gay lane Otley

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Sun 20 Dec, 2009 1:20 pm

Do any of you Otley residents happen to know where 113 Gay lane was in 1870's? My Grt . Grand dad moved there with his family in1872 from Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire. I saw a reference in another thread that the Yeoman pu had 2 old cottages attached and thought maybe one of them could have been the one they moved into?Is 113 still there I wonder?

drapesy · Post by **drapesy** » Sun 20 Dec, 2009 2:10 pm

The Yeoman's address is 67 Gay lane whilst Gay Lane Fisheries is at 55. So 113 must be further up the hill to the Chevin.

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Sun 20 Dec, 2009 2:19 pm

drapesy wrote: The Yeoman's address is 67 Gay lane whilst Gay Lane Fisheries is at 55. So 113 must be further up the hill to the Chevin. Thanks for the information Drapesy.Its probably demolished now then?

Si · Post by Si » Mon 21 Dec, 2009 12:59 pm

See my post on the Family History thread, Stutterdog.After the Yeoman cottages, stands the former Toll-Bar building and beyond that the road becomes East Chevin Road. There is a row of old buildings that runs perpendicular to Gay Lane behind the Bar House, so it could be one of those? Or the houses have been renumbered at some time? I'll look into it. Also, Leeds Road was built as a Turnpike (hence the Toll-Bar) in c.1840, the previous main route to Leeds being the aforementioned steep East Chevin Road, which eventually becomes Otley Old Road. Perhaps Gay Lane dog-legged to the left (as there are some old cottages along there) and was later renamed Leeds Road?

Si · Post by Si » Mon 21 Dec, 2009 3:39 pm

I think the road must have been renumbered. There are about five existing premises (including George Tate's) between the chippy (55) and The Yeoman (67), but there used to be a row of several cottages where Tate's works are now, suggesting a renumbering. Does anyone know if The Yeoman was a different number in the past, judging from old business directorys/censuses?

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Mon 21 Dec, 2009 4:11 pm

Si wrote: I think the road must have been renumbered. There are about five existing premises (including George Tate's) between the chippy (55) and The Yeoman (67), but there used to be a row of several cottages where Tate's works are now, suggesting a renumbering. Does anyone know if The Yeoman was a different number in the past, judging from old business directorys/censuses? Thanks Si, for your very helpful and interesting comments I never knew that there was a toll road on the bend up The Chevin.It's probably on the Leeds Tithe maps,I'll have a look. S/dog

Si · Post by Si » Mon 21 Dec, 2009 7:15 pm

stutterdog wrote: Si wrote: I think the road must have been renumbered. There are about five existing premises (including George Tate's) between the chippy (55) and The Yeoman (67), but there used to be a row of several cottages where Tate's works are now, suggesting a renumbering. Does anyone know if The Yeoman was a different number in the past, judging from old business directorys/censuses? Thanks Si, for your very helpful and interesting comments I never knew that there was a toll road on the bend up The Chevin.It's probably on the Leeds Tithe maps,I'll have a look. S/dog I've already checked. It's worth a look, as there appears to be a matching toll-bar opposite the existing one. It's closer than the Co-Op building on the inside of the corner (now a launderette) so is now probably under the middle of the road. There is another existing toll-bar at the top of Leeds Road, with the junction of Old Pool Bank (by the old quarry rail bridge abbutment) called Bar House, I think. The dry-stone walls either side of Leeds Road look original, showing just how wide the turnpike was (they thought ahead in those days! - on a similar note, I'm always amazed how old bridges, eg Otley Bridge, were so over-engineered when originally built. They were designed to take pedestrians and horse-and-carts (two ton, tops,) yet have easily taken the weight of modern traffic (20+ ton artics) for a hundred years!)

Si · Post by Si » Mon 21 Dec, 2009 7:30 pm

drapesy wrote: The Yeoman's address is 67 Gay lane whilst Gay Lane Fisheries is at 55. So 113 must be further up the hill to the Chevin. I've just walked up Gay Lane (no, not a euphanism!) and the last house before Tate's is clearly numbered 65. So the chippy (also clearly marked) is 55, the empty shop (Pilkington's) must be 57, followed by Vincent's barbers at 59, and the following cottages 61, 63, and 65. That makes Tate's un-numbered and the Yeoman 67. However, the toll-house is 85.Another potential clue that occured to me, is that perhaps Gay Lane did continue up the Chevin, over the old railway (now the bye-pass,) to the junction with Birdcage Walk, where it became East Chevin Road. This would make room for houses numbered up to at least 113. I'll have to check some old maps to see if there were old premises along that stretch, which now has modern homes on the right. The livestock market/car boot site is on the left.

Si · Post by Si » Mon 21 Dec, 2009 7:56 pm

The 1909 OS map shows three premises to the north of where the chippy (55) is now, and four premises where Tate's yard is. This must be proof that The Yeoman (at least) has been re-numbered. The stretch of road between the Leeds Road junction, and the Birdcage Walk junction was called Chevin Bottom, and has no buildings (just a field) opposite the Auction Mart. This is also the case on the Tithe map. PS The reason I'm interested in this thread, is because I can see all these places from my attic dormer!

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Mon 21 Dec, 2009 10:30 pm

Si wrote: The 1909 OS map shows three premises to the north of where the chippy (55) is now, and four premises where Tate's yard is. This must be proof that The Yeoman (at least) has been re-numbered. The stretch of road between the Leeds Road junction, and the Birdcage Walk junction was called Chevin Bottom, and has no buildings (just a field) opposite the Auction Mart. This is also the case on the Tithe map. PS The reason I'm interested in this thread, is because I can see all these places from my attic dormer! I wonder if before Leeds road was named ,is it possible that property round the bend was actually on Gay Ln and the planners pinched a bit of it to become the start of Leeds Rd?Just a thought. Do any of you Family history scholars get a strange feeling when you visit a place that your ancestors trod in days gone by? I know I do!