SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Very many years back there were still quite a lot of old style safe deposit boxes on the external walls of banks. Over the years most have gone, occasionally to be replaced by modern style boxes. I am now only aware of 3 old style boxes in the centre, or near centre, of the City of Leeds. I took some photos of them in January 2015 and I have looked around since but I've not spotted any more. I wonder if anyone knows of any others there or even in the wider Leeds?

These are photos that I took on January 27 2015 of the 'Night Safe' box at the Lloyds Bank on The Headrow. The first is a close-up of that box and the second is a wider view showing the building with the box.

As only up to 3 photos can be in one post I shall post photos of the other 2 boxes in following posts.

These are photos of the old 'Deposit Safe' box on the wall of what is currently a William Hill betting shop on 21-23 Boar Lane.

These are photos that I took on January 26 2015 showing the old wall deposit box on what used to a Midland Bank at the bottom of North Street (near Sheepscar).

I used that nearly every day, putting the takings, cash and cheques in a leather locked bag and retrieving it the following morning.

Leoian, Wow again. What a cracking idea for a set of photographs. Everybody knows what it is, there are lots of them about [or are there?] and they're the sort of thing that can be found during a casual wander with a camera [like benchmarks].
Like j.c.d I used them a lot. Our company banked with Midland Bank and their bags were a very thick waxed canvas with a lockable zip, very similar to the one below.

I've no idea what the zip was made from but it was as sharp as hell and I don't think I ever used the bag without rasping the back of my hand on the zip. When the Midland changed to HSBC the bags changed too. Small square black things that were not big enough take notes, I think it was a subtle attempt to stop people using the night safes.

Ex. Yorkshire Bank, Kirkstall Road.

NIGHT SAFE by Isambard Brunel, on Flickr

That's a nice one Brunel.

I wonder where there are any more?

Not in the centre, but I've got vague memories of one on the bank at the junction of Harrogate Road and Shadwell Lane.

I wonder if a lot got replaced by ATMs?

rikj wrote:Not in the centre, but I've got vague memories of one on the bank at the junction of Harrogate Road and Shadwell Lane.

I wonder if a lot got replaced by ATMs?

I wouldn't think so as these night safes were usually just a chute that carried the bank bag down into a vault but most large banks had them.
The pictures put on by Leodis are wonderful showing how majestic the buildings were that held our money in years gone by.

Having walked past it earlier there is one on the Barclays opposite the Parkinson steps. Another Chubb, though looks to have had a small plate fixed over the keyhole.