Hunslet Boundary

[Tyke]

Picture hopefully

[raveydavey]

On a related note, Radio Leeds were discussing "South Leeds" today and that got me wondering how far South Leeds actually stretches.To me, it's fairly easy from the City Centre and out to the east - it's clearly south of the river and out as far as Stourton - say to the "new" M1 extension for want of a better boundary - Rothwell was for many years a town in it's own right and should be excluded for that reason.However, how far South does South Leeds extend? Morley / Tingley should be excluded for the same reasons as Rothwell. So would the White Rose Centre be a suitable borderline? Heading west from the city centre it becomes more difficult. The angle of approach to the city of the River Aire means that you can't really use it as the northern boundary any more - or you'd be including places such as Bramley and Stanningley, which are north of the city centre.Perhaps using the line of Gelderd Road as a boundary, classing territory south of that as South Leeds might be practical. Finish off the boundary down the Outer Ring Road, then Dewsbury Road and draw a final southern boundary along the M62? Where does that leave Churwell though?I think this encompasses what would traditionally be referred to as South Leeds - but what do you think?

[jim]

Hi raveydavey. Your delineation fits very well with the perceptions of most older Leeds residents, with one exception. Churwell is generally seen as an outlier of Morley, but Cottingley is definitely South Leeds, so adapt your boundary to move a little further west along Gelderd Road.Then follow the railway line towards Dewsbury south to the bridge over Elland Road and project the alignment directly to the junction of Wide Lane and Dewsbury Road, and that should about do it.

[iansmithofotley]

Hi everyone,As you are aware, I joined the Leeds City Police in 1965. We covered the whole of the Leeds City area and outside of that area was covered by the West Riding Constabulary. Until 1974, places like Otley, Pool, Harewood, Wetherby, Collingham, Bardsey, Scarcroft, Garforth, Rothwell, Morley, Churwell, Pudsey, Horsforth and Bramhope were all outside of Leeds. Most of the main roads, at the boundaries, had a very large, dark blue, rectangular, sign bearing the city’s coat of arms and the legend ‘City of Leeds’. The one that I was most familiar with was near to the Parkway Hotel on Otley Road.So far as relates to ‘south Leeds’, the river always used to be the boundary between the city centre (Millgarth PS area) and Hunslet/Holbeck (Dewsbury Road PS area). The river also divided East End Park (Gipton PS area) from Hunslet/Stourton. Things changed slightly in the 1970’s due to crime and traffic trends, York Road, Ivy Street, East Park Road and Pontefract Lane (Black Road) became the boundary between Gipton PS and Dewsbury Road PS, instead of the river.Travelling along Low Road/Pontefract Road, the Leeds boundary was just on the Rothwell side of Stourton. Part of Stourton was within the Leeds boundary, which then cut across fields towards just east of the Broom Estate and then south to Sharp Lane. All of Middleton was within Leeds and the boundary was at Thorpe Lane and then north west to take in West Wood and the Bodmin Estate. It then moved further north west towards Dewsbury Road and north of Wide Lane (Morley). Cottingley was within Leeds. Churwell was part of Morley and outside Leeds. From memory, the boundary was near to the bottom of Churwell Hill. The boundary then went due west, across fields towards Gelderd Road (near to the Jewish Cemeteries) and Whitehall Road. Here, the boundary was just West of Back Lane and then on towards Pudsey. New Farnley and Old Farnley were part of Leeds. The boundary with Pudsey was just west of Tong Road (near to the Beulah) and then across, past Post Hill, towards Hough Side Road.Gelderd Road was the dividing line between the boundaries for Upper Wortley PS (known as West Division) and Dewsbury Road PS (known as South Division), as far as the city boundary.In the 1970’s, the Woodpecker junction of York Road, Beckett Street and Marsh Lane was a unique junction as four of the Leeds City Police Divisions converged at this point. Chapeltown PS covered the north west side of Beckett Street and Gipton PS covered the other side. Gipton PS covered the west side of York Road and Dewsbury Road PS covered the east side. Millgarth PS covered the west side of Marsh Lane and Quarry Hill Flats and Dewsbury Road covered the other side. If an accident occurred in the middle of the junction, then it was a lottery as to which Division dealt with it (usually decided by the positions of the vehicles but always up for disagreement).It was always a matter of opinion where the inner boundaries were situated such as Stourton/Hunslet, Hunslet/Holbeck/Beeston/Cottingley, Farnley/Old Farnley/New Farnley, Armley/Bramley, Bramley/Stanningley, etc., etc. Many years ago, the parish boundaries will have had some effect on it all.Places like Woodlesford, Oulton, Rothwell, Morley, Tingley, West Ardsley and Gildersome were always policed by Morley PS (West Riding Constabulary) as they were all parts of the West Riding. Until 1968, Wakefield had its own Wakefield City Police with its own city boundaries. In 1968, it amalgamated with the West Riding to form part of the West Yorkshire Constabulary. In 1974, with the large reorganisation of local governments, the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police was formed and incorporated most parts of the West Yorkshire Constabulary, Leeds City Police and Bradford City Police. The name changed again in 1986 to West Yorkshire Police, as it is today, due to ‘Metropolitan’ local governments being dropped. It was also in 1974 that some areas became more commonly known as Kirklees, Calder, etc. Also in 1974, South Yorkshire and Humberside (parts of the East Riding and North Lincolnshire) were created, and places such as Harrogate. Skipton, Settle moved from the West Riding to North Yorkshire. The old West Riding boundary used to go as far as Sedburgh, which is now in Cumbria.Many years ago, I used to know an old West Riding detective who used to be a uniform constable at Sedbergh. He got himself into some trouble and was dealt with, internally, by way of an ‘overnight transfer’ to a mining village south of Sheffield (over a hundred miles away). In those days, all of the West Riding officers lived in Police Houses so it meant that he, his wife and his children had to move with him. His children had to change schools and his wife lost her job in Sedbergh. The West Riding was a big area in those days.Ian