Lift Pit (coal and ironstone). The revival of this thread reminded me to go have a look, and your post is so so definitive.I have a 1920's AI atlas guide for leeds and the "mineral railway" pops up from the ironworks over lawns lane swinging round by the Sowden pit, onto briggs and as you say ends up at simpson pit and farnley wood lift pit, two pits I did not know about until I double checked the route on the 1895 OS maps.On the 1895 latter map the crossing over lawns lane sees the line split in two with a short branch to what may be another pit. However by 1920 a "reservoir" is marked at that point and I would not be suprised if materials were sent in by rail and waste taken out by rail. The "Mineral railway" is a different animal to the main line railways being more of a tramway set across the fields to link whichever pits were working at the time to the ironworks and fireclay works destinations. Almost like a giant train set you could pull lines up to old pits and set them out again to go to new pits, and as you indicate the pits themselves came and went so the line would change shape and destination to accomodate it.The tramways were extensive in Wortley and farnley and of course we see them in Gipton, Austhorpe, Osmondthorpe, all over ponte Lane and Middleton where an extensive colliery tramway system existed even BEFORE the Miggy railway we know today and like the small embankment in farnley, you can see a cutting in Miggy woods that must be 250+ years old. This was horse pulled but our Farnley line will have been engine pulled. I'm well out of my depth here but as the tramway/railway would have been smaller/lighter?? I assume smaller engines pulled smaller coal wagons than we see on the main lines into the deep pits of the later 20th century - as I say I liken the whole thing to a big train set????

Curlew wrote: In addition to the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the area, we should not forget that it was only through the exploitation of the combined labour of hundreds of New Farnley workers that the Armitage family were able to enjoy their opulent lifestyle. I assume that a Farnley Fireclay produced brick is therefore the one titled "armitage" which I see a lot of poking around old areas of Leeds.I also see "Wortley" and "Middleton".Wonder if anyone has seen any bricks named from other Leeds brickworks???

electricaldave wrote: I did a quick search for the crash on Farnley Triangle.Here's the resulthttp://www.class47.co.uk/c47_zoom_v2.php?img=0 ... loco=47402 Thanks for finding that Dave - It appears I was incorrect in stating the Mail was on the move and the T.P.U. stationary, it was the other way around.However it was 32 years ago and we only had the telly news to go on at the time, still remember it like it was yesterday though.

Curlew and Omegaman - thank you both very much for your input into this facinating subject, it just gets more and more intruigeing.What I once thought was a bridge carrying little more than a headshunt for D & R has now proven to have been just the start of a whole facinating network of industrial railway.Would I be correct then in thinking that the older buildings still in use by Geldards Coaches were, as I first thought, railway orientated buildings ??

Chris W wrote: I have discovered a map of New Farnley 1847 - 1891 showing the railway system here (you may have to enlarge the map).http://www.francisfrith.com/new-farnley/maps/ Chris - that is a very useful map, if you compare it side by side with the latest images on Google Earth of the area where the line crossesLow Moor Side Ln and then Whitehall Rd, then look at the area behind the Jewish cemetary there are some pretty good Earth works visible that tie in nicely with the map.Nice one mate

The Parksider wrote: Curlew wrote: In addition to the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the area, we should not forget that it was only through the exploitation of the combined labour of hundreds of New Farnley workers that the Armitage family were able to enjoy their opulent lifestyle. I assume that a Farnley Fireclay produced brick is therefore the one titled "armitage" which I see a lot of poking around old areas of Leeds.I also see "Wortley" and "Middleton".Wonder if anyone has seen any bricks named from other Leeds brickworks??? Armitages Brickworks were between Woodlesford and Garforth and at Howley Park Woodkirk. They now belong to Marshalls.

Trojan wrote: The Parksider wrote: Curlew wrote: In addition to the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the area, we should not forget that it was only through the exploitation of the combined labour of hundreds of New Farnley workers that the Armitage family were able to enjoy their opulent lifestyle. I assume that a Farnley Fireclay produced brick is therefore the one titled "armitage" which I see a lot of poking around old areas of Leeds.I also see "Wortley" and "Middleton".Wonder if anyone has seen any bricks named from other Leeds brickworks??? Armitages Brickworks were between Woodlesford and Garforth and at Howley Park Woodkirk. They now belong to Marshalls. I stand corrected (you are always right darn you). I assume that "Farnley" may have been "the name on the brick" from the Farnley brickworks. It was I think on the Gelderd Road/Raffles lane junction and maybe took fireclay from Raffles pit. Not a big brickworks.