Bus, crane, crash, copper, subway!

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Wed 24 Feb, 2010 8:49 pm

I was born in December 1970 and I can definately remember the subway / toilets under Briggate and the Wade Lane underpass / toilets still being in use.I reckon that would mean they were still in use into at least '73 or '74 for me to have any recollection of them?

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Wed 24 Feb, 2010 10:22 pm

raveydavey wrote: I was born in December 1970 and I can definately remember the subway / toilets under Briggate and the Wade Lane underpass / toilets still being in use.I reckon that would mean they were still in use into at least '73 or '74 for me to have any recollection of them? LOL. i was born in 1967, I remember going to (was it Wigfalls or Rumbelows?) near the station, you went upstairs and paid the never never for the telly in those days. I was always along Boar lane in those days. Why can't i, or some other people ever remember this dam subway lol?. It's like you needed to find a secret portal to it haha!

buffaloskinner · Post by **buffaloskinner** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 12:02 am

Well I was born in 1951. I cannot for the life of me remember a subway, and we were always in town on a Saturday night in the late 60s. Well the Mecca anyway. I can however remember the toilets in the middle. Do I just have memory loss?This is from Leodis, 1947 it sayshttp://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIde ... SPLAY=FULL

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 12:03 am

Phill_dvsn wrote: raveydavey wrote: I was born in December 1970 and I can definately remember the subway / toilets under Briggate and the Wade Lane underpass / toilets still being in use.I reckon that would mean they were still in use into at least '73 or '74 for me to have any recollection of them? LOL. i was born in 1967, I remember going to (was it Wigfalls or Rumbelows?) near the station, you went upstairs and paid the never never for the telly in those days. I was always along Boar lane in those days. Why can't i, or some other people ever remember this dam subway lol?. It's like you needed to find a secret portal to it haha! Maybe the secret portal had something to do with the tardis parked alongside the steps to the loo.My mum would usually visit Schofields , M&S or Woollies when she went into Leeds shopping with me as a kid . I must have walked across the Briggate Boar Lane junction hundreds of times from about 1955 through to 1975 and I have absolutely no recollection of ever using a pedestrian subway to cross the road there. I do remember the steps to underground conveniences. Call me a subway denier if you like.On the subject of the bus crane crash , I witnessed the aftermath of a vey similar accident on Whingate in the mid 60's. It happened just down the road from West Leeds school. The bus ran into the boom of a parked mobile crane which "speared" the top deck of the bus through the front windows. The bus was full of school kids but luckily noone was injured.

buffaloskinner · Post by **buffaloskinner** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 12:06 am

And another from 1946http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIde ... SPLAY=FULL

dogduke · Post by **dogduke** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 12:29 am

buffaloskinner wrote: And another from 1946http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIde ... SPLAY=FULL This photo shows Jackson the Tailor,slightly off thread but thiswas where I got some very nice made to measure suits,mohair was a favourite of mine in the summer.Mam worked in the factory on Roseville Road and 'watched it'throughall the sections.Back on thread.I remember the toilets in the late fifties - early sixties butcannot remember a subway leading to anywhere.You went down the steps in the middle of the road and if Iremember correctly could only come out the same way as you went in.

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 12:41 am

There you go.A set of people adamant it was there, i have absolutely no reason not to believe them either.Then another set of peeps totally clueless to it's exsistence?Sheer madness it is

dogduke · Post by **dogduke** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 1:16 am

Leodis has lots of Briggate snaps which I have 'skipped'throBriggate as a two way street could be crossed quite safely I think,the central reservation giving access to the toilet steps was narrow,why would you need a subway to complete crossing Briggate?To cross to the Boar Lane direction would be a diversionnot worth the effort with so little traffic.From memory and Looking at Leodis there is nothing(I think)to suggest a subway ever existed.The toilets were a last resort for those in dire need.None of the Leodis photos I have seen depict another subway exit/entry

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 2:21 am

Here is a photo of the Boar lane and Briggate junction as it was in 1965. There is no sign on any crane or excavations in this shothttp://www.francisfrith.com/leeds,west-yorkshi ... 28142/EDIT... On second thoughts, Whats the big black arm you can see standing up behind the lorry?It looks to have some kind of chain, almost like a crane, if so, it looks to be doing work on the building roof, not a subway.What does anyone think?

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 3:14 am

The picture of the 1965 bus and crane crash on Leodis is also in the 'Leeds In The News' book by Brett Harrison with pictures from the West Yorkshire Archive Service featured.The book can be seen herehttp://search.barnesandnoble.com/Leeds-In-The-News/Brett-Harrison/e/9780750910651The caption reads 'Collision between a bus and a crane, 29 December 1965, The crane was being used to excavate a subway at the junction with Boar lane when the jib sliced into the upper deck of the bus. Nobody was hurt'