Where is/was the exact location of Black Road and Red Road East Leeds?

The origins and history of placenames, nicknames, local slang, etc.
barnsleybob
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Post by barnsleybob »

First of all iam from leeds (despite my nickname).My grandad told me a few years ago that when he was younger they used to play on the east end park fields,football pitches etc and that they used to go onto Black Road which I presume is Pontefract Lane and was just a nickname for that road. There was also Red Road which he said ran parallel to Black Road that was a walking path with red walls. (I think) Also Snake road or snakey road which was a winding road nearby.Where is the exact location of where i'm talking about? I have managed to find a hand drawn map from the net but comparing it to Google earth/maps I still cannot get the exact location,only the rough area where the car auctions are This site also has a recent pic of the 'Red Walls' so some of it is still there and would like to park up and take in some history with someone's help on here of exactly where to go. Also is Red Road completely built on now? Also would like the location of snakey road?eastleedsmemories.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/brians-map2.jpghere is the hand drawn map. Just copy and paste it.        

Phill_dvsn
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Post by Phill_dvsn »

I wouldn't have any idea where you meant if you hadn't mentioned 'red' road. The place I thought of straight away was the very long path that ran past the allotments, and all the way down past Neville Hill train depot. I was always down there in the early 80's clambering over the wall and sneaking round those old sidings at the back.The path then was a sort of red cinder. and it still appears red todayhttp://goo.gl/maps/9ugJRYou can see it runs all the way from Pontefract Lane to Halton Moor Road herehttp://goo.gl/maps/i1ACzI'd wager that was the Red road your grandad meant.             
My flickr pictures are herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn/Because lunacy was the influence for an album. It goes without saying that an album about lunacy will breed a lunatics obsessions with an album - The Dark side of the moon!

Johnny39
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Post by Johnny39 »

barnsleybob wrote: First of all iam from leeds (despite my nickname).My grandad told me a few years ago that when he was younger they used to play on the east end park fields,football pitches etc and that they used to go onto Black Road which I presume is Pontefract Lane and was just a nickname for that road. There was also Red Road which he said ran parallel to Black Road that was a walking path with red walls. (I think) Also Snake road or snakey road which was a winding road nearby.Where is the exact location of where i'm talking about? I have managed to find a hand drawn map from the net but comparing it to Google earth/maps I still cannot get the exact location,only the rough area where the car auctions are This site also has a recent pic of the 'Red Walls' so some of it is still there and would like to park up and take in some history with someone's help on here of exactly where to go. Also is Red Road completely built on now? Also would like the location of snakey road?eastleedsmemories.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/brians-map2.jpghere is the hand drawn map. Just copy and paste it.         There will be people on the site who know more about the Black and Red Roads than I do but as I remember them instead of turning right after passing the Bridgefield at East End Park continue straight on and you came to them. I think you're correct in saying that one of them was Pontefract Lane but which one I don't know. I think Snakey Road was actually Snake Lane, again in the same vicinity. Sorry if this all a bit vague. As far as I recall the reason for the names Black and Red Roads was the fact they were shale roads. Please feel free to admonish me if what I have written is what you already knew.
Daft I call it - What's for tea Ma?

York Road Lad
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Post by York Road Lad »

Both Red Road and Black Road are just round the corner from me. Red Road runs from opposite the site of the 'Bridgefield' to Halton Moor and Temple Newsam. It is usually marked on maps as 'Halton Moor Road', but 'Red Road' is the part that was surfaced with red slag/shale - hence its name. For more obscure reasons, 'Black Road' was the name given to Pontefract Lane from its junction with Red Road heading eastwards - through what is now Cross Green Industrial Estate. Long before the industrial estate, there were factories and smallholdings down there. My own family rented a smallholding down there just after the war and kept pigs during the post-war rationing era (and, I believe, indulged in the 'black market'). I believe that both roads were part of the estate of Lord Halifax, along with Temple Newsam. Red Road had a gate house - Neville Cottage - that existed certainly into the late 1980's. The cottage belonged to Leeds City Council, and was in a state of disrepair. The elderly chap who lived there was entitled to live there rent free by virtue of being gate keeper - but hardly anyone ever used the gate for access. LCC refused to carry out the repairs as they wanted to force the elderly chap to move out so they could demolish it. However, he told me he was born in the house and would not leave. In the end, he stayed until he died - after which the Council moved in indecent haste to knock it down.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Jogon
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Post by Jogon »

While since I red it but think it's all in herehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0340624639/ ... r=1-1Keith finds his way back to loved Hunslet from unloved Halton Moor, having borrowed (away at war) elder brother's bike.

raveydavey
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Post by raveydavey »

I must have driven past the 'Bridgefield' end of the Red Road a thousand times or more (and drove past it tonight again), but I'd never heard of it until today despite having family who still live in the area.It's amazing what you learn on here!I wonder if the Black Road name had anything to do with the coal dust from the pit / railway that ran parallel to it?
Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act – George Orwell

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buffaloskinner
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Post by buffaloskinner »

Yes thats the old Red Road I used to play on 60 years ago, and the location stated for the Black Road is also correct.Going down Red Road to Halton Moor there used to be an Air Raid Shelter on the left just behind where the houses are. Used to always scare us because it was always about a foot deep of water.We used to have great games in the sidings at Neville Hill, particulary in the carriages.There was also the Black Hills (shale and slag) between Wykebeck Ave and the Rookwoods on the other side of the line from the Wykebecks. I see that looking at Google its now an housing estate. Although these hills werent as big as the Black Hill in Primrose Valley.We also used to go see the singnal man in the box just below the bridge on the Suttons.Oh for the good old days and a packet of 2 Woodbines
Is this the end of the story ...or the beginning of a legend?

Jogon
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Post by Jogon »

City lightstwo pages on from mentioning their new house in Halton Moor, Keith Waterhouse recalls taking his brother's bike to cycle via Black Road, Red Road, Easy Road and back to his beloved Hunslet.    

barnsleybob
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Joined: Fri 05 Jul, 2013 1:11 pm

Post by barnsleybob »

Thankyou so much guys,loving the read and I must get City Lights,ive missed that one. My grandad who grew up in east end park mentioned the football pitches that were there and he used to look out of his window after school to see if he could squeeze in and get a game. That just doesnt happen nowadays. Kids are all at home with their playstations and tv.

The Parksider
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Post by The Parksider »

York Road Lad wrote: Both Red Road and Black Road are just round the corner from me. Red Road runs from opposite the site of the 'Bridgefield' to Halton Moor and Temple Newsam. It is usually marked on maps as 'Halton Moor Road', but 'Red Road' is the part that was surfaced with red slag/shale - hence its name. The area has several old coal mines and the red road is surfaced by waste crushed fireclay, originating from the mines, which was used for making bricks. Apologies for the correction, but the mines and minerals of Leeds are a great interest of mine (no pun intended) shale and slag roads are to be found, but these will be grey/black....    

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