SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

I wonder if anyone knows anything about a narrow passageway that is on the Headrow opposite the Town Hall. It is gated but looking into the passageway its wall (at least for several yards) is made of dark small old looking bricks and then a flat roof to it at a few feet high that had a bit of wood that might be helping to support the roof. The passageway is clearly in use as it has wheelie bins in it, but they are narrow sides on as they will clearly not fit otherwise. Further in there is no roof and daylight could be seen, but I could not obviously find where the access to the bins is (unless it is from the Headrow). The photo was taken today (June 6 2011). I could not get any nearer in safety to show all of the door so I took the photo from the Town Hall side of the Headrow. I thought I had not got the person in shot, but I did! The passageway is on the immediate right of Craggs.Please accept my apologies if this passageway has already been mention on SL. I did try a search but there were far to many pages to go through.    

I don't know about the passage, but out of curiosity I looked up Cragg's.And what a fascinating tale! Look here:http://www.craggs-shoerepairs.co.uk/our-history

The alleyway is shown in red on the 1891 OS map, just an exit from the shop yards then

Thanks chemimike for the map, which is very helpful. The access now is presumably still only from the Headrow.Thanks Geordie-exile for the link to the very interesting information about Craggs.

What a heartwarming story about the Cragg family, and brilliant that they can survive and prosper so well in the present age of "throwaway" shoes - its many decades since I had a pair of shoes repaired.

http://snipurl.com/_i3Pic of the area from Google maps - if it works...shame it's at slightly the wrong angle, but Craggs is clearly marked.I'm sure someone with talents beyond mine will figure out how to post that as a picture, rather than a link!

Butts Court    

liits wrote: Butts Court     Wrong passageway liits.

I can tell you exactly where the passage leads, because I lived at 19/20 East Parade as a child in the 1960s as my parents were caretakers at Bramham & Gale estate agents! Our flat was on the top floor and faced the Headrow/Town Hall.The passage led to nothing exciting, just the bin yards behind the first few buildings on East Parade. One thing I do remember, and it was still there the last time I looked, was a little triangular wooden shelf at about shoulder height, fixed to the right-hand wall just inside the gate. A YEP news-seller had his stand at the gateway and kept his change on the shelf. For many years, a little chalked sign on the edge of the shelf read "Gone Fishing" but unfortunately it faded a long time ago.In those days, Craggs was a chemist's shop and Greggs was a lovely sweet shop called the Chocolate Box!    

Chrism wrote: liits wrote: Butts Court     Wrong passageway liits. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, I just worked from the link.