York Road Woodpecker Pub

coldstreamer2459 · Post by **coldstreamer2459** » Sat 24 Oct, 2009 12:46 pm

Anyone remember the Woodpecker - I'd often hang outside the pub at this time of the year with my guy fawkes (often the smallest kid on the ebor gardens estate with a cheap "scary" mask on) and collar the punters - there was a subway beneath the main road which looks like it's been filled in now.

Crazy Jane · Post by **Crazy Jane** » Sat 24 Oct, 2009 12:57 pm

Presumable you don't mean the original Woodpecker that iirc got bombed out in ww2? I remember the later one. Cira early 80s i was living in Lincoln Green and went past it on a night on my way to work. For some reason i always remember the boards blocking off what i guess was a yard at the back, that said on them in big letters "DOSSERS KEEP OUT - BIG DOG"Never went in there, though i heard it was a [edited for content] tip, some people claimed to have seen rats running across the floor. My stepfather nearly got beaten up in there once, well he was an [edited for content] and had probably shot his mouth off, he came home covered in mud from where he'd been running and fallen down the other side of quarry hill because some 'paddys' were chasing him O_o

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 24 Oct, 2009 12:59 pm

and this one!http://www.secretleeds.co.uk/forum/Mess ... ighLight=1

coldstreamer2459 · Post by **coldstreamer2459** » Sat 24 Oct, 2009 1:02 pm

Crazy Jane wrote: Presumable you don't mean the original Woodpecker that iirc got bombed out in ww2? I remember the later one. Cira early 80s i was living in Lincoln Green and went past it on a night on my way to work. For some reason i always remember the boards blocking off what i guess was a yard at the back, that said on them in big letters "DOSSERS KEEP OUT - BIG DOG"Never went in there, though i heard it was a [edited for content] tip, some people claimed to have seen rats running across the floor. My stepfather nearly got beaten up in there once, well he was an [edited for content] and had probably shot his mouth off, he came home covered in mud from where he'd been running and fallen down the other side of quarry hill because some 'paddys' were chasing him O_o Yep it will be the same one - a right dump, after the flyover was built no one went in it apart from the p***heads, who we discovered were the best to part with their dosh after a night on the grog.. funnily enough I got chinned in Quarry Hill flats by a gang of kids who were older than me - it became an escape and evasion exercise trying to take the short cut into Leeds City Centre, fun but risky, just aroundthe corner of the pub was a refuge for irish immigrants, crammed em in...

Crazy Jane · Post by **Crazy Jane** » Sat 24 Oct, 2009 7:05 pm

We didn;t move up that way until about 82, so the flyover was already in by then and i think the flats were gone. Didn;t know about the irish hostel though.

Hazman · Post by **Hazman** » Mon 26 Oct, 2009 8:57 am

Heres a picture I took looking down York Road towards the Woodpecker,which the back of can be sen to the left.Think this was mid 90s before they built the second flyover.Where I am standing was the parade of business's which included Shopacheck and Adelmans

Hazman · Post by **Hazman** » Mon 26 Oct, 2009 8:59 am

And another one slightly lower down.

Hazman · Post by **Hazman** » Mon 26 Oct, 2009 9:01 am

And this is probably one of the last photos of the Woodpecker.

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Wed 04 Nov, 2009 7:09 pm

Hazman wrote: And another one slightly lower down. This looks like a yorkshire Rider bus!

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Wed 04 Nov, 2009 8:51 pm

stutterdog wrote: This looks like a yorkshire Rider bus! Indeed it is - its one of the MCW Metrobuses in the 75**/76** series. They had some very unfair criticism because of the jerky automatic gearchanges. This was entirely the fault of the operator for buying buses with three speed very wide ratio gearboxes to run on busy services in a very hilly area. An option of a four speed box could be specified and would have removed any cause for complaint.