SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Can anyone remember going to Roundhay Park, either in the late 40's or early 50's, to see the military tattoo? I can just about remember it. I remember going with my mother and father one night and there were 100's, if not 1000's, of servicemen, of all nations, all performing different routines in the arena. I can also remember going to the park in the summer to see Jack Appleyard's Eleven, a cricket team made up of former, current at the time, Yorkshire CC players. Also in the side were famous international cricketers like the three W's - Walcott, Worrall & Weeks - the doyens of West Indian cricket at the time. Also in the 50's there was a professional tennis tournament played there, with world class players, though I didn't see it as I wasn't very interested in tennis. There were also sprint cycle races held on the rim of the arena in the summer. There was always something happening there. In the winter sledging on Hill 60, scaring yourself to death on the bumps! Great days.

I remember the events in the early 60s. If I manage to include an attachment, below is a photo from Leodis of the Queen there in '49.

oldleedsman wrote: I remember the events in the early 60s. If I manage to include an attachment, below is a photo from Leodis of the Queen there in '49. do you remember childrens day?or the galas and metros?i remember that everyone was out to fleece you,except the armed forces,their stuff was always free,like the death slide....WHOOOOOOAA!

I remember the galas. I saw Gary Glitter at one. Hmm! Is that something I should be proud of, or not. Red Arrows used to be there, police dog handlers (which I still love watching), majorettes etc. We used to go racing down to the arena to get our 'spot' on the hill. We were very poor and this was the big event of our year (violins please).

I remember the summer fairs in the '70s red arrows and such like! got an old pic of the family from back in '78 i think! I'll run it thru the scanner one day and post it here!!

rangieowner wrote: I remember the summer fairs in the '70s red arrows and such like! got an old pic of the family from back in '78 i think! I'll run it thru the scanner one day and post it here!! Come to think of it, it might have been the silver jubilee! was that '79?

rangieowner wrote: rangieowner wrote: I remember the summer fairs in the '70s red arrows and such like! got an old pic of the family from back in '78 i think! I'll run it thru the scanner one day and post it here!! Come to think of it, it might have been the silver jubilee! was that '79? 77 me old mate.

carrotol wrote: I remember the galas. I saw Gary Glitter at one. Hmm! Is that something I should be proud of, or not. Red Arrows used to be there, police dog handlers (which I still love watching), majorettes etc. We used to go racing down to the arena to get our 'spot' on the hill. We were very poor and this was the big event of our year (violins please). ha ha! ditto on every word-even the glitter bit(which is now a euphomism)

rangieowner wrote: rangieowner wrote: I remember the summer fairs in the '70s red arrows and such like! got an old pic of the family from back in '78 i think! I'll run it thru the scanner one day and post it here!! Come to think of it, it might have been the silver jubilee! was that '79? Hi, certainly remember the galas in the 70's they were great, I cant remember the Red Arrows but I do remember para reg Red Devils jumping in. When it was a bit blowy the odd one would land on Hill 60 amongst the crowd, albeit they were on round parachutes which are less accurate than the square ones of today................ Great memories of great times

We used to go to Leeds Gala regularly. I was given a silver spoon for winning the Leeds Bonnie Baby competition, circa 1960! A few years later I remember I got to sit in a Cheiftain Tank. The gun sights were aimed at an ice-cream van! They had waterskiing on the lake, with jumps.CheersSi