SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Thanks uncle mick for the link to that fascinating photo in Leodis . The gentleman dressed in white looks very tall!

It's interesting that the location is still a bank, being a Halifax Bank branch that is part of Lloyds Bank. The site was a Leeds Permanent Building Society branch for a while until that society merged with the Halifax Building Society many years back and the Leeds name was later dropped. What is now the main office of the Leeds Building Society diagonally opposite the location was called the Leeds and Holbeck Building Society until it changed that name a few years back.

The glazed bricks are likely the cellars of the original buildings rather than purely for foundation purposes.

These are 2 photos that I took of the ongoing work on October 17 2019.
The first is near the junction of The Headrow and Albion Street and shows piping at differing levels. I wonder what they were used for (? still are) and how old they are.
The second photo shows an interesting object that has presumably been dug up during the works. That photo was taken at the same trench as the first photo. I could not tell if the object was 'stone' or metal but a clean fresh looking chipped piece on a corner in its top right does look like 'stone'. Though it was at this location the object need not however have been dug up there. It looks as if it once might have had something on top of it and there is a small protrusion on the top that may have supported something. It's certainly an interesting object.

This is a photo that I took on October 24 2019 of some work going on at The Headrow near to Butts Court (there is a white van in that near the rear left). The many differing pipes at various levels and directions caught my eye but it was difficult to get a good photo as I had to hold my camera at an angle up against some security fence mesh.
The trench work was deeper than the earlier work on The Headrow, as seen by the just visible white helmet on the head of a man who is standing up in the trench!

Re the types of pipes and cables, there's a BBC article about the colour codes used for the surface spray paint at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26745534. Page 75 of https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... tworks.pdf (labelled as page 67) has the official guidance although there's not a set standard.

mhoulden wrote: ↑

Sat 26 Oct, 2019 3:57 am

Re the types of pipes and cables, there's a BBC article about the colour codes used for the surface spray paint at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26745534. Page 75 of https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... tworks.pdf (labelled as page 67) has the official guidance although there's not a set standard.

Thanks mhoulden for those interesting links . Walking along pavements covered with those multi-coloured markings is like looking at abstract art!

These are 3 photos that I managed to take with difficulty through the safety mesh during a very wet November 7 2019!
The first is looking up The Headrow from the Vicar Lane junction. I wonder if what did seem to be a metal strip is an old tram track or just a metal piece?
The second and third were taken on The Headrow near Dortmund Square (part seen in the top left corner of the second photo). That is some serious old pipe work exposed! I would like to thank the workmen for agreeing to let me take the photos after I convinced them I was taking the photos for myself and not for use in a newspaper. I think my compact pocket camera should though have been a good clue that I was not a press photographer! .

These are 3 photos that I took on November 14 2019.
The first shows work now going on looking along Eastgate towards Quarry House in the rear. The second is of work on Eastgate at the junction with Vicar Lane (The Headrow is in the rear). The third photo shows that, as a consequence of the work, traffic coming along Vicar Lane towards the market is currently at least diverted down Lady Lane (it can eventually come up the other side of Eastgate and then turn left onto Vicar Lane).

Pipe laying is now going on along Eastgate. These are 3 photos of the work.
The first is a view without pipes taken on November 21 2019 looking up Eastgate, Leeds, from near Eastgate roundabout.
The second was taken on November 26 2019 from the same location but there are now pipes waiting to be installed.
The third was also taken on November 26 2019 from Eastgate and shows a view looking across Eastgate roundabout. The building in the centre is the long-closed Appleyard's petrol station (a grade 2 listed building) with the National Health Service Quarry House in the rear. The building on the left is the newly built Quarry Hill campus of Leeds City College. Leeds Playhouse is to the right and to its right is the tall Skyline Apartments building. PS. The second and third photos were taken just before 12:00 on a very dull damp dank day which is why cars have their lights on!

Thanks hicklingmick for that information .
I wonder who the "This will eventually provide low carbon heat and hot water for some businesses & homes in Leeds" will be?