SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Hiya Guys, 10 years since i left leeds , i have been looking for this school that i attended from (guesses) 1980 - 1984/5 Can't find any information on it at all !! i think it may have merged at some point with St Urbans , think i found the place on google earth , not sure what it is now. Can anybody fill in the (sizeable) blanks !!cheers

Hello and welcome.Sorry, I don't know the Weetwood area very well, so can't say from personal knowledge.Do you remember the full title of the school?You could look here http://www.educationleeds.co.uk/SchoolD ... dex.aspxor try friends reunited?S Urban's is here http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/108/108027.pdf

Hi,I have had the same experience, but I am still in Leeds. I attended Our Lady's Primary School about the same time before moving onto Holy Name.After some research I found the following information:30th January 1906 On Weetwood Lane, built on land which had been part of the Weetwood Hall estate. Thomas Simpson commissioned his cousin John Simpson to design Bardon Hall. It was built between 1873-75 in Victorian Gothic style. Thomas Simpson died in 1898, the property was purchased by Joseph Pickersgill in 1899. Pickersgill was a millionaire, having made his fortune as a race-horse owner and turf commissioner. He was also a partner in Chorley and Pickersgill printers who had the Electric Press building in Cookridge Street. His contribution to the development of Bardon Hill was the building of a magnificent stable block. He died in 1820 aged 71. The house was purchased by the Roman Catholic Church and became the Bishops' House, residence for the Bishops of Leeds. Between 1951-1956 it was home to Cardinal Heenan. It then became Our Lady's Primary School c. 1960s to 1980s, and St. Urbans School in the 1990s. In 1999, the house and land were sold to a developer and were made into private apartments. The stables were demolished.Taken from the following link:http://www.leodis.net/searchResults.asp ... URRPAGE=1I was so sad to hear it had been transformed into apartments, what makes it even worse is that you cannot even go back to visit the building as now it’s been all gated off with the only access through an electric fence with an intercom for residents only. Does anyone have any pictures of the old school?

I thought the stables had been preserved and converted. You here they are:http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 9&t=h&z=19

I am not sure; while I was there I do remember another building which was out of use for the entire time I was at school there. By the looks of that aerial photograph it now appears to have been knocked down, I wonder if that building is the one they are referring to but I don’t think it used to be stables but I could be wrong.

https://www.facebook.com/mrsdonnabell/m ... 962&type=3

i have some pictures in here

Welcome to Secret Leeds donna.

Hi, In the early 1990's I too tried to find the school.

It was in order to resolve a long standing memory of having played a football match there on the school playing fields in February 1970.

I played for Carr Manor C.P. and had kept a diary record of all the matches played that season, but it was the away fixture @ Our Lady that always lodged in my mind.

The goalposts were rusted,slightly skewed iron frames, and in size more akin to hockey goals than soccer. The playing surface was mottled with ice and snow, whilst the pitch itself had a pronounced slope, resulting in you literally looking either uphill or downhill at your teamate on the opposite wing.

In my minds ear I still hear the clatter of studs on the narrow, twisting, cinder track that exited the field as we all headed back to the changing room which in fact was the school refectory.

If memory serves the teacher in charge of the Our Lady team at the time, was a Mr. Rowan.

20 years,or so on the school had now closed and a certain stillness, together with a feeling of haunted abandonment now hung on the surrounding area as I approached via Weetwood Lane. Eschewing the main entrance, I opted instead for the side ginnel that ran adjacent to the nearby stonewall. Pausing soon after, I peered over and through the trees noticed the goalposts still remained. Partially sunken, and looking about to be engulfed by the spreading woodland.

The pitch of February 1970, had now become a bosky hideaway, and on a subsequent visit I discovered it had gone forever.

We used to cut through the school grounds while walking to Lawnswood school around the time you were there. We used to walk a short way up the long ginnel running alongside the school then through a door in the wall and along a woodland path which ran to the right of the stone building. I can't remember ever seeing teachers or children there or where we emerged, (probably somewhere between Boddington Hall and the filter beds). Strangely I never remember seeing any kids at the school at all so would have previously guessed it was closed by the time I started Lawnswood in 1980.