What was/is this area in LS16 used for?

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Mon 16 Jan, 2012 2:27 pm

I dont know about it stretching as far as that. I thought that Robin Hood been from Yorkshire was something to do with him been from Barnsdale Forest which was what is now in South Yorkshire? Most of that Robin Hood stuff is pure fabrication apparently.

Vindaloo · Post by **Vindaloo** » Wed 03 Jul, 2013 9:28 am

chameleon wrote: Start here Leodian -http://www.secretleeds.co.uk/forum/Mess ... ighLight=1 This area was indeed an old quarry. It was active back in the 50's. No Elf & Safety in those days --they would set off the rock blasts at the end of the day without any warning. I happened to be on the quarry rim when they did. Got showered with small stones and the shock wave hit the bottom of my feet like a hammer blow.The Clayton Wood ponds were test excavations for the quarry I believe. They are much deeper than they look. One Sunday morning sometime around 1956, the police came knocking on every door in the Ireland Wood estate to gather a search party, my father joined them. Some kid had gone missing in the woods. Hours later they dragged his body from one of the ponds. There was talk of the ponds being drained, but they are still there today.

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Mon 08 Jul, 2013 2:23 am

Blimey Vindaloo, you've got a good memory being able to remember back to a particular Sunday morning back in 1956! Alas it appears that Clayton Ponds have claimed quite a few victims over the decades. There was some recent kerfuffle about some builder having allegedly purchased the land where the 2 ponds are after the Fox and Hounds public house angling club gave up their lease.The builder apparently had plans to fill the 2 ponds in and build several houses on the land. However if they are as deep as you say then they would have taken quite a bit of filling. Personally I dont know who'd want to live up there, although 'old man Shipley's' cottage is still lived in, its sandwiched between the woods, the ponds and an industrial estate. The ponds must still be good for fishing as they are well used by lots of anglers. I even see people night fishing there some nights, you can see the light of the camp fires through the trees on a night from my flats.

sparky415 · Post by **sparky415** » Thu 20 Feb, 2014 10:14 pm

jonleeds wrote: . I personally (and single-handedly!) spearheaded a campaign where I informed English Nature that the quarry was an important breeding site for Great Crested and Common Newts as there are several freshwater springs which originate in the quarry. As a result of this the Burford Group as part of the planning deal had to build alternative 'breeding pools' which were constructed off Low Lane by the dog kennels. For Woodside Quarry:http://flic.kr/s/aGF1NWDSu4For Clayton Woods:http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwH7eoPEnjoy! eerrm...no you didn't.....It was myself, who started the ball rolling through Mandy Spry, I got the bods at EN down and together with video footage of gravid females and males in courtship attire i put a spoke in the developers wheels. Until I made contact they had no idea. i was also the one who stopped the 'mill pond' being drained and made into a carpark. The area of water adjacent the beck below salisbury mews.

sparky415 · Post by **sparky415** » Thu 20 Feb, 2014 10:29 pm

The top pond goes to about 5 foot, but the bottom pond, in the corner nearest the ring road gets to around 16 foot. I ahev fished the ponds extensively for 29 years.

sparky415 · Post by **sparky415** » Thu 20 Feb, 2014 10:42 pm

There are two 'air raid' shelters in clayton woods that are easy to find. Follow the path up from the dog kennels towards tinshill (not the quarry), then after about 400 yards a railway bridge is reached, the path forks there, take the left hand fork, ten yards later look to your left and theres two large concrete pits,. they were shelters. Also i beleive the other concrete 'bunker' towards moor grange was also a war bunker. Many years ago (in the 1960's) there were a couple of ponds there teaming with life, but slowly oger the years these filled with silt and debris and now all that remains is a few puddles of orangey colour stagnant water,. Its a shame they couldnt be dredged and improved back to their former glory. I have spent my whole life in and around clayton woods.

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Thu 20 Feb, 2014 10:43 pm

sparky415 wrote: jonleeds wrote: . I personally (and single-handedly!) spearheaded a campaign where I informed English Nature that the quarry was an important breeding site for Great Crested and Common Newts as there are several freshwater springs which originate in the quarry. As a result of this the Burford Group as part of the planning deal had to build alternative 'breeding pools' which were constructed off Low Lane by the dog kennels. For Woodside Quarry:http://flic.kr/s/aGF1NWDSu4For Clayton Woods:http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwH7eoPEnjoy! eerrm...no you didn't.....It was myself, who started the ball rolling through Mandy Spry, I got the bods at EN down and together with video footage of gravid females and males in courtship attire i put a spoke in the developers wheels. Until I made contact they had no idea. i was also the one who stopped the 'mill pond' being drained and made into a carpark. The area of water adjacent the beck below salisbury mews. Nice to hear from a fellow nature lover Sparky415, I contacted English Nature in 2006/7 and submitted photos of newts, although the photos I'd sent turned out to be common newts..! However Englih Nature sent a lady who I met on the ring road and we had a walk around the quarry where I showed her the ponds, then a few weeks later a gentleman came and had a walk around the lower part of the woodland where the ponds are now located. To be honest until reading your message this is the first I've heard from anyone else regarding the newts and the new 'receptor ponds' that Ramboll subsequently created. Who is responsible for maintaining the ponds (if anyone?). I attended a meeting with the Burford Group at Woodside Methodist church hall. They werent impressed when I mentioned the word newts. I posted various messages on local forums / websites trying to get other local folk to support my campaign so I felt like I'd had a hand in raising the issue. But if you want to claim this victory for yourself I dont mind. I'm more bothered about saving wildlife and their habitats than my own ego. heh heh heh!As for the Burford Group and their original plans the development seems to have fallen through, although I have noticed that the large gaudy 'Site For Sale' signs have all gone now which could either be that vandals and the weather have removed them. Or some new consortium of millionaires have set their sights on creating this 'Urban (Nightmare) Village'...

sparky415 · Post by **sparky415** » Thu 20 Feb, 2014 10:51 pm

Just ensuring that the facts are correct. The videos were handed in in 2001. I spoke (at length) with EN and found they were a bunch of pen-pushing fools who knew nothing about 'real' life.There are actually 5 species of amphibian in that quarry, the palmate newt being by far the most common. The videos i submitted were of the great crested newt. These are the only ones that are protected by law. I have studied this species intensively.

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Thu 20 Feb, 2014 11:30 pm

I cant say I've ever seen palmate newts ever, I knew the great crested newt was the only one protected by law but I thought notifying English Nature would be the best thing to do. Its sad what happened to the quarry about 10 years ago when the developers stripped it of 90% of the trees, bushes and other plantlife that had established itself over several decades. There used to be a bizarre mix of wildflowers / trees etc that had self seeded / been brought in by birds and other wildlife along with garden varieties that had been dumped and taken root. The whole place was like a nature reserve. Even though its now been several years since they did this the place still looks quite bare. The areas around the pool and springs get very lush and verdant over the summer with all kinds of water flora and fauna. I was told that the water must be very clean as its swarming with pond snails. Sad that so many of these motorcross bikers and youngsters that hang out in the quarry have to discard their beer and drinks cans into the waters. Where I live overlooks the quarry and woods and its remarkable how the first weeks of the summer holidays sees fires started out - sometimes several times per day. At least the police patrols on motocross bikes might discourage this.

sparky415 · Post by **sparky415** » Fri 21 Feb, 2014 10:26 am

Jonleeds, actually what you thougth were Smooth newts were actually palmates. There isn't many smooths in the quarry. I don't know is you know but there used to be two ponds next to the railway, these were full of amphibs, but were bulldozed over. Sadly.I cannot see them building on that site for many years, it's full of tipped stuff, so that is the hardest place to build due to subsidence. I spent many happy weekends in that quarry in my childhood and i remember it working very well and even the huge rocks that stood on top of each other which have long since toppled.