What was/is this area in LS16 used for?

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Leodian
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Post by Leodian »

I would be grateful for any information on the large area in LS16 that looks like it is criss-crossed with tracks. I'm guessing they are motor cycle and/or BMX type tracks. What was the area originally? This link should bring up the area in question in a Google map view.http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=53. ... 0&t=h&z=16
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

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chameleon
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Post by chameleon »


CathJ
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Post by CathJ »

I think it was a quarry, can remember spending some of my misspent youth exploring it. There was a half submergered concrete structure that I believed was an old house for some scarey hermit but now I think back it was obviously something more productive to the quarry lol. It's funny what our childish minds come up with sometimes.

jdbythesea
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Post by jdbythesea »

Leodian wrote: I would be grateful for any information on the large area in LS16 that looks like it is criss-crossed with tracks. I'm guessing they are motor cycle and/or BMX type tracks. What was the area originally? This link should bring up the area in question in a Google map view.http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=53. ... 0&t=h&z=16 I used to be a pupil at Moor Grange School on Parkstone Avenue. It was newly built and opened in 1960 but is long gone now. The boys from West Park School on Spen Lane were transferred in that first year - WPS became a girls' school only at the same time.I remember those gruelling winter games lessons when, instead of rugby, we had to do the dreaded cross-country run. There were hardly any other buildings, apart from the farm, back then and the run took us on a circuitous route right through Clayton Woods. It was a spooky place on a misty day and nobody lagged behind. It was used for biking and there were water filled quarry works which were fished as well - don't know who stocked 'em. A small tunnel under the Horsforth rail line and onto Low Lane rings a faint bell as well.We'd then return up the Ring Road and back to school. I hated it - the run not the school that is.

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Leodian
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Post by Leodian »

Cheers all for the information and memories. I must admit that though I've heard of it I only knew roughly where Clayton Wood is. I've just looked it up in Wikipedia and in its information (dated October 29th 2011) it states:-"Clayton Wood is an area of woodland towards the north west of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England at grid reference SE254384. It is bordered by Lawnswood, Horsforth, Ireland Wood and Tinshill. Towards the west of the wood runs a beck (which flows from north to south). Along the north of the wood is Silk Mill Road and to the east is Ireland Wood. Towards the south of the Wood is the Leeds Ring Road.Inside the wood, there is an abandoned quarry, which is soon to be home to a housing estate with a railway station to be known as Woodside, which will be on the Leeds to Harrogate Line. The railway line runs up the middle of the wood, going west of the quarry and out into Horsforth station."Being the old quarry the multi-tracked area will be lost when the estate is built.
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

The Parksider
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Post by The Parksider »

CathJ wrote: I think it was a quarry Operated by Briggs, they also had a quarry on Kirkstall Road opposite the forge.The building remains in the quarry include a strong explosive store, a compound for valuable dressed stone, an office and probably a weighbridge at one time, and a crushing plant for sand etc etc.Some pics on Leodis.

CathJ
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Post by CathJ »

The Parksider wrote: CathJ wrote: I think it was a quarry Operated by Briggs, they also had a quarry on Kirkstall Road opposite the forge.The building remains in the quarry include a strong explosive store, a compound for valuable dressed stone, an office and probably a weighbridge at one time, and a crushing plant for sand etc etc.Some pics on Leodis. It was probably the explosive store that I am remembering, would have been about 15/16 years ago that I last went exploring down there and that was the only building I can remember seeing. There was about a foot, maybe a foot and a half of the top of the building sticking out of the ground and a space as wide as an ordinary doorway but only a few inches deep that you could look into. Although my memory might not be 100% as to how much was visible.

jonleeds
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Post by jonleeds »

I live right opposite Clayton Woods / Woodside Quarry. The quarry has been the subject of some grand planning applications over the past few years. Plans for an 'urban village' which would have included hundreds of homes, hotel / resteraunt, relocated train station for the adjacent Harrogate line with multi-storey park and ride scheme. It all was all very much on the cards until the global economy went down the drain. Now it seems like its crashed and burned although for some reason last year they demolished the Gilchrist Bros factory that was on the Ring Road and right next to Clayton Wood Road which was going to have been the main entrance to the site. The development agency Burford Group when they were in the planning application stages acquired the quarry site from Briggs and they spent several months completely defoliating the quarry and drilling for soil samples with regards to landscaping / pile driving for foundations etc. They found the sides of the quarry were unstable and would require extensive reinforcement. 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. Prior to Burfords meddling Woodside Quarry after lying derelict for over 20 years had turned into a real urban oasis for all kinds of plant and animal wildlife. When they had finished spraying biocides and cutting down trees the place looked like an atomic bomb had been dropped. Over the past 5 years its gradually recovering. Its definetely worth a visit if you get the time, especially in springtime when things are growing back, and to see the newts who happily still return to their original freshwater pools. Access to the quarry is quite easy. Its not particularly steep sided or deep and its fairly open to the public. Popular with dog walkers and motorcross riders at the weekend. Its surprisingley expansive and there are panoramic views over the Aire valley and towards the pennines to the west and south. I've uploaded extensive pictures of the place on my Flickr page including some photos of the infamous newts!For Woodside Quarry:http://flic.kr/s/aGF1NWDSu4For Clayton Woods:http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwH7eoPEnjoy!            
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geoffb
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Post by geoffb »

well done Jon.The shots of Clayton ponds was nostalgic for me, I caught my first fish there when I was about six, a 2 inch perch, the newts were very memorable as well. Another spot for the great crested newt was the seven ponds on Tile Lane Adel, long since gone and built on.

jdbythesea
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Post by jdbythesea »

jonleeds wrote: I live right opposite Clayton Woods / Woodside Quarry. The quarry has been the subject of some grand planning applications over the past few years. Plans for an 'urban village' which would have included hundreds of homes, hotel / resteraunt, relocated train station for the adjacent Harrogate line with multi-storey park and ride scheme. It all was all very much on the cards until the global economy went down the drain. Now it seems like its crashed and burned although for some reason last year they demolished the Gilchrist Bros factory that was on the Ring Road and right next to Clayton Wood Road which was going to have been the main entrance to the site. The development agency Burford Group when they were in the planning application stages acquired the quarry site from Briggs and they spent several months completely defoliating the quarry and drilling for soil samples with regards to landscaping / pile driving for foundations etc. They found the sides of the quarry were unstable and would require extensive reinforcement. 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. Prior to Burfords meddling Woodside Quarry after lying derelict for over 20 years had turned into a real urban oasis for all kinds of plant and animal wildlife. When they had finished spraying biocides and cutting down trees the place looked like an atomic bomb had been dropped. Over the past 5 years its gradually recovering. Its definetely worth a visit if you get the time, especially in springtime when things are growing back, and to see the newts who happily still return to their original freshwater pools. Access to the quarry is quite easy. Its not particularly steep sided or deep and its fairly open to the public. Popular with dog walkers and motorcross riders at the weekend. Its surprisingley expansive and there are panoramic views over the Aire valley and towards the pennines to the west and south. I've uploaded extensive pictures of the place on my Flickr page ithencluding some photos of the infamous newts!For Woodside Quarry:http://flic.kr/s/aGF1NWDSu4For Clayton Woods:http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwH7eoPEnjoy!             Great piccies Jon - keep 'em coming. Id forgotten all about the newts!Can anyone confirm the small tunnel under the rail line near the woods? It'd be between Horsforth station and Woodside and you could get from Ireland Wood to Low Lane. I'm sure it was there when I was a young 'un. JD

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