Old Leeds Firms

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Tue 23 Feb, 2010 3:27 pm

[quotenick="BLAKEY"] Uno Hoo wrote: [ Wellington St Coach Station, so I'm sure Blakey will remember it, altho' perhaps not quite so graphically as Caressa House (which gets him very excited )./quote]I remember the progressively more scandalous Wellington Street Coach Station very well indeed. How on Earth no intending passenger was ever klled or injured in the place I shall never know. Especially as vehicles got longer and longer the various queues became disorganised and intermingled, and were menacingly forced back towards the rear wall by reversing coaches. Ultimately a long "shelter" was built across the full width of the rear wall - so if you weren't knocked down directly you stood a chance of being wallopped by flying concrete and glass. We often scoff nowadays at seemingly ludicrous "Health and Safety" measures, but there was definitely a real need for some stringent improvements at Wellington Street. Until the advent of the Leeds style bus stations (Dewsbury, Batley, Cleckheaton, Wakefield) I'd never been on a bus when it was reversing.I thought it must be illegal. Certainly in the past at Leeds Central, Wakefield, Dewsbury, Castleford and Batley, buses parked parallel to the stand.

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Tue 23 Feb, 2010 5:59 pm

[quotenick="TrojanUntil the advent of the Leeds style bus stations (Dewsbury, Batley, Cleckheaton, Wakefield) I'd never been on a bus when it was reversing.I thought it must be illegal. Certainly in the past at Leeds Central, Wakefield, Dewsbury, Castleford and Batley, buses parked parallel to the stand. At one time it definitely was illegal to reverse without assistance while carrying passengers, but I suppose that's all gone by the board now.I experienced the new Leeds Bus Station myself right from Day One, and believe me it can be a nightmare especially at the southern end (platforms one to six or seven). Due to the inbound road area being on a 180 degree curve at that end you really had your work cut out, using both mirrors very frequently, to avoid being wallopped by incoming buses heading for the middle or north end and often exceeding the speed limit. The little bus station at Otley (less than half the size of the original "drive through" one) has seen countless quite serious reversing incidents due to poor visibility and inadequate manoeuvering room for present day vehicles.Another horrendous possibility, and its happened at least twice in Leeds, is for brake failure or a drivers foot to slip even for a second off the brake pedal - causing the bus to smash straight into the vast glass windows behind which the passengers are sitting, admittedly in warm comfort, while waiting.

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Tue 23 Feb, 2010 6:06 pm

BLAKEY wrote: [quotenick="TrojanUntil the advent of the Leeds style bus stations (Dewsbury, Batley, Cleckheaton, Wakefield) I'd never been on a bus when it was reversing.I thought it must be illegal. Certainly in the past at Leeds Central, Wakefield, Dewsbury, Castleford and Batley, buses parked parallel to the stand. The little bus station at Otley (less than half the size of the original "drive through" one) has seen countless quite serious reversing incidents due to poor visibility and inadequate manoeuvering room for present day vehicles. Everywhere's got a bus station. Even the White Rose Centre's got a bus station - everywhere except Morley. And the lower end of Queen Street gets gridlocked with buses sometimes. They have to queue to get to the stops.

JackLaneLad · Post by **JackLaneLad** » Tue 23 Feb, 2010 6:06 pm

Uno Hoo wrote: Lyndoch wrote: When I left school I started work at Wilkinson and Warburtons wholesale textiles. in 1956 They were on King St opposite the Hotel Metropole (Where the Bank of England now stands) does anyone else remember "Wilkies" From Lyndoch South Australia My first job was at I J Dewhirst - I posted about it in earlier parts of this thread. We were competitors with W & W. There were quite a lot of wholesale drapers in Leeds in those days. Another large firm was Crowe & Co., a building which features in many photos of buses in Leeds as it was slap bang next to Wellington St Coach Station, so I'm sure Blakey will remember it, altho' perhaps not quite so graphically as Caressa House (which gets him very excited ).W & W relocated to Pudsey and took over a large mill on Cemetery Rd. I'll have to have a stroll on there & see if they're still there. The demise of the small neighbourhood draper has seen off the wholesale houses of Leeds. Wilkinson Warburtons sadly went bust, the Pudsey site is now totally demolished awaiting flats and houses.

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Tue 23 Feb, 2010 10:23 pm

Uno Hoo wrote: Lyndoch wrote: When I left school I started work at Wilkinson and Warburtons wholesale textiles. in 1956 They were on King St opposite the Hotel Metropole (Where the Bank of England now stands) does anyone else remember "Wilkies" From Lyndoch South Australia My first job was at I J Dewhirst - I posted about it in earlier parts of this thread. We were competitors with W & W. There were quite a lot of wholesale drapers in Leeds in those days. Another large firm was Crowe & Co., a building which features in many photos of buses in Leeds as it was slap bang next to Wellington St Coach Station, so I'm sure Blakey will remember it, altho' perhaps not quite so graphically as Caressa House (which gets him very excited ).W & W relocated to Pudsey and took over a large mill on Cemetery Rd. I'll have to have a stroll on there & see if they're still there. The demise of the small neighbourhood draper has seen off the wholesale houses of Leeds. Hi Lyndock,Wilkie Warburtons at Pudsey has gone ,demolished about 8months or more ago.It's a huge site.Dont know what they're going bto build on it.

Uno Hoo · Post by **Uno Hoo** » Wed 24 Feb, 2010 4:40 pm

Thanks to jacklanelad & stutterdog for the info re. W & W. Saved me a special trip.

Lyndoch · Post by **Lyndoch** » Wed 24 Feb, 2010 10:32 pm

Thanks to both for your input re "Wilkies" as a 15 year old I was sent to the tobacconist shop to buy sweets for the senior members of staff..I always managed to "Nick" a few.. It was run by an elderly lady but I do not remember her name...dewhirst, Crowes, these are names from the past .. as you say the demise of the small shop has seen the end of these firms... At the time you could move from one firm to another with ease I never didi but know of others who did so.."Caressa" corsetry... "Caress her" Ithink thats where the name originally came from.The Top man was Sir George Martin who also was a philanthropist at L G I

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 8:58 am

Lyndoch wrote: I always managed to "Nick" a few.. It was run by an elderly lady but I do not remember her name... If you were "nicking" in the late 50s/early 60s it was Miss Hunter - see my post mid way on page 9.

tykette · Post by **tykette** » Thu 25 Feb, 2010 1:11 pm

I've only posted occasionally before now, being more of an observer of this great website - but now I need some help.The factory that was Heatons on New York Road (became Pooles, and now stuck in a development void) - the iconic clock has vanished from the top of the building. This was our family business and I'd dearly like to find out what has happened to the clock. Has anyone any suggestions how I could go about finding out ? Thanks !

oultonian · Post by **oultonian** » Tue 06 Jul, 2010 5:24 pm

tykette - I remember the clock and the facade well.My mum worked at Heatons, 'Heatona House' through the 1970's and kept in touch with old workmates for some years after gleaning bits of news etc.My recollection of things after the sale to Poole's and later the total closure was that the clock and end facade etc was of architectural interest/heritage and subsequent re-development would have to be sympathetic to the character of the building (this actually put off developers at the time due to the cost) The architecture, clock and mechanism (was obsolete) and therefore potentially very expensive to restore and maintain.I cannot remember the exact details but feel sure that Leeds City Council Planning Department may have given the building or part of it formal building restrictions or given it a graded listing.Also fairly sure the clock was officially removed to be restored - although I cannot verify it.A call to LCC Planning or a search of their Planning Applications archive would be a good start, where you might get the name of the developers architect or the developer and details of any planning rejections or stipulations (including the clock).Hope this gives some help.Sadly my mum is not with us any more to ask so only my memories for you to work with.Good luck with your detective work.