the slavering baby

The green spaces and places of Leeds
stutterdog
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Post by stutterdog »

Being in my mid -sixties,is there anyone out there remember the slavering baby at Adel crags or woods?It was the carved head of a baby with water coming out of it's mouth into a bowl with a metal cup attached with a chain. My mother would take us there in 1948 to 53.It was a local beauty spot and on fine days in the school hols was well frequented by lots of people. There was also a cafe there in a little stone hut .They served tea and sandwiches. I used to love this place as there were lots of things to do such as paddling in the stream, climbing on the rocks and playing hide and seek with my brother. I tried to find this place earlier this year and parked in the car park off long causeway>it didn't look familiar and I could not remember which footpath to take. So not wanting to get lost I got back in the car( I had the wife with me and it was muddy) Could anybody give me directions from the car park down into the woods and is it far?
ex-Armley lad

LS1
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Post by LS1 »

It's still there and also so is part of the old tea rooms. There was alot of work going on to upgade the piping to take water from Eccup thru the woods to Leeds a few years ago and it is near there. Park up near the cricket club and walk into the woods towards the Birkdales, I can never rememer exactly how to get there but I always seem to find it. babys's head is long gone and it's very overgrown. Worth a look though. Also if you climb over the gate past the baby, you can see the top of the pipework. Once was there and the padlock was gone so being inquisitive hada look down. It went about 20-30 ft down, opened into a large room with some form of pumping equipment in it, with a hugh pipe running through with water gushing down. Unfortuantley no pictures of it though - not terribly exciting either!Have a look elswhere on here there is another thread about this. maybe try doign a search for slabbering or slavering or something similar, it has different names!!

LS1
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Post by LS1 »


Phill_dvsn
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Post by Phill_dvsn »

I've a pic of the baby well if anyone doesn't know what it is herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn/2426522894/
My flickr pictures are herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn/Because lunacy was the influence for an album. It goes without saying that an album about lunacy will breed a lunatics obsessions with an album - The Dark side of the moon!

stutterdog
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Post by stutterdog »

LS1 wrote: It's still there and also so is part of the old tea rooms. There was alot of work going on to upgade the piping to take water from Eccup thru the woods to Leeds a few years ago and it is near there. Park up near the cricket club and walk into the woods towards the Birkdales, I can never rememer exactly how to get there but I always seem to find it. babys's head is long gone and it's very overgrown. Worth a look though. Also if you climb over the gate past the baby, you can see the top of the pipework. Once was there and the padlock was gone so being inquisitive hada look down. It went about 20-30 ft down, opened into a large room with some form of pumping equipment in it, with a hugh pipe running through with water gushing down. Unfortuantley no pictures of it though - not terribly exciting either!Have a look elswhere on here there is another thread about this. maybe try doign a search for slabbering or slavering or something similar, it has different names!! Thanks LS1, I'll have a look from that side,although thats not the way we went years ago.We came from the lawnswood side having got off the tram there.
ex-Armley lad

stutterdog
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Post by stutterdog »

Phill_dvsn wrote: I've a pic of the baby well if anyone doesn't know what it is herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn/2426522894/ Thanks for thepic. Phil.It looks familiar, shame about it being vandalised though.Dont these idiots realise they are destroying our heritage? They bshould string 'em up!
ex-Armley lad

sundowner
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Joined: Sun 22 Jun, 2008 4:11 pm

Post by sundowner »

stutterdog wrote: Phill_dvsn wrote: I've a pic of the baby well if anyone doesn't know what it is herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn/2426522894/ Thanks for thepic. Phil.It looks familiar, shame about it being vandalised though.Dont these idiots realise they are destroying our heritage? They bshould string 'em up! Hi stutterdog. This is one thing i just cant come to terms with vandals.Why is it that this generation vandalise things? We have Victorian grave stones that have stood since the eighteen hundreds pushed over. Monuments defaced its as though some of the young ones dont give a toss about our past.We may have been rough and ready in Hunslet were i come from but it would not have entered our heads to do this damage What is wrong with some of todays teenagers?

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Leodian
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Re: the slavering baby

Post by Leodian »

During a stroll in Adel Wood today (December 25 2016) I noticed that there is work going on at the Slabbering/Slavering/Babbling Baby spring. These are 2 of the photos that I took today and one that I took on July 26 2012 for comparison. There was no work going on when I was last there on November 4 2016 so it must have started recently. The 'face' where the water drained out seems to have been removed and so exposing bits of drain pipes, one looking newishy and the others old. I always assumed that water drained naturally out of the baby's 'face' but the bits of pipes suggest that at some stage water was channeled to drain through there. For some years now though water has drained out of the ground a few meters away (by a track not in the photos) to the left of the spring and just a little bit higher up which has caused the area by the track and spring to be usually muddy.

I hope the work is going on to perhaps put in a replacement for the very eroded 'face' of the spring and to improve its drainage. I hope the site is not going to be removed and just get filled-in.
SlabberingBaby(1)AdelWoodDec252016.jpg
SlabberingBaby(1)AdelWoodDec252016.jpg (194.37 KiB) Viewed 9448 times
SlabberingBaby(2)AdelWoodDec252016.jpg
SlabberingBaby(2)AdelWoodDec252016.jpg (195.58 KiB) Viewed 9448 times
SlabberingBabyJuly262012.jpg
SlabberingBabyJuly262012.jpg (201.18 KiB) Viewed 9448 times
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sparky415
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Re: the slavering baby

Post by sparky415 »

i would love to see it restored..... i remember the first time i saw it, about 35 years ago....
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Steve Jones
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Re: the slavering baby

Post by Steve Jones »

Has anyone been there since December to check if the head is still there/i know the spring had shifted a few feet away and trickled across the path as mentioned which is what i saw on my last visit in 2015.
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