SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Hi all, Bit of a newbie, although I have lurked here before. Was wondering if I could tap into some of the expertise on here. I'm a local primary school teacher of a Year 5 class, and our theme for next half term is comparing and contrasting different localities. We'll be doing a variety of things, but are planning on going on a visit to have a look around the sorts of buildings and businesses in York, then the same for Leeds. I have the itinerary for the York visit all planned, but was wondering if anyone had any ideas of routes to follow for the children to get a real feel for the history and the life of Leeds. We'll be walking into town from the Richmond Hill area in the morning and will need to stop to eat our packed lunches somewhere around midday. Any ideas/help/knowledge of the routes of an existing walking tours would be greatly appreciated.

Richmond Hill, Marsh Lane, Quarry Hill, Markets, Kirkgate, Corn Exchange, Boar Lane, Dark Arches, Canal. They'll be knackered by then.

Why don't you use the first set of photos from these aerial images as part of your project? http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messag ... essage=0It starts off at Richmond Hill, It shows all the old buildings as they used to be, and it has all the history. Lovell Park would be a nice sandwich and pop stop. Don't mention to the kids about the guy who wrote it throwing his school books off the Richmond Hill railway bridge though lol

Phill_dvsn wrote: Why don't you use the first set of photos from these aerial images as part of your project? http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messag ... essage=0It starts off at Richmond Hill, It shows all the old buildings as they used to be, and it has all the history. Lovell Park would be a nice sandwich and pop stop. Don't mention to the kids about the guy who wrote it throwing his school books off the Richmond Hill railway bridge though lol Cracking idea Phill.

raveydavey wrote: Phill_dvsn wrote: Why don't you use the first set of photos from these aerial images as part of your project? http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messag ... essage=0It starts off at Richmond Hill, It shows all the old buildings as they used to be, and it has all the history. Lovell Park would be a nice sandwich and pop stop. Don't mention to the kids about the guy who wrote it throwing his school books off the Richmond Hill railway bridge though lol Cracking idea Phill. Fantastic pictures! I'll have to get some side by sides with some present day aerial views from Google maps so they can see just how much has changed and what has been lost for things like the Inner Ring Road. I'm sure they'll be interested in how Leeds' history is preserved in comparison to York's.

amalthea wrote: raveydavey wrote: Phill_dvsn wrote: Why don't you use the first set of photos from these aerial images as part of your project? http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messag ... essage=0It starts off at Richmond Hill, It shows all the old buildings as they used to be, and it has all the history. Lovell Park would be a nice sandwich and pop stop. Don't mention to the kids about the guy who wrote it throwing his school books off the Richmond Hill railway bridge though lol Cracking idea Phill. Fantastic pictures! I'll have to get some side by sides with some present day aerial views from Google maps so they can see just how much has changed and what has been lost for things like the Inner Ring Road. I'm sure they'll be interested in how Leeds' history is preserved in comparison to York's. The google aerial images are a great idea for comparison yes Bing maps, although not as recently taken as google earth show a good birds eye image toohttp://binged.it/1d01532If you choose to do something like that, then when your around the Quarry Hill area it might be as well looking at what's hidden under your feet too. Only today on the B.B.C news it was talking about bringing the lost rivers of the Victorian era back to the surface. They showed the Medlock culvert running underneath Manchester being ripped up and returned to a natural river. Young ones love scary tunnels and that kind of thing. Full maps and detail where the Ladybeck tunnels run right under the City can be found further down this page.http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messag ... e=0&#64439    

B.B.C News Britain's lost 'red river' resurrected, 100 years on.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24562282

Eastgate roundabout is a good one for pointing out. It used to be a petrol station when traffic was light enough to have one in the middle of a busy junction and it's a good point of reference for the old Quarry Hill complex and the Eastgate bookends:Going up Eastgate, you've got the 3 bank buildings: Barclays, Lloyds and the former Martins Bank. There's probably something worth investigating in those banks using different symbols (Barclays eagle, Lloyds horse and Martins' grasshopper) rather than text names as well as what happened to Martins when they got taken over by Barclays in the 1960s: http://www.martinsbank.co.uk/.

Lots of gruesome tales that kids love if going by site of parish church and up kirkgate e.g. body snatchers in churchyard plus they threw bodies of those excommunicated over the graveyard wall so they would be buried there.Riots on kirkgate, including one where the police were chased around by angry soldiers ,and were beaten up with policemen desperately trying to hide in allies and pubs.memorial to PC Speed opposite church is good story of course.

Steve Jones wrote: Lots of gruesome tales that kids love if going by site of parish church and up kirkgate e.g. body snatchers in churchyard plus they threw bodies of those excommunicated over the graveyard wall so they would be buried there. Your a cheery soul Mr Jones, but yes your right indeed, the kids love the ghoul and horror stories. That's a great suggestion