SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

I discovered this recently whilst walking and was wondering if anyone knew where the big arch came from and did there used to be anything at the end of the avenue? Near Bramhope/Pool.

hi kateseems the Great Western Railway used a steam locomotion called "Hirondelle" (translation from french is "swallow" as in the bird)Avenue Des Hirondelles runs right next to the old Arthington to Ilkley railway line.I've never seen the arch you talk about, but then i have never been down the hirondelles before. I suppose it is a relic from the railway days?

I drove past this the other day, I'd never have noticed it if it hadn't been mentioned here. It's actually a little up the hill from where the railway line ran. The old sides of the bridge are just down the hill. It looks to me like it is an ornate pedestrian entrance to the street. Didn't get close enough to hazard a guess at the age. I know Pool-in-Wharfedale had a station, maybe it was something to do with that. I'd still go with the idea that it was built at the same time as the houses in the avenue as a "grand" entrance.

The woods at the end of the Avenue used to be a quarry, maybe something to do with that.

Cheers for the info. I went back recently and decided the end of the avenue had probably been a quarry. Wondering if the avenue was a track laid for transport to and from the quarry.

This one    

I walked through the arch today. The avenue is lined with horse chestnut trees which look as though they we pollarded some time ago. I think swallows may be attracted to these trees.

The avenue looks to be nothing to do with the quarry for number of reasons. Old OS maps show the quarry accessible from Old Pool Bank and at the end of the 19th century there was a tramway running from the quarries, this connected to the railway at pool station by an incline. Avenue des Hirondelles appears on the 1906 (1909) map and from the detail shown just seems to end in a field a short distance from the quarry. This is as it appears today.

There are a few houses shown on the south side of avenue, most notably High Mead, so I suspect this avenue was built for the purposes of speculative housing, which from the look of the houses there today has only recently taken full hold.

However, regardless of all this, it is a very pleasant walk up Pool Bank and the quarries at the top are fascinating. At the top of the climb, beyond the quarries, you can see the abutments where the old tramway crossed the Leeds/Otley road on a bridge towards quarries at Caley Crags. I think there is another thread on this topic.

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