SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Does anone remember the stone built breathing tower on the right hand side of bank house lane about half way up in the fields. was it for greenside tunnel i always remember it seeming too far away for that.

Vaguely, yes. I was never sure if my memory was playing tricks, and mixing it up with the nearby Greenside tunnel air-shaft (which is in exactly the same direction, and covered on this forum several times in the past,) or wether there were two towers.Now you've mentioned it, perhaps I was right afterall!If walking towards Pudsey from the Bankhouse, was it on the left, about 100 yards away, built of stone, on the horizon? I've looked at Google Earth, and apart from some possible ground disturbance in a field, nothing can be seen.I can't think what it's purpose was, unless there are ancient coal pits up there?    

Hi Rehtnap and Si. I have a 6" OS map of the area with the date 1933, revisions of 1938, and printed on "war substitute paper". It was given to me by Tilly, knowing of my obsession with such material.In addition to the ventilator for Greenside railway tunnel, it shows no less than THREE air shafts in the area between Green Top and Bankhouse Lane! It also has a "coal and clay level" between Westroyd and Greentop, and a ( presumably ) narrow gauge rail track running from a point south east of the end of Green Top going SSW down the hillside to some claypits. These may or may not be connected in some way with the air shafts.

Thanks Jim. You've got me checking my maps.The shafts (two of them) are shown on this 1990 2.5" map, but no rail bed. They are in the "disturbed" field visible on Google Earth. They are definately nothing to do with the rail tunnel, shown at the top.    

Bingo!!!Puzzle solved, Rehtnap.It was a coal pit.Courtesy of Godfrey's 1908 OS map! (Click on map to enlarge.)Unfortunately, it's not that clear on the scan, but two shafts are marked on the original - one says "air shaft," the other just "shaft." Another air shaft is nearer Green Top, towards Albion House. A track heads north from the pit to join Green Top opposite the White Cross pub. The 'ghost' of this track is visible on Google Maps satellite view. Does it's dog-leg course suggest a rail bed? Now that we know exactly where the coal pit's shafts were, you can see them on Google Maps. Or is it my imagination?JIM?! Is the coal pit in the same place as the clay pit on your map, and does the track line up?(PS Greenside tunnel's ventilation shaft is just on the edge of the map, top left.)                    

Just looked at the Tithe Map website, and although the field boundarys remain constant, there is nothing shown on the Tithe map itself; there's nothing on the circa 1890 map, the c.1910 map is the same as the map I posted (ie, with coal pit), the shafts' positions are clearly visible on the 1999 aerial, but curiously, there's some sort of structure next to the northern shaft on the 2006 aerial.

Here's the aerial, showing the two shafts (bottom centre, left of the black vertical line, but right of the wall) and the trackway (running NNW from the centre of the image toward the buildings, and then a little further on running approx NNE.)        

This should be clearer. Red marks the shafts, and blue the trackway - sorry it's a bit wiggly! Compare with Godfrey map posted earlier.    

Si, coal and clay level, and fourth air shaft on 1933/8 map are in field 508 of the Godfrey map. The clay pits are in fields 433 and 437. The railway I spoke of runs in a practically straight line from 433 through 438 to the small buildings at the north end of 474.The air shaft in 512 is the one you point out, and I failed to notice that the map gives shafts rather than shaft in 469. There are no buildings shown in this field, or reference to the coal pit, but interestingly a Bench Mark, specifically one "likely to remain stable in an area generally liable to subsidence" is shown in the wall close to the "air shaft"with a height of 626.61. I must confess I didn't look at Godfrey in the excitement of finding an embarrassment of shafts in the 1933/8 map!

Slightly off-topic - Anyone seeen Phill lately, or is he here - Guatemalan sink-hole following tropical storm. At least we don't get these here!