SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Growing up in the fifties in the Newtown(now better known as Burmantofts)area our movements were generally restricted to Beckett St,(Lincoln)Green Road,Cherry Row and Dolly Lane.We had not to stray across these main roads.Traffic was much lighter in those days and the 'Bogey Man'was more a threat than a reality.Even with parents we did not seem to travel very far,the 47 bus to Old Farnley on a Sunday was a real expedition.We were lucky at holiday times because my dad got free travel on the railways so we went to Margate,Brighton.Isle of Wight and Jersey but generally you stayed put locally.One real eye opener was the buses which did the round Leeds tourswhich are mentioned in Leeds Transport Vol 4.,never seen such places as the big council estates etc.School trips - I can only recall the church at Adel and a disasterouse trip to Hel vellan(spelling?) when found the quck way down-breaking a wrist in the process.

For the first eight years of my life, in the 1960s, I lived in the centre of Leeds as my parents were caretakers at Bramham & Gale, a firm of estate agents opposite the Town Hall. I remember walking to and from school (St Anne's, at the bottom of Clarendon Road) by myself from about six or seven years old, and was also allowed to go to the shops by myself (I knew my way around town very well as I used to accompany my dad on his postal deliveries for the company). I think if you saw a six-year-old girl wandering around Leeds city centre on her own these days, you'd be seriously worried for her safety!!For holidays, we rarely left Yorkshire, going mainly to Scarborough or Filey, but we did venture to Lytham St Annes and Pontins in Morecambe as well! I don't recall leaving the North of England until I went on a school trip to France in 1974, apart from a British Rail mystery tour which ended up in Great Yarmouth (you couldn't do that without changing trains these days)!    

I don't know if this is the sort of thing you mean, but in about 1973 when I was 14, some mates and I cycled from Calverley to Stump Cross caverns, via Pateley Bridge (which includes the climb up Greenhow Hill.) When we got there, it was shut. Rode back via Harrogate, and all in a day.    

Depends on one's age at the time but I take your point dogduke.From around age 7 up to going to high school when I was 10 I was allowed to roam around an area bounded by York Road, Harehills Lane, Roundhay Road and Mabgate. We used to walk up to Tempie and Roundhay Park if with an older friend. After age 10 I had the freedom of the city really. I like to think we were streetwise though - we knew [don't know how] that it was dodgy to be on your own and we knew that some people weren't 'nice' and that some areas weren't 'nice'. Kids aren't daft the majority of the time.

I was about 12 and used to get on the no24 bus at the corner of Swarcliffe Drive and Barwick Road some Sundays change buses at central bus station and visit my auntie on Scotthall Road, she would then at about 5pm take me to the bus stop and I would then take the first bus to town sometimes it was one that went to Vicar Lane so I would then get no47/48 West Yorkshire bus which again stopped near the Corporation bus stop on Barwick road, I think then we were were safer than the kids of today and we were always told not to speak to strangers, and if in trouble ask a policeman.

When I was nine I went to Scarboro with the school, that was the furthest I'd been without a relative.When I was a little older and a keen trainspotter, we'd get the train from Morley Low to Leeds (6d return!) When I was eleven, my mates and I went to York unaccompanied, from Morley Low, and then "The North Briton" Leeds to Edinburgh train.When I had a bike as a twelve year old I'd cycle for miles. I don't know but I don't think that sub teen kids do stuff like this today.

My mother tells the story about how her parent packed her off to her aunty's in Blackpool for the summer, when she was nine years old (late 1930's). They put her on the train at Leeds, and she was met in Blackpool, but she had to change trains on her own in Manchester. When she got back to Leeds, no-one was there to meet her, so she had to walk back to Scott Hall by herself with her suitcase. Imagine that happening today! - but each new generation seems to be more feeble and frightened than the last.

In the 70's i lived at Saxton Gardens with my parents and me and my brother were not allowed to stray off the immediate flats area.I remember once (in 79' i were 9 at the time) me and a mate went up to see another school mate of mine who live in Aysgarth walk in the Richmond Hill area and when i got back my mum gave me such a b0ll0cking for going that far away (i still have no idea to this day how she knew where i'd gone LOL)...in 1980 we moved up to the Richmond Hill area anyway LOL and i were allowed to go down as far a Eastend Park    

Quote: How far could you go as a kid? On more than one occassion I was told I'd gone too far, but that's a different story... Aged 9, I started Braimwood Middle School, which was about 2 miles from home in sunny Seacroft but seemed an awful lot further at the time. Although there was a school bus from the end of the road (L23), I was soon walking to and from school and spending my 8p bus fare on treats from one of the parades of shops on the way.There were several different routes to walk, depending on who you were meeting up with, but the favoured route became down North Parkway, along Wyke Beck to Dib Lane shops, then through "The Mansion" along the beck again and across the bottom of the Bulls Field to Wetherby Road.This time about co-incided with me getting my first 'proper' racing bike, so along with my new school chums we'd venture as far as Canal Gardens, or Potternewton (where a mates grandparents lived), or out to the likes of Thorner or Barwick. At the times these trips out into the countryside seemed like great adventures, but as has been commented on, times were different and parents generally had no need to worry if you were out all day.When I was a bit older (and had progressed to a 12-speed racer, rather than a 10) we'd get out further still, making it to Knaresborough and York on seperate occassions. Can you imagine letting 4 twelve years olds cycle along the A64 now? No cycle helmets, no hi-viz clothing - not even a puncture repair kit!Then there were the legendary days out with a Metro DayRover, visiting the far flung corners of West Yorkshire - travelling out to Pontefract on the first generation DMU's shortly before they were withdrawn with their massive windows and declassified first class seats that you sank down into, or up to Ilkley or Hebden Bridge.In fact I'm sure I can't be the only one who made the most of the Dayrover - perhaps thats worth a thread on it's own?

raveydavey wrote: Quote: How far could you go as a kid? On more than one occassion I was told I'd gone too far, but that's a different story... Aged 9, I started Braimwood Middle School, which was about 2 miles from home in sunny Seacroft but seemed an awful lot further at the time. Although there was a school bus from the end of the road (L23), I was soon walking to and from school and spending my 8p bus fare on treats from one of the parades of shops on the way.There were several different routes to walk, depending on who you were meeting up with, but the favoured route became down North Parkway, along Wyke Beck to Dib Lane shops, then through "The Mansion" along the beck again and across the bottom of the Bulls Field to Wetherby Road.This time about co-incided with me getting my first 'proper' racing bike, so along with my new school chums we'd venture as far as Canal Gardens, or Potternewton (where a mates grandparents lived), or out to the likes of Thorner or Barwick. At the times these trips out into the countryside seemed like great adventures, but as has been commented on, times were different and parents generally had no need to worry if you were out all day.When I was a bit older (and had progressed to a 12-speed racer, rather than a 10) we'd get out further still, making it to Knaresborough and York on seperate occassions. Can you imagine letting 4 twelve years olds cycle along the A64 now? No cycle helmets, no hi-viz clothing - not even a puncture repair kit!Then there were the legendary days out with a Metro DayRover, visiting the far flung corners of West Yorkshire - travelling out to Pontefract on the first generation DMU's shortly before they were withdrawn with their massive windows and declassified first class seats that you sank down into, or up to Ilkley or Hebden Bridge.In fact I'm sure I can't be the only one who made the most of the Dayrover - perhaps thats worth a thread on it's own? Didn't the A64 between Tad and York have a dedicated cycle track in those days?