Golden Acre Park

jdbythesea · Post by **jdbythesea** » Mon 23 Jan, 2012 7:03 pm

Johnny39 wrote: Leedslad31 wrote: Golden Acre's fun-filled past also fascinates me,and the afore-mentioned book is a must for anyone researching the park. I was intrigued to read about the "Blue Lagoon" outdoor swimming pool - an attraction my Dad fondly remembered - and I,too,set off to see if anything remained of it. How strange it felt to be walking amongst the well-established trees and suddenly realise that I was in fact standing in/on the deep end of the Lagoon! The corroded but virtually intact poolside steps still lead down into the Lagoon,nowadays vanishing into the soil instead of 6+ ft of icy water! The tops of the blue-painted concrete walls remain visible in a few areas,marking out the perimeter of the pool.Flicking through the pages of "Leeds' Golden Acres",I soon came across a lovely pic of the Blue Lagoon in it's heyday...excited kids of all ages running,jumping and splashing while Mum and Dad looked on. Sure enough,there were the very same poolside steps,young girl gingerly descending into the chilly water as others opted to make a rather more dynamiic entrance via the nearby slide. The frame of the now flattened slide still protrudes from the soil.Seeking out the exact position used by the photographer many decades earlier,I swear I could still hear the shrieks and laughter of those pre-War visitors to the Blue Lagoon. The pool was still open in the late 50's - very cold water as I remember. I can remember spending sunny days at The "Blue - La" in the summer of 1961 (or was it '62? Perhaps it was both). It was always busy during the long school summer holidays. The days might have been hot but the water was always freezing cold! And that big locker key that seemed to weigh a ton on an elastic band on your wrist.

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Sat 18 Aug, 2012 5:56 pm

Leedslad31 wrote: ..........I,too,set off to see if anything remained of it.........How strange it felt to be walking amongst the well-established trees and suddenly realise that I was in fact standing in/on the deep end of the Lagoon! The corroded but virtually intact poolside steps still lead down into the Lagoon,nowadays vanishing into the soil instead of 6+ ft of icy water!..............Sure enough,there were the very same poolside steps.............. The frame of the now flattened slide still protrudes from the soil. Can you explain exactly where these are?I know the area quite well but have only ever seen the following:-1. Waterproofed Blue Concreteand2. Corroded green water fawcett [see pic att'd]I have yet to find + see your intact poolside steps into the ground and/or the slide mentioned.It is only a very small area, so directions from the lakeside path + from Parkway Car Park should nail it http://goo.gl/maps/33ibU

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Sat 18 Aug, 2012 11:47 pm

Jogon wrote: Leedslad31 wrote: ..........I,too,set off to see if anything remained of it.........How strange it felt to be walking amongst the well-established trees and suddenly realise that I was in fact standing in/on the deep end of the Lagoon! The corroded but virtually intact poolside steps still lead down into the Lagoon,nowadays vanishing into the soil instead of 6+ ft of icy water!..............Sure enough,there were the very same poolside steps.............. The frame of the now flattened slide still protrudes from the soil. Can you explain exactly where these are?I know the area quite well but have only ever seen the following:-1. Waterproofed Blue Concreteand2. Corroded green water fawcett [see pic att'd]I have yet to find + see your intact poolside steps into the ground and/or the slide mentioned.It is only a very small area, so directions from the lakeside path + from Parkway Car Park should nail it http://goo.gl/maps/33ibU That's the blue lagoon right?Where is the fawcet though?

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Sun 19 Aug, 2012 11:51 am

Yeah blue lagoon partially uncovered pool edge + beware, there are some 'holes' to fall down. blue in picFawcet. green in pic. take left of P'way car park and walk down left side to meet woods. Small pathway thru to left at start of woods takes you out into marshy grassland. This is under brush cover. But Leedslad31 has found more, where tho?

buffaloskinner · Post by **buffaloskinner** » Sun 19 Aug, 2012 8:19 pm

Here is Golden Acre Park in its heyday 1933

somme1916 · Post by **somme1916** » Sun 19 Aug, 2012 9:37 pm

buffaloskinner wrote: Here is Golden Acre Park in its heyday 1933 Marvellous aerial view buffaloskinner.Who'd have thought it ever looked like that ?????

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Sun 19 Aug, 2012 11:03 pm

That is a fascinating photo. For interest I have taken a screen grab of Golden Acre Park area from Google Earth (dated 2012) and have orientated it roughly like that in the photo so that a comparison can be made between 1933 and 2012. The lake has noticeably shrunk quite a lot, which is odd as much of the gound around the lake at Golden Acre Park is often very soggy.

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Mon 20 Aug, 2012 10:59 am

Leo good point, clearly the whole thing needs dredging from the Otley Rd bridge.New Adel Dam ie golden acre pond had "an area of about 25 Acres" when built 1825.Chrism's post here #Posted on: 14-Jul-2010 18:09:37 shows more development and the blue lagoon - of which - Where are Leedslad31 "ladders and slide"?

PC - Dublin · Post by **PC - Dublin** » Tue 21 Aug, 2012 1:03 am

Leodian wrote: That is a fascinating photo. For interest I have taken a screen grab of Golden Acre Park area from Google Earth (dated 2012) and have orientated it roughly like that in the photo so that a comparison can be made between 1933 and 2012. The lake has noticeably shrunk quite a lot, which is odd as much of the gound around the lake at Golden Acre Park is often very soggy. Or else part of the lake was filled in?PC

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Mon 27 Aug, 2012 5:00 pm

Took the dog for a walk around GAP and Breary marshes this morning before the weather turned and was surprised to find that the bridge over the old overflow from the lake had partially collapsed.It's the one at the far end of the dam from the bird feeding area - if you walk across the top of the dam on the footpatch, the bridge is the last section before you rejoin the normal park walks.The collapse must have happened overnight / early in the morning as it wasn't cordoned off - fortunately there is an emergency notice board nearby so I rang the number on that - which went straight to an answering machine...to be fair to the park staff though we passed a chap rushing towards it with a roll of hazard tape a couple of minutes later saying he'd had "reports of a collapsed bridge" and had we seen anything - I showed him the pics I'd taken and he seemed genuinely shocked and hurried off.Although it looks like an old stone bridge I think that might be just for appearances - the deck of the bridge seems to have been supported by wooden beams with stone flags over them and then the path surface, at least one of the beams has broken and another has been dislodged by the resultant collapse.A closer look at the keystone (bottom pic) suggests it's decorative rather than serving much purpose and the arch clearly doesn't continue under the bridge deck.Full set here: http://snipurl.com/24soiv9