Park Place Plan by Jonathan Teal for Wilson (Park) Estate 1793

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Wed 13 Mar, 2013 9:08 pm

Possible but is that where the power station was?

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Wed 13 Mar, 2013 9:20 pm

Good point Cardiarms. Hopefully someone will know what the bricked in 'arch' feature was.This photo better shows the ? culvert to the right.

jim · Post by **jim** » Thu 14 Mar, 2013 12:13 am

Interesting features Leodian. They are too far east to have been adjacent to the power station, and not close enough to the Kings Mill goit entry to be the ornamental canal outfall. That outfall would have been somewhere beneath Wetherspoons or very close by.The eastern-most (right hand) opening is directly underneath the site of my 1950s workplace that I mentioned recently on another thread, but I haven't noticed these openings before and have absolutely no idea what they may have been.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Thu 14 Mar, 2013 1:00 pm

Thanks Jim for those interesting comments.

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Thu 14 Mar, 2013 6:07 pm

Leodian wrote: Thanks Jim for those interesting comments. Thanks Leo I had hoped to unearth some old images of this but nothing came of it.It was a surprise to me to learn that (then see on that map) there was originally just the 'north' side of Park Place with their gardens across the road ending with the ornamental canal which discharged into the aire by the Goit.Att'd railway archive map doesn't really help,and by then much of it would have been built over.Leo there was, I think, some info on this in Prof Beresford's East End, West End. It also seemed to say that land was sold off 'with a good bed of clay' and he bricks fired almost on-site so some of the original buildings are (I presume) out of the earth they stand on.

Tasa · Post by **Tasa** » Thu 14 Mar, 2013 7:14 pm

This is Tuke's map from 1791, taken from the Discovering Leeds section of the Leodis website.It looks as if the little "spur" of waterway just south-west of the Mixed Cloth Hall is where the ornamental canal would have been connected with the river.There is also a good description of the planned estate on the Leodis website.http://tinyurl.com/bsl5z9b

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Thu 14 Mar, 2013 8:02 pm

Thanks Jogon and Tasa. The 'arch' feature on the north bank will be just about opposite the 'AI' in the "AIRE" in Jogon's map.Good link Tasa. I like the house to be sold or to let (LETT) notice in the Leeds Mercury and can even work out what it states. The use of an 'f' for an 's' is fun working out (it also reminds me of a Benny Hill verbal sketch!).

Tasa · Post by **Tasa** » Thu 14 Mar, 2013 8:35 pm

Leodian wrote: Thanks Jogon and Tasa. The 'arch' feature on the north bank will be just about opposite the 'AI' in the "AIRE" in Jogon's map.Good link Tasa. I like the house to be sold or to let (LETT) notice in the Leeds Mercury and can even work out what it states. The use of an 'f' for an 's' is fun working out (it also reminds me of a Benny Hill verbal sketch!). Temporarily diverting from the main subject of this thread, here's another notice from the Leeds Mercury in 1786 (with one particularly unfortunate substitution of F for S!). I like that the bellringers from three churches had to turn up to give the signal at 9.00am if the weather was right for the event! It shows how silent Leeds must have been in those days for people in outlying areas to hear the signal. Apparently 30,000 people turned up!The image is too large for me to add direct and keep it readable, so here's the link:http://tinyurl.com/d8lebkg

jim · Post by **jim** » Fri 15 Mar, 2013 5:28 pm

Leodian wrote: The 'arch' feature on the north bank will be just about opposite the 'AI' in the "AIRE" in Jogon's map. Took a little diversion from my town visit today to take a look at the site to refresh my memory. The arches you refer to are some way east of the "E" in "AIRE", nearly opposite the western edge of the left turn of the river to go underneath the station.I was delighted to notice a feature from my apprentice days in the mudbank a little to the east of the said arches, which was directly outside and accessible from the ODM joiners cellar workshop. Over the years it accumulated all the waste ashes from the various stoves from our workshops. It was also where "spoilt" work made by errant apprentices ended up. It was put about that if all the tractor components buried there or on the river bed were to be reclaimed, a new (but extremely faulty) TC7 tractor could be constructed. Such comments were always met with a knowing wink from Jimmy Topp, the tractor electrician.For entertainment the joiners used to have a triangular offcut of half-inch steel plate measuring about three feet along the hypoteneuse. It would be positioned outside the cellar door on the mudbank propped up on the opposite corner by a short length of stripwood with a piece of string attached. Old food remnants were thrown under the plate, and the construction watched for the inevitable roaming rat. If the plate corner and the stripwood had been very accurately erected, and the string-puller very nimble, the rat would have no chance, but more often than not the rat would be too quick. There is probably an RSPCR these days, and such goings on would be frowned on.

jim · Post by **jim** » Fri 15 Mar, 2013 5:33 pm

Leodian wrote: The 'arch' feature on the north bank will be just about opposite the 'AI' in the "AIRE" in Jogon's map. Took a little diversion from my town visit today to take a look at the site to refresh my memory. The arches you refer to are some way east of the "E" in "AIRE", nearly opposite the western edge of the left turn of the river to go underneath the station.I was delighted to notice a feature from my apprentice days in the mudbank a little to the east of the said arches, which was directly outside and accessible from the ODM joiners cellar workshop. Over the years it accumulated all the waste ashes from the various stoves from our workshops. It was also where "spoilt" work made by errant apprentices ended up. It was put about that if all the tractor components buried there or on the river bed were to be reclaimed, a new (but extremely faulty) TC7 tractor could be constructed. Such comments were always met with a knowing wink from Jimmy Topp, the tractor electrician.For entertainment the joiners used to have a triangular offcut of half-inch steel plate measuring about three feet along the hypotenuse. It would be positioned outside the cellar door on the mudbank propped up on the opposite corner by a short length of stripwood with a piece of string attached. Old food remnants were thrown under the plate, and the construction watched for the inevitable roaming rat. If the plate corner and the stripwood had been very accurately erected, and the string-puller very nimble, the rat would have no chance, but more often than not the rat would be too quick. There is probably an RSPCR these days, and such goings on would be frowned on.