Coal Mining in East Leeds

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Thu 01 Oct, 2009 10:14 pm

chameleon wrote: Good synopsis. I'll buy the stamp!Strange isn't it, how ever often we think we might understand this, a different trainof thought or something new arises.You'd think by now, we would be much more clear in the way we record events of today to help researchers of the future who try to follow our exploits wouldn't you? Edmund Bogg mentions the Foundry Mill in his book and notes that "Men were too 'throng' fashioning the implements of peace and war to dot the i's and cross the t's of written history...." (of the mill)So you are quite in line with the old beggar!Having said that above, the Lead Mills of the Dales are heavily researched and some good material has been assembled. I just wonder wether the Foundry Mill is a subject often touched on but never studied in depth?

Post by **chameleon** » Thu 01 Oct, 2009 10:23 pm

(I also have the book)

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sun 04 Oct, 2009 1:33 pm

chameleon wrote: (I also have the book) I have found a geographia street directory for Leeds.How accurate these are I don't know, but suspect old versions are updated with major new features, but not too accurately as their purpose is finding streets.Anyway from Asket Hill (where the new easterly road is shown) there are two water channels. One stays wyke beck all the way down the valley, the other channel stops where it is intersected by the tiny stream that flows down from the Rein. That could easily be read as the old watercourse.Later housing development - 1950's could have seen that remnant of the old warecourse obliterated as culverting, drainage and groundworks for the estate took place.Nothing at all is shown beyond where it stops deadOn Rossgill, that is shown flowing down towards wyke beck and then taking a turn around the hillside heading straight to the mill ponds. There is no continuation line in addition heading down to the beck.Scant evidence but seemingly on a map not confused by boundary lines and lines of field walls, the old watercourse stops dead and the Rossgill watercourse shows the stream being diverted directly around the hillside and across to the mill ponds.So a fair conclusion is at some time The old dam and watercourse was abandoned (in favour of mill ponds that could be fed by coal mine outflows), then came smeatons effort to recirc the water, then after that Rossgill was diverted into a watercourse to feed the mill - certainly by Thorpes 1820 map.Commentators with little interest in the facts may have assumed the 19C. watercourse dated back to Tudor times and connected to wyke beck. Not so on all we have seen so far.That the building of Roundhay Park affected the water supply down the valley may have been a factor, but problems with the supply pre-date Roundhay Park as Smeaton was called in in 1780.I wonder what maps may exist pre the Thorpe one. I must treat myself to that local history library visit......

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Sun 04 Oct, 2009 5:46 pm

Phill_dvsn wrote: There seemed to be a lot of water went over the watefall on Waterloo lake if i recall correctly, certainly much more of a greater volume that goes over the new dam anyway. I just find the whole part of Wyke beck to be a confusing thing around Wetherby road (even though i've been in all those tunnels, culverts and the dam)Is it the 'great head beck' that feeds the lake at the top end? Surely the Great head beck and Wykebeck were all one stream before the lake was constructed? There was always water running out from the culvert under Wetherby Road into Wyke Beck even when the waterfall from Waterloo Lake was dry during the summer months when I went to Braimwood School in the late 70's / early 80's. I can only assume from this that there was another "hidden" way of water leaving the lake that was in use all year round to maintain the flow in Wyke Beck, with the waterfall being an overflow - and the curved halfpipe overflow supplemented that when dictated by water levels. If not, whenever the waterfall dried up, so would Wyke Beck and I never saw that happen.

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Sun 04 Oct, 2009 6:47 pm

That constant flow of water into the Wyke beck under Wetherby road must come from this tunnel http://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn ... 71998/That dead end is right under the Lido car park, it runs straight in line with where the waterfall used to be.I think you might be able to see that man hole cover on Google earth, you can certainly work out were the end of this tunnel is when you stand on the car park above.The side passage runs towards the new dam, although it is a dead end. Water comes out of the pipe, but there is no visible sign where it comes from. It's bone dry further in. There are two tunnels under Wetherby road, The square sperated box section on the left here comes from the dam.http://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn ... 462671998/

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Sun 04 Oct, 2009 6:55 pm

Thinking back, I'm sure I can remember a brick structure actually in the lake, level with the waterfall which presumably allowed access to some underwater valve (?) which allowed water out of the lake. Presumably this was removed during the protracted construction of the dam that sits there now.It was nearly 30 years ago though, so I could well be wrong!

sundowner · Post by **sundowner** » Sun 04 Oct, 2009 8:03 pm

raveydavey wrote: Thinking back, I'm sure I can remember a brick structure actually in the lake, level with the waterfall which presumably allowed access to some underwater valve (?) which allowed water out of the lake. Presumably this was removed during the protracted construction of the dam that sits there now.It was nearly 30 years ago though, so I could well be wrong! I also remember that brick structure if you stood with your back to the lido it was on your left about twenty foot out from the dam wall and about the same distance from the left bank.The reason i remember is i have fished that spot in the distant past.

Post by **chameleon** » Sun 04 Oct, 2009 8:49 pm

raveydavey wrote: Thinking back, I'm sure I can remember a brick structure actually in the lake, level with the waterfall which presumably allowed access to some underwater valve (?) which allowed water out of the lake. Presumably this was removed during the protracted construction of the dam that sits there now.It was nearly 30 years ago though, so I could well be wrong! There was Davey, and certainly with my memory, a couple of hand wheels which would have operated sub-aqua valves, releasing water into Phill's tunnel (are there any tunnels left which aren't Phill's btw)This is how they reduced the water level in the lake before the repairs to the basin (which then leaked more than before) and building the new overflow system.It seems likely that these valves probably passed quite a bit of water in their later days if just from their age. Water also enters the beck as we've mentioned at Easterly Road from the the stream running down Wetherby Road towards Asket Hill.Phill: You mentioned hearing 'seerious water' running in manholes around the farm (Roundhay Grange) on Wetherby Road. I think I was right in suggesting an old stream taken over as a sewer. It looks as though it comes over Redhall from Shadwell, Presumably picking up their top-water, and ran south along the field line, following the trees between the too sets of farm buildings down to join the stream running closer to Wetherby Road, somewhere in the woods at the road junction.

Post by **chameleon** » Sun 04 Oct, 2009 10:06 pm

Parksider: I've mentioned this before but, looking at the map again, it's worth going back to.Look at an old map, to the east of the beck and just north of the circular 200' contour, a field line runs east-west. From this another field line runs north following the line of the beck.A very clear print I have of the 1895 map dlearly shows that at what is now Easterly Road, this field line joins directly onto the end of a pair of parallel lines which represent a wide channel which is Wyke Beck running from Roundhay. Only just before this juncture, is a thin line runningSW which ajoins an other ver straight line which is what we see today as Wyke Beck as it runs past Foxwood Farm.There is a spot-height noted a little further south of 168'; a Bench Mark adjacent to the Mill shows 168'. Scope for thought?

Brandy · Post by **Brandy** » Sun 04 Oct, 2009 10:49 pm

you dont get many of these to the pound lolTurned up today whilst detecting up at barnbow.Ive just got permission from Billy the farmer up at shippen farm to do the fields up there and this was one of the first signals that came outThere (as can be expected)pretty rare are the barnbow pit ones and also worth a few bob to the collectors by all accounts. Shame its got a few small cracks in it but never mind