Leeds Railway Station's 'Lost World'

[jim]

Here goes: platform 1 is the last remnant of the original station on this site,Leeds Wellington.It started out in the 1840s and was completely remodelled in 1936 or 37,with what is now platform 1 being number 6,which together with number 5 dealt with the main express services to London St Pancras,Glasgow,Edinburgh,and Bristol.Wellington STREET Goods was alongside Central station and was from Northern Street to the present eastern boundary of the YEP complex.hope that clears up any confusion on that subject.Back to the arches:The two east to west roadways were called Dark Neville Street and Sandford Street (and presumably still are) and are linked by a roadway only referred to as far as I know as the cross arch.It's one or two arches east of the river arch,and contains the overhead conrcrete disused subway of the 1967 station.Prior to 1967,many of the arches were disused,although they had mostly been occupied by tenant businesses in earlier days,but with the 1967 rebuild,uses were found for the majority.I can't remember all of them,but here are some:Refreshment Room kitchen and stores(pre-1967),publicity and poster department workshop and stores,comprehensive Civil Engineers facility,Signal and Telegraph switchroom and workshops,heating and ventilating equipment,various electrical sub-stations and switchrooms,two generating sets in event of complete electrical power failure,and a number of dedicated garage arches.More info after I've scratched my head a bit!    

[chameleon]

jim wrote: Here goes: platform 1 is the last remnant of the original station on this site,Leeds Wellington.It started out in the 1840s and was completely remodelled in 1936 or 37,with what is now platform 1 being number 6,which together with number 5 dealt with the main express services to London St Pancras,Glasgow,Edinburgh,and Bristol.Wellington STREET Goods was alongside Central station and was from Northern Street to the present eastern boundary of the YEP complex.hope that clears up any confusion on that subject.Back to the arches:The two east to west roadways were called Dark Neville Street and Sandford Street (and presumably still are) and are linked by a roadway only referred to as far as I know as the cross arch.It's one or two arches east of the river arch,and contains the overhead conrcrete disused subway of the 1967 station.Prior to 1967,many of the arches were disused,although they had mostly been occupied by tenant businesses in earlier days,but with the 1967 rebuild,uses were found for the majority.I can't remember all of them,but here are some:Refreshment Room kitchen and stores(pre-1967),publicity and poster department workshop and stores,comprehensive Civil Engineers facility,Signal and Telegraph switchroom and workshops,heating and ventilating equipment,various electrical sub-stations and switchrooms,two generating sets in event of complete electrical power failure,and a number of dedicated garage arches.More info after I've scratched my head a bit!     Wonderous stuff - all we need now is to get in with you leading the waySanford Street is gone - unless it still exists under the station and I can't find a Dark Neville Street, what is called the Dark Arches is of course Neville Street but runs north-south. This is the map from 1863:

[chameleon]

chameleon wrote: That's in keeping with my (?) memory, well lit too.I know I've seen picturesm ight even be hidden elsewhere on SL but can't find a thing - must be some somewhere. But I'm now thinking Phil is right, these do seem out of character for the age - we need someone peropper in there. Yes, having driven up SWinegate, the sides of the arches of identical glazes bricks, even the bonding is the same and typical of that period - in fact with a little imagination and concentrating on the higher bits, you could see yourself in the WN pictures (I wasn't driving btw!)

[Phill_dvsn]

chameleon wrote: chameleon wrote: That's in keeping with my (?) memory, well lit too.I know I've seen picturesm ight even be hidden elsewhere on SL but can't find a thing - must be some somewhere. But I'm now thinking Phil is right, these do seem out of character for the age - we need someone peropper in there. Yes, having driven up SWinegate, the sides of the arches of identical glazes bricks, even the bonding is the same and typical of that period - in fact with a little imagination and concentrating on the higher bits, you could see yourself in the WN pictures (I wasn't driving btw!) I second you on the visit with Jim as tour guide Chameleon. I like those glazed tiles, as a rule it seemed to be the Midland railway who used them. You can normally tell who's bridge you are under around Leeds with the material used. I can think of no better example to see it for comparison than herehttp://snipurl.com/uuk8tGlazed tile, brick, and stone all mixed together there!    

[jim]

Whoops!Sorry Chameleon,I've not made myself clear.Sandford Street was and still is the name of the first roadway arch on the left going down Neville Street from City Square/Bishopgate Street.It is exactly on the alignment of the street shown on the large scale Alan Godfrey 1847 maps which predate the NER/LNWR Leeds New station,and to the best of my knowledge is still the term used in all plans and drawings for new works and repairs by the railway and its contractors,and by local government planning to this day.Whether it carries the status of a postal adress I can't be certain,but it IS Sandford Street.The second roadway arch on the left,just before exiting the "tunnel" has no predecessor but was and is Dark Neville Street in the same way.As to maps/A toZs,they don't show the covered sections of ,say,Swinegate or Neville Street itself,and are no demonstration of an underground streets existence! Here endeth the pontification!

[jim]

Oh dear,quick,before anyone notices,RIGHT of Neville Street you fool RIGHT!Retires quickly,in some disorder.

[chameleon]

jim wrote: Oh dear,quick,before anyone notices,RIGHT of Neville Street you fool RIGHT!Retires quickly,in some disorder. Just so long as you weren't driving ' down ' Neville StreetAnd no appology needed, you actually answer in part a question I asked earlier in the thread about what happened to the roads (and buildings) when the station came into being. If I remember rightly too, that first archway was used by a timber company for a while after they were displaced from what was to become Granary Wharf.

[jim]

Thought I'd better take another look at the area since I've not been down there for about ten years-so,join me on a walk down memory lane.Down Neville Street to Dark Neville Street.On the way note the newsagents,previously the entrance to the Civil Engineers lobby,mess and locker rooms and time office,presided over for many years by Norman.Although giving the appearance of a troglodyte,Norman was exceptionally sharp of intellect and wit,and was responsible for many entertaining goings-on and often repeated tales,some of them printable!Round into Dark Neville Street, the first two RH arches,and most of those on the left were also occupied in the past by specific CE trades-joiners,plumbers,groundworkers and the like.The arches on the right identified as DN4 and DN5belonged to the Signal and Telegraph Dept and still appear to carry their BR locks.DN4 is the one with the pre-1967 subway- you can just make out the end of it through the skylight over the door if the light is on.You can't get into it from here though,it's much narrower than the arch,offset to the right of centre and raised about six feet in the air on mini viaduct style arches and only accessible from the other end and needing an advanced degree in map-reading and maze solving.Moving along we reach the emergency generator arch on the left and the cross arch,now gated off,on the left.On the left of this arch was a side arch containing switchgear and stairs up to the 1967 subway accessed through a door opposite the gents mentioned in an earlier posting.Next exciting episode:across the river!

[Cardiarms]

Where in modern did this fire happen?http://www.leodis.org/display.aspx?reso ... SPLAY=FULL

[Chrism]

*sits at computer desk twiddling thumbs and waiting very patiently*