SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Well done with the find Ro-man. i've looked for it before, but i find the evening post search engine to be a real pain. You would be suprised at just how many shelters still exist! Very big ones too! people walk over them everyday & never realise! Most are still hollow underneath & occasionally do collapse! Golden acre park has plenty of speculation about it's importance during the war & i'd like to find out some gen on this place myself!

Another unusual thing about Leeds air raid shelters. Most of them were built in 1938 before the war started. We must have smelt it coming. I found an old picture of a shelter been built on the corner of King lane & Nursery lane, Moortown. I thought i'd discovered one that no one else had mentioned before! I looked on Google earth & you still could see the outline of it. However google earth seems to be about 4yr old & when i had a look in reality the shelter must've only just been demolished & the school field enlarged. You can clearly see the shape of the shelter on this image

Yep I think the google earth pictures of west yorks were taken in the summer of 2003. Our last car is parked on the drive of our old house ( we moved in Feb 04 and only had that car from Spring 03).There are one or two anomalies too. There is a funfair on the front car park of the white rose centre but very few cars in the rest of the car park. The lack of cars is matched at Outwood railway station. Both suggesting very early morning late evening or perhaps Sunday but the car park at Asda/Walmart HQ off Meadow Road by the river is packed.The plot of land opposite the Parkinson steps where now stands a students residence is wasteland...........

I find the google earth laughable. You plan a little exploration with it & the weather looks nice & sunny. the trees look like little bits of parsley. When you go in real life it's a total swamp disaster!!

Phill_d wrote: I found an old picture of a shelter been built on the corner of King lane & Nursery lane, Moortown. I thought i'd discovered one that no one else had mentioned before! I looked on Google earth & you still could see the outline of it. However google earth seems to be about 4yr old & when i had a look in reality the shelter must've only just been demolished & the school field enlarged. You can clearly see the shape of the shelter on this image That's my old school and I never knew that. I always thought the building was some kind of electricity sub-station. Is the picture of it being built on the Leodis website or can you let me know if it's in a book. I'd be interested to see it. Thanks.

I saw it in Chappel allerton library. I think it was called Yorkshire at war. It could have been A Yorkshire post publication. The fellas were actually building it. It was just behind the sub station. Have a look at the google image when it uploads. You can clearly see the earth mound.

Basher wrote: As for Eccup resovoir, I did a google earth search and an interesting location came up. Having walked around Eccup reservior hundreds of times, I take it this location is not accessible from the public areas?For what it's worth here's my take on it:1. It's either part of the secure treatment works, which are quite a way from the reservoir itelf. Or the treatment works have been mistaken for something a bit more sinister, as they do have a military look to them.Or2. It's under the reservior itself and accessible from an entrance which is visible on Google Earth. Although why anyone would want to burrow under a Victorian reservior to build a shelter is beyond me. I can't see what protection this would give compared to normal earth and concrete.Or3. There's no bunker at all. As we've seen with the Hyde Park shelter discussions, it's easy to confuse underground water storage tanks with bunkers. For example, I've heard a lot of times that there's a couple of shelters at Beckett Park, just away from the University campus under two raised mounds of earth, but I know these these are underground water storage tanks. Could Eccup be the same?Anyone have any info that they can add to this? Basher if you're around, how about posting the Google Earth location??

Ro-ManYou're more than likely right with your assessment. I walked around Eccup reservoir the other day, following my Google Earth check. Looked like I ended up on a wild goose chase.It could be a load of codswallop or there mite be something under the reservoir used for treatment works that isnt easy access. As for the bunker in Hyde Park, I haven't found any evidence of bunkers round there, likewise for Eccup.Basher

Welcome to the world of exploration Basher! Extensive research, covered in mud & not a photograph to be had! It makes it all worth while when you do find the holy grail mate!

the building on King Lane/Nursery Lane is still standing, definately is or was a YEB sub station. now covered in graffiti.