SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Afternoon everyone...Does anybody know if there are any photos around of the site of Tesco on Roundhay Road before it was a supermarket? Any photos: either as the old aircraft place or later.Many thanks!

Image from http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nev.hurwor ... 2.htm#More photos when you click "next page"But got my info http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messag ... readID=277    

I have seen, somewhere, a photo of the pre- Tesco building which still had the very faded camouflage on it [and I remember seeing it from the bus too].I think the photo was on 28Days Later but you'll have to look a long way back as it was a few years ago that I saw it.

I just recall that being woods / waste land with a labyrinth of air-raid shelters guessing late 60's early 70's

ARGIE wrote: .. it was a supermarket? Any photos: either as the old aircraft place or later... Sorry, no photos.On the 'later', as in after the old aircraft place, the site was taken over by Post Office/British Telecommunications for use as a Motor Transport Workshop. This was used to 'garage' vehicles overnight and was where PO/BT staff used to maintain the extensive fleet of vehicles that were in use.The site was still known as Olympia Works by that firm.This was certainly during the sixties and seventies but I cannot say from when the site was signed over to them.

The link shown on "Uncle Mick's" post.Early Birds over YorkshireI have formatted the various pages as a pdf file, can be downloaded here: http://snipurl.com/270y2piClick on the download button, and select "direct download" then save, it should download to your selected download folder.

Hudswell Clarke was there from approx 1952 when it made its first appearance in the phone book at that address. Its last appearance at that address was 1960

uncle mick wrote: Hudswell Clarke was there from approx 1952 when it made its first appearance in the phone book at that address. Its last appearance at that address was 1960 Interesting to note that Hudswell Clarke also had premises at The Orchards, Cross Gates - isn't that were the telephone exchange is now? I wonder if it was anything to do with the gas works that was where the shopping centre is now, which had a rail yard? I'm struggling to think of any other reason for them to have an outpost there.

Hudswell, Clarke and CoDuring WW2 the company diversified into armaments, as did so many other engineering companies. In the post-war period Hudswell, Clarke and Co Ltd (its full title, and note the comma) was closely involved in many secret programmes, including the British nuclear weapon programme. The airframe for the first British nuclear bomb, Blue Danube was manufactured by Hudswell Clarke at its Roundhay Road, Leeds. ?The airframe for Red Beard, the second generation tactical nuclear bomb, followed with that for Violet Club, the Interim Megaton Weapon; and there were many other projects.All the bombs detonated at the Christmas Island H-bomb tests were contained in airframes designed and built by Hudswell Clarke. The company were also major contributors to other military projects, eg. the Centurion main battle tank conversion into an armoured bridge-layer, that served with the British Army for many years.The contraction of defence manufacturing in the mid-1960s contributed to the sale and demise of the company.

Thanks ever so much for all the replies folks - some fascinating reading on here. Really appreciate it! Keep the thread going too, the more info the better.Cheers once again.