Canal Road/Ledgard Way, Armley

shutthatdoor · Post by **shutthatdoor** » Tue 11 Jun, 2013 2:02 am

As a kid, I remember playing in the old Sammy Ledgard factory when it was derelict. It stunk of oil and had big dangerous looking inspection pits. It rose over several floors and it felt really dangerous and spooky. Not far from there, just set back from what is now the "Living World" pet shop, was the Yeast factory. Now that was a very distinctive smell that pervaded the whole area. They must have had production runs as sometimes seemed extremely smellier than others.Somewhere down on Lamb Hill was an old one up, one down Tailors shop. I also remember visiting "The Wheel Cafe" for bottles of lemonade after spending hours on the canal with nylon fishing nets and a jar of Sticklebacks.Ooh, you've set me off now!

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Tue 11 Jun, 2013 6:45 pm

shutthatdoor wrote: As a kid, I remember playing in the old Sammy Ledgard factory when it was derelict. It stunk of oil and had big dangerous looking inspection pits. It rose over several floors and it felt really dangerous and spooky. Not far from there, just set back from what is now the "Living World" pet shop, was the Yeast factory. Now that was a very distinctive smell that pervaded the whole area. They must have had production runs as sometimes seemed extremely smellier than others.Somewhere down on Lamb Hill was an old one up, one down Tailors shop. I also remember visiting "The Wheel Cafe" for bottles of lemonade after spending hours on the canal with nylon fishing nets and a jar of Sticklebacks.Ooh, you've set me off now! I can remember some abandoned allotments behind Sammy's garage in the early 50's. Me and a few mates would play in this area. Dread to think of anyone eating the produce from that place being so near to the asbestos factory!

DazB · Post by **DazB** » Thu 13 Jun, 2013 12:48 am

Feast your eyes on this lot. It clearly shows the canal, Canal Rd, Botany Bay, the railway and up towards and including the terraced housing on the right which is all still there. Several views and all together a fascinating website :http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/asea ... =%20armley

jim · Post by **jim** » Thu 13 Jun, 2013 11:23 am

A magnificent set of 1920s/30s shots from the air DazB, thanks for posting. Full of memories for me. My old Grammar School, my current home,even "Highfield Crossing" next to what is now W Search's premises, and one of my earliest train spotting haunts.What is amazing is the sheer quantity of things gone. Vast areas of housing, manufacturing industry, sheer quantities of parked railway wagons, even ten or more working boats on the canal, not forgetting trams of course. I will be returning to this link again and again.

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Thu 13 Jun, 2013 4:52 pm

jim wrote: A magnificent set of 1920s/30s shots from the air DazB, thanks for posting. Full of memories for me. My old Grammar School, my current home,even "Highfield Crossing" next to what is now W Search's premises, and one of my earliest train spotting haunts.What is amazing is the sheer quantity of things gone. Vast areas of housing, manufacturing industry, sheer quantities of parked railway wagons, even ten or more working boats on the canal, not forgetting trams of course. I will be returning to this link again and again. Can anyone remember an old ,flat-bottomed boat that was moored on the canal under a derelict wooden overhanging loading bay at Botony Bay?This boat was there from when I was a kid in the early 50's and it was still there about 10-15 years ago although by then it had sunk at one end! I often wondered who it belonged to and why it was just left there to rot?

Chrism · Post by **Chrism** » Thu 13 Jun, 2013 5:08 pm

stutterdog wrote: jim wrote: A magnificent set of 1920s/30s shots from the air DazB, thanks for posting. Full of memories for me. My old Grammar School, my current home,even "Highfield Crossing" next to what is now W Search's premises, and one of my earliest train spotting haunts.What is amazing is the sheer quantity of things gone. Vast areas of housing, manufacturing industry, sheer quantities of parked railway wagons, even ten or more working boats on the canal, not forgetting trams of course. I will be returning to this link again and again. Can anyone remember an old ,flat-bottomed boat that was moored on the canal under a derelict wooden overhanging loading bay at Botony Bay?This boat was there from when I was a kid in the early 50's and it was still there about 10-15 years ago although by then it had sunk at one end! I often wondered who it belonged to and why it was just left there to rot? I remember it, IIRC it was the last of the waterways ice breakers. Doing exactly what it says on the tin in the winter time. We used to fish from opposite it as there were some big roach hiding in the wreck. I think it has sunk/rotted away now.

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Thu 13 Jun, 2013 5:26 pm

Chrism wrote: stutterdog wrote: jim wrote: A magnificent set of 1920s/30s shots from the air DazB, thanks for posting. Full of memories for me. My old Grammar School, my current home,even "Highfield Crossing" next to what is now W Search's premises, and one of my earliest train spotting haunts.What is amazing is the sheer quantity of things gone. Vast areas of housing, manufacturing industry, sheer quantities of parked railway wagons, even ten or more working boats on the canal, not forgetting trams of course. I will be returning to this link again and again. Can anyone remember an old ,flat-bottomed boat that was moored on the canal under a derelict wooden overhanging loading bay at Botony Bay?This boat was there from when I was a kid in the early 50's and it was still there about 10-15 years ago although by then it had sunk at one end! I often wondered who it belonged to and why it was just left there to rot? I remember it, IIRC it was the last of the waterways ice breakers. Doing exactly what it says on the tin in the winter time. We used to fish from opposite it as there were some big roach hiding in the wreck. I think it has sunk/rotted away now. Wonder why they needed an ice-breaker on the canal? I would have thought the weight of some of the barges would be enough to smash through any ice that formed?

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Thu 13 Jun, 2013 5:44 pm

It's still there, apparently keeping it soaked prevents rot or something.

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Thu 13 Jun, 2013 6:24 pm

Cardiarms wrote: It's still there, apparently keeping it soaked prevents rot or something. That's amazing! Still there after 60years at least!

jim · Post by **jim** » Thu 13 Jun, 2013 6:28 pm

Ice could rapidly cut the sides of "regular" boats", so special ice-breaking boats of extra tough construction were built. They usually had a rail or rope along the centre, and carried a complement of six or more fit men aboard. The boat would be horse drawn, slowly, and the men aboard would rock the boat from side to side with all their might to break the ice across the canal rather than ramming the ice head on as one might expect.These boats were used for no other purpose, and as Cardiarms says, they were always sunk at some suitable spot when not in use as the woodwork lasted much longer when kept immersed.I have no idea how they were refloated when they were needed. A sunken boat under a thick covering of ice would present a problem. Anyone know how it was done?