Tunnels from City Station

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Wed 19 Sep, 2007 11:30 am

Can you imagine now how much this little project would cost to build. If the channel tunnel is anything to by it would be well into the billions, but heigh ho, we do at least have some buses that look like giant purple slugs!

Reginal Perrin · Post by **Reginal Perrin** » Wed 19 Sep, 2007 1:32 pm

LS1, respectfully, I don't agree. Did it cost Glasgow Billions to have a small underground loop? No. Newcastle? No. Brum New Street is completley undergound was that a feat to rival the Channel Tunnell? No.It is just typical of Leeds. Get the hopes up and deliver a totally inadequate alternative at budget costs dressed up as "more cost effective". Sheffield get Meadowhall, we get the White Rose Centre, they get a tram system, we get a handful of bendy buses which only serve one route, do not float above traffic and are no improvement on the current provision. They get the Hallam FM Arena and Don Valley Stadium, we get a proposal to redevelop the Town Hall into a small venue we don't need and the South Leeds Stadium which holds only holds 2,500. What is the GDP per person in Leeds comparedt o Sheffield? The Council Tax rake? The Tax yield from individuals and businesses. We are ripped off and shortchanged every time in Leeds and I've had enough of it.If I want to come shopping in my own city I'm asked to pay exhorbitant parking fees or bus fares so i don't shop in Leeds I go to Wakefield or Castleford who all have decent markets and an adequate selection of shops unless you really need to buy a Viv Westward shirt that is and you can park for a quid for hours.I don't mind paying I just want something n return apart from my bins emptied and new street lights (why didn't they just change the bulbs int h old ones anyway).Rant over.

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Wed 19 Sep, 2007 1:38 pm

Reginal Perrin wrote: LS1, respectfully, I don't agree. Did it cost Glasgow Billions to have a small underground loop? No. Newcastle? No. Brum New Street is completley undergound was that a feat to rival the Channel Tunnell? No.It is just typical of Leeds. Get the hopes up and deliver a totally inadequate alternative at budget costs dressed up as "more cost effective". Sheffield get Meadowhall, we get the White Rose Centre, they get a tram system, we get a handful of bendy buses which only serve one route, do not float above traffic and are no improvement on the current provision. They get the Hallam FM Arena and Don Valley Stadium, we get a proposal to redevelop the Town Hall into a small venue we don't need and the South Leeds Stadium which holds only holds 2,500. What is the GDP per person in Leeds comparedt o Sheffield? The Council Tax rake? The Tax yield from individuals and businesses. We are ripped off and shortchanged every time in Leeds and I've had enough of it.If I want to come shopping in my own city I'm asked to pay exhorbitant parking fees or bus fares so i don't shop in Leeds I go to Wakefield or Castleford who all have decent markets and an adequate selection of shops unless you really need to buy a Viv Westward shirt that is and you can park for a quid for hours.I don't mind paying I just want something n return apart from my bins emptied and new street lights (why didn't they just change the bulbs int h old ones anyway).Rant over. To be fair if it was something local then yeah you're right for an underground it would be cheap(ish) to link say the centre with headingly, but if it was something that would link Rothwell, Roundhay, Moortown, Morley etc on the scale of replicating the London underground, then I thinkit would be highly pricey, but it would be excellent! Your right though we have little here to attract people other than some shops. We need an Ice Rink here permanently instead of for a few months, that'd be great!!

Reginal Perrin · Post by **Reginal Perrin** » Wed 19 Sep, 2007 1:50 pm

To be fair if it was something local then yeah you're right for an underground it would be cheap(ish) to link say the centre with headingly, but if it was something that would link Rothwell, Roundhay, Moortown, Morley etc on the scale of replicating the London underground, then I thinkit would be highly pricey, but it would be excellent! Your right though we have little here to attract people other than some shops. We need an Ice Rink here permanently instead of for a few months, that'd be great!!No, I wouldn't suggest a full underground system anyway. What would be ideal (or would have been if they had done it) was to link the old branch lines to a small network which only went underground a few hundred yards from the city centre a bit like Newcastle. This is what that picture looks like. For say Rothwell, a branch line used to exist off the main line running through Stourton and up under Wood Lane, round the back of what used to be St George's Hospital to a station on which is now the Pastures. How much traffic would that aleviate from the A61?If you look at the facilities Leeds has it is a scandal compared to what amount of money is sloshing around. It's not really known for anything of note apart from a agreat student life. Well I'm a bit old for that.

hillbilly · Post by **hillbilly** » Thu 20 Sep, 2007 5:12 pm

Hello AllIve been looking at this site for a few months & decided to make a post.Though its not strictly tunnels from city station I thought I'd relate a tale I heard in a pub about 5 years ago.I was taking refreshment in the Red Lion, Shadwell when this bloke came in, bought a drink an started talking to the barman, in the course of this he said there was a tunnel from the Bingley Arms at Bardsey to the church in order to facilitate the escape of priests celebrating mass. Then he went on to say that there were tunnels under Briggate, the reasoning behind this was that there were in the early 1800s "posh" hotels on the harvey nicks side of the street and the toffs therin would use them to cross the road to visit White locks and the Ship without getting mired in horse manure, sewerage etc that would have been in the street.I found several flaws in this account, firstly why would anyone build a tunnel from an obscure Inn to an equally obscure church - its quite a way, at least 200 yards. With the methods available at the time (mining or cut & cover) it would have been a massive undertaking. Secondly if I were an 1800s toff I would have somebody bring my ale down the tunnel from the Ship, or as my brother pointed, out you would be taking an ampertif in the hotel bar prior to dining on humming birds in aspic!I asked my father who lived in Leeds in all his life about this, and he said it he had never heard of this and was extremely sceptical of its veracity!

Phill_d · Post by **Phill_d** » Thu 20 Sep, 2007 8:07 pm

Glad you brought that up Hillbilly! Funnily enough somebody else e-mailed me about this place a while ago more or less saying the same thing. After an initial search to see if the pub had a website for an e-mail contact address i put it on the back burner but i think i shall have to double my efforts & try harder as was so often said on my school reports

They mentioned priest hidey holes & the tunnel. There's always something in these storys although sometimes it's not always as glamouress as made out! I just wonder sometimes if they do exist then why aren't they used to publicise the pub by running a story or having some thing captured & recorded? Good publicity i think! Apologies for going off the thread slightly but it's a nice little tale & maybe we could start a new thread about these things as i know of another city center pub with something nice & secret in the cellar i'm hoping to see for myself soon

dave305 · Post by **dave305** » Mon 01 Oct, 2007 12:29 am

A friend of mine swears there is an underground tunnel from the City Varieties to Kirkstall Abbey. This seems far fetched but why make it up? Is there any truth in this?

drapesy · Post by **drapesy** » Mon 01 Oct, 2007 2:13 am

hillbilly wrote: Hello All Then he went on to say that there were tunnels under Briggate, the reasoning behind this was that there were in the early 1800s "posh" hotels on the harvey nicks side of the street and the toffs therin would use them to cross the road to visit White locks and the Ship without getting mired in horse manure, sewerage etc that would have been in the street.I found several flaws in this account, firstly why would anyone build a tunnel from an obscure Inn to an equally obscure church - its quite a way, at least 200 yards. With the methods available at the time (mining or cut & cover) it would have been a massive undertaking. Secondly if I were an 1800s toff I would have somebody bring my ale down the tunnel from the Ship, or as my brother pointed, out you would be taking an ampertif in the hotel bar prior to dining on humming birds in aspic!I asked my father who lived in Leeds in all his life about this, and he said it he had never heard of this and was extremely sceptical of its veracity! Hi there Hillbilly and I hope you enjoy this site !But 'posh hotels in Briggate in the 1800's '? hardly!!! In fact the area near Harvey nicks was probably the most squalid in Leeds. This area was the 'shambles' a warren of small yards, inns and butchers shops. In those days Butchers shops also doubled up a slaughterhouses at the back - the streets would have run with blood, sewage etc etc. nice!The leodis pic above shows 'Cheapside' a row that ran between Briggate and Vicar Lane in the area where harvey nicholls is now. taken c 1870-1880.

munki · Post by **munki** » Mon 01 Oct, 2007 4:06 am

Hats Off wrote: Don't know if this has been posted on here but there is a picture of how the city station undergrond would have looked if completed (or even started) ....... Good pic, HatsOff. I've wanted to see it for ages! Do you have a larger version that you could email to me?

Hats Off · Post by **Hats Off** » Mon 01 Oct, 2007 1:22 pm

Yes, the picture I have is bigger Munki. How do I go about getting it to you ?