SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

This is a photo I took on January 9 2020 showing some work taking place on The Headrow near to its junction with Vicar Lane. If the intriguing metal work grid has been installed before somewhere in the ongoing work I've not seen it. I took the photo holding my camera against one metal safety mesh but a second one still remained in view!

In a post on October 4 2019 having a photo I took on October 3 2019 I noted some cream coloured bricks had been dug up by the junction of The Headrow and Albion Street. In a post on October 10 2019 some photos I took that day showed some cream coloured bricks that were likely the remains of cellar walls (thanks to LS1 for that information in a post on October 17 2019). Passing by the junction on January 30 2020 I noticed some more of the cream brick walls have been exposed so I took 2 photos. It was though very hard to get good shots due to the security/safety fencing and depth of digging so these were the best I could do (hopefully a better record is being made). The first shows a wall with a corner and the second shows the wall with another corner. There were no bricks on the side that is out of view nearest to where I was and it looked like that area had been completely dug out.

Similar photo by Sam Hirst on the Leeds Retro page on Facebook

The fancy brickwork will have belonged to the Commercial Hotel (probably beer cellars) which was on the corner of Guildford Street and Albion Street

A couple of questions and comments on the old photo BS:
When was the photo taken?
I remember street lamps hanging on cables across the street like that in the early to mid 50s.Anyone know when the city center lighting was modernised?
I like the way the street is uncluttered by street furniture and road markings , apart from the two stubby posts on either side of the street. Are they early traffic lights I wonder, or somewhere to tie up your horse?

blackprince wrote: ↑

Sun 02 Feb, 2020 6:33 pm

A couple of questions and comments on the old photo BS:
When was the photo taken?
I like the way the street is uncluttered by street furniture and road markings , apart from the two stubby posts on either side of the street. Are they early traffic lights I wonder, or somewhere to tie up your horse?

The photo is from 1927/28 and the Commercial Hotel was demolished early 1930's
Don't know what the posts are, I don't believe they are traffic lights.

More pictures of the Commercial Hotel on Leodis http://www.leodis.net/searchResults.asp ... =1&PUBID=0

After a bit of digging it turns out that the first fully automated traffic lights in Britain were installed at the junction of Bond St. and Park Lane ,Leeds, in 1928.
Full story here
https://www.secretleeds.com/viewtopic.php?t=6490

The photos of these early lights have the same horizontal bands as the ones in your photo.

The Commercial Hotel used to be where the middle of the Headrow is.So the cellar would be below the roadway. Leodis show similar traffic lights on Harehills Avenue and Park Row.

Thanks all for your inputs which are appreciated .