Railway photo help please.

arry_awk · Post by **arry_awk** » Mon 13 Aug, 2007 7:25 pm

Hi LS1Yes I have been along those roads recently(Gelderd and Whitehall(in a friend's car) but it has all changed so much under the bridges.I was away in the RAF and lived down south (:>0) !for 20 yrs before returning to Leeds so never sawthe changes happening in that sector.That pic that shows a sign pointing to Holbeck Stnjust in front of the bridge buttress looks familiar and there must have been another entrance to the Station (Maybe the Low Level one, which I never used),but I do remember coming home on leave in the early 50's and coming down that stairwayon to theTalavera street entrance. Had to walk home to Burley Rdand the Rosebanks. Couldn't afford a taxi on LAC's pay!I think there had been a derailment further into Leeds and we had to get off at Holbeck and make our own way home!Best I can do old mate from my crumbling memory!CheersArry

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Mon 13 Aug, 2007 7:29 pm

arry awk wrote: Hi LS1Yes I have been along those roads recently(Gelderd and Whitehall(in a friend's car) but it has all changed so much under the bridges.I was away in the RAF and lived down south (:>0) !for 20 yrs before returning to Leeds so never sawthe changes happening in that sector.That pic that shows a sign pointing to Holbeck Stnjust in front of the bridge buttress looks familiar and there must have been another entrance to the Station (Maybe the Low Level one, which I never used),but I do remember coming home on leave in the early 50's and coming down that stairwayon to theTalavera street entrance. Had to walk home to Burley Rdand the Rosebanks. Couldn't afford a taxi on LAC's pay!I think there had been a derailment further into Leeds and we had to get off at Holbeck and make our own way home!Best I can do old mate from my crumbling memory!CheersArry Cheers Arry, I find it strange and interesting how the area has changed so much since those old sepia phot's I posted further up. - It'd be great to have a dig up there, see if there is any old railway stuff underneath. Sheepscar Interchange also is an area that has undergone so much change it is near totally unrecognisable from what it used to look like.

Phill_d · Post by **Phill_d** » Mon 13 Aug, 2007 7:54 pm

Great stuff Arry. Love the old tales! Yes i hadn't realised the entrance just missed Wellington road by a few feet! Anyway Ls1 there's nothing up on top where the high level station was as i've had a look. Funny thing happened a few weeks ago as i was walking over the bridge near the gyratory towards the dingy subway, Quite a bit in front of me was this real stunnning bird going to walk through the tunnel on her own which i thought was rather brave of her! Anyway she entered the subway & then suddenly darted back out & started to climb up the bank where Holbeck high level station used to be, I'd slowed down considerably earlier on so as not to spook the lass & let her get to the other end not feeling stalked (akward situation for fellas that) so i hung back a bit more thinking this is very strange indeed! Blimey it was knickers down & going like a good un! I couldn't believe it! Ha! My camera zoom never went into action HONEST

) I've a few shots of the Holbeck view from there where the high level was if you want to have a look Ls1 http://flickr.com/search/?q=holbeck%20l ... 5972%40N00

jf · Post by jf » Mon 13 Aug, 2007 7:56 pm

If you look on Drapesy's picture from Google Earth, the floor slab of the rectangular gas works building is still present inside the gyratory. If you look carefully on Google Earth you can still see the route of some of the sidings - there may still be some rails in the tarmac.Here's a 1956 1:10560 map, overlaid on Google Earth. There isn't much of the area that isn't covered with tracks.

drapesy · Post by **drapesy** » Mon 13 Aug, 2007 9:56 pm

In response to Arry - very interesting memories - as you say there were plenty of bridges round there!!! If you look at LS1 excellent aerial shot - you'll see there actually 4 bridges!! - the two in the original shot - plus the 'Appleyard Bridge' that was obscured on the north side(and so caused confusion) - but also, on the south side a bridge that carried tracks to the sidings adjacent to Talavera street.If you compare the Google earth Image I put up with LS1's you'll see that this bridge on the south side has gone - but the photographers of both the 1915 and 1932 pics must have been standing more or less under this bridge, or just through it, when they took their pictures. I have found a pic of this on leodis - however dont be fooled - like the original pic the problem with photos taken at ground level is that they tend to obscure whats behind them - with this picture you could be forgiven for thinking ther's nothing behind - in fact 3 bridges are almost totally obscured!!

drapesy · Post by **drapesy** » Mon 13 Aug, 2007 10:02 pm

And here's the pic. Wellington Road to left, Gelderd road to right - wonder if you remember the John Smith's ad Arry? its obviously no coincidence that this bridge and the 'Appleyard' bridge had adverts but the others didn't - there'd have been little point as you would hardly be able to see them. The guy at the right hand side of the pic is stood pretty close to where the 1915 and 1932 photographers were.Incidentally I suspect that the dates of these photos are significant - they're not just snapshots but were taken by a council department before work was carried out. It must have been thought pretty essential work to widen the bridge openings in 1915 - most resources would have been going to the war effort I would have thought.

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Mon 13 Aug, 2007 10:07 pm

Phill_d wrote: Great stuff Arry. Love the old tales! Yes i hadn't realised the entrance just missed Wellington road by a few feet! Anyway Ls1 there's nothing up on top where the high level station was as i've had a look. Funny thing happened a few weeks ago as i was walking over the bridge near the gyratory towards the dingy subway, Quite a bit in front of me was this real stunnning bird going to walk through the tunnel on her own which i thought was rather brave of her! Anyway she entered the subway & then suddenly darted back out & started to climb up the bank where Holbeck high level station used to be, I'd slowed down considerably early so as not to spook the lass & let her get to the other end not feeling stalked (akward situation for fellas that) so i hung back a bit more thinking this is very strange indeed! Blimey it was knickers down & going like a good un! I don't believe it! Ha! My camera zoom never went into action HONEST

) I've a few shots of the Holbeck view from there where the high level was if you want to have a look Ls1 http://flickr.com/search/?q=holbeck%20l ... 5972%40N00 he he - great story that. I had a look up there myself a few weeks ago, and agree, being on the viaduct does give you a strange feeling. Almost like the calm in the midst of people going about their business in the city, and the feeling of what it would have been like stading there 50 years ago!!!! Anyhow, I do think it's a shame that there is nothing left of it (Holbeck HL)- call me an old sentimentalist, but I certainly can see how was totally removed with no trace whatsoever.

drapesy · Post by **drapesy** » Mon 13 Aug, 2007 10:20 pm

If you put 'Holbeck Station' into the Leodis search engine you'll find some interesting pics of the HL station taken in 1959, a year after its closed, so derelict - I suspect the pictures were taken prior to demolition. It has to be admitted though that the station was a bit of a waste of time - it even closed 5 years before the 'Beeching axe'. as Phill pointed out it wasn't really in Holbeck - and the City centre stations were really just as close for people in Holbeck. Trains would hardly have got up any steam after leaving Leeds Central before they got to Holbeck HL !!!

stevief · Post by **stevief** » Tue 14 Aug, 2007 12:31 pm

Scandy Bramley wrote: You guys are AMAZING!!! Re-SPECT for all the investigations and info...tho I suspect your partners are like mine and arry's? "Are you on that bloody Secret Leeds site again???" I feel privileged to witness this Scandy.We've 2 seasoned heavy-weights from Secret Leeds going head to head.Not exactly 'Rumble in the Jungle'but a fascinating encounter.In one corner phil-tunnel king, railway expert and current What and Where champ.In the other corner drapesy,doyen of lost pubs and cinemas and currentWhat and Where question master.I'd say drapesy was slightly in front on points,so far.What's next lads-cameras at the ready and 'Pixels at Dawn'(groan)!!

drapesy · Post by **drapesy** » Tue 14 Aug, 2007 1:11 pm

Aww shucks...!honestly though there's absolutely no falling out with Phill on my part - I think the stuff he puts on secret Leeds is brilliant - and check out his tunnel pics on Flickr - he goes to places few dare to tread and brings back some fantastic shots -check this out for instance!http://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn ... 232087942/