SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Phill the sidings you mention were built i think to service the leeds steel works that existed there before the war, later replaced (1948-49) by a steel stockholders owned by Leeds Utd chairman Harry Reynolds who my old man worked for; for forty odd years.The bridge near the Rex cinema mentioned by Tyke Bhoy carried,I believe the great northern railway line which ran as far as the container base at Stourton , I remember the original railway bridge,now the motorway bridge crossing Belle Ilse road, and walking along the disused track bed from the Rex to Stourton as a kid (a great adventure for a ten year old and his pals!) and thinking we had walked across five continents!! ( i have also posted this by error under a new thread. not enough web experience and too much buppy!!)

tabbycat don't be too down on yourself for starting a new thread, it is perhaps appropriate as we have moved from pubs through buildings to railways each of which have a seperate sectin in the forum

Hi Phill d ..hi allPhil..very true ..British Waterways wanted to upgrade the canals to increase the traffic of goods from Goole and Hull..to take goods traffic from the roads..I agreed with that and the company i worked for,as Shipping manager signed a referendum supporting it...But it was shelfed by the governement reason being that road traffic was much quicker...My company brought timber goods up from Hull in those days..the 50s..and Esso had a oil terminal just off clarence Road...in the new dock basin,which is now of course the Royal armouries complex..Its a great shame that the Government at the time would not support British Waterways..Just look at the heavy goods vehicles choking the roads approaching Leeds.....British Waterways were right...

drapesy wrote: I believe the correct spelling was actually "Leak" street not "Leek" street as I mistakenly put in my first post. Also I think its the case that the flats were always officially called "Hunslet Grange", but were almost invariably called 'Leak street flats' by Leeds folk, Yes, it was definitely Leek Street or Hunslet Grange

Hunslet Grange or Leek Street Flats was a system built flat and maisonette complex built in South Leeds in 1968. It outline design was developed by the Yorkshire Development Group which was design and sponsoring consortium created by Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham and Hull local authorities. Hunslet Grange was the largest single complex (of about 2,500 units) of an initial order placed in 1966 with Shepherd Construction of York for about 4,500 units. This was at the time the largest single order placed with a one builder for social housing. In common with other system built blocks Hunslet Grange developed problems with structural stability and water penetration leading to damp and condensation and prohibitively high fuel costs for tenants. Following a series of residents’ campaigns the complex was demolished in 1983. Found on http://www.prefabsareforpeople.org.uk/

Here's a map that shows the Leek Street before the flats were built

And here's one of the flats. To get an idea of the position of the flats compared to the original layout, the school at the bottom left hand corner appears to be the same building as the Leeds Athletic Institute on the map showing the flats.

Another map of the flats...the block in the middle top of this map is the one at the bottom right corner of the one above.

More of the flats...the building at the middle top of the map is the one at the bottom right corner of the previous map.Can't see any mention of the Pioneer Pub on them anywhere.

the pioneer was a pub which local leeds united fans would meet in the 70s .there was an offical leeds united supporters branch there but after a while leeds united revoked their membership because most of the lads were a biy "too lively" for the clubs liking.