SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

It's quiet on Secret Leeds so I thought I would post this thread. This area has changed a lot since I took the photo on October 7 2011. So where was it taken? It will likely be obvious to some so please don't answer yet or be cryptic if you do.

It looks awfully familiar.

Could it be down the road from a certain college?

Now I'm useless at being cryptic but il give a go.

Is it just off the road by a street named the opposite of nice wood road?

Not near south Street
Not near East Street
Not near West Street.

I have no idea Leodian but i think its a good idea to bring where was this photograph taken back.

Hi Peter .

You've cracked it. It is by the start of Meanwood Road where that comes off North Street. The site is now occupied by Magnet Kitchens, as seen in this photo that I took on July 7 2016. That building is built over Meanwood/Sheepscar Beck that is behind the wall in the photo taken on October 7 2011. The site used to be occupied by E.B. Balmforth Ltd leather manufacturers whose building was demolished in the early 2000's as far as I recall and the site lay waste for many years. A regret of mine was that I never took a photo of Balmforth's. I had intended to do but it was totally demolished very suddenly and quickly so I never did take a photo! Hi tilly . Your post came in while I was typing mine!

I thought as much .
I remember I used to wall back that way when I'd been to the abc cinema. ( never actually paid to go in that cinema lol ).
You should post more pics like this . It was fun.

I'm sure that Balmforth's was on Meanwood Road, certainly there was a street sign stating so fixed to the top left hand corner of the building when facing it. I thought North Street went up towards Roundhay Road and Chapeltown Road and stopped at the junction with those two roads and Sheepscar Street North/ South.

As an edit; this pic from Leodis states as such. Wonder why Magnet is classed as North Street?

http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... 3_33753604

If you search on here I'm sure a while back I posted some pics of Balmforth's during demolition.

LS1 wrote:I'm sure that Balmforth's was on Meanwood Road, certainly there was a street sign stating so fixed to the top left hand corner of the building when facing it. I thought North Street went up towards Roundhay Road and Chapeltown Road and stopped at the junction with those two roads and Sheepscar Street North/ South.

As an edit; this pic from Leodis states as such. Wonder why Magnet is classed as North Street?

http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... 3_33753604

If you search on here I'm sure a while back I posted some pics of Balmforth's during demolition.

Hi LS1.

I never stated that Balmforths was on North Street. It was, as you state, on Meanwood Road. That is why I stated the site in my photos "is by the start of Meanwood Road where that comes off North Street". Coming out of the centre of Leeds the final bit of North Street is, as you indicate, that between the row of old buildings (some of which have been recently renovated as small businesses) and the car wash (which recently closed down and then surprisingly reopened as a car wash).

I knew there would be photos of Balmforth's in Secret Leeds but as stated in my post on Sep 11 2016 8:54 pm I never took any photos of Balmforths. A clear reminder that anyone intending to take a photo of anything should do so and not wait!

This is the link to your most interesting thread on Balmforths and its nearby area, with the excellent photos you took of Balmforths. http://secretleeds.com/viewtopic.php?t=1059. Thanks to your photos I've been reminded that Balmforths was demolished in 2008, which is more recent than I would have guessed.

My Uncle worked at Balmforth's and in the early 1950's i and my cousin went there to see him. he took us inside. and apart from the awful overpowering smell the place and conditions reminded me of something out of a Dicken's book. we could not get out of there and i vowed to myself i would never work in a place like that. Some years later I worked for a carpet firm in North Street and among the various lock up storage places we had in that area there was one between Balmforth's and Rakusen's ( a firm that made vermicelli and verious Jewish foods and that was spotless.

Leodian wrote:

LS1 wrote:I'm sure that Balmforth's was on Meanwood Road, certainly there was a street sign stating so fixed to the top left hand corner of the building when facing it. I thought North Street went up towards Roundhay Road and Chapeltown Road and stopped at the junction with those two roads and Sheepscar Street North/ South.

As an edit; this pic from Leodis states as such. Wonder why Magnet is classed as North Street?

http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... 3_33753604

If you search on here I'm sure a while back I posted some pics of Balmforth's during demolition.

Hi LS1.

I never stated that Balmforths was on North Street. It was, as you state, on Meanwood Road. That is why I stated the site in my photos "is by the start of Meanwood Road where that comes off North Street". Coming out of the centre of Leeds the final bit of North Street is, as you indicate, that between the row of old buildings (some of which have been recently renovated as small businesses) and the car wash (which recently closed down and then surprisingly reopened as a car wash).

I knew there would be photos of Balmforth's in Secret Leeds but as stated in my post on Sep 11 2016 8:54 pm I never took any photos of Balmforths. A clear reminder that anyone intending to take a photo of anything should do so and not wait!

This is the link to your most interesting thread on Balmforths and its nearby area, with the excellent photos you took of Balmforths. http://secretleeds.com/viewtopic.php?t=1059. Thanks to your photos I've been reminded that Balmforths was demolished in 2008, which is more recent than I would have guessed.

I'm not saying you were! Just that it's interesting that Balmforth's was on Meanwood Road but Magnet being in the same spot is now classified as North Street.