Sledging

[MargaretC]

The Big Hollas and the Little Hollas between St Marks Road and Shay Street

[blackprince]

That's a Leeds dialect word I haven't heard for a while ( like in the last 60 years).
I have never seen it written before. If I had to write it down I would have guessed 'oller , definitely no "h" pronounced.
Our 'ollers were patches of uneven rough ground where we used to ride bikes , light fires, build dens, throw stones and play games. Every year a feast would set up on one of them. My guess is it just means "hollows". Any other ideas about the derivation?

[jma]

"Feast" is another word used a lot in Leeds when elsewhere they might say "fair" or "fairground." (I've a feeling it may have been discussed on Secret Leeds before)

[blackprince]

Using feast for a travelling fair always seemed a misnomer to me , even back in the day, because feasting implies lots of food and drink to me.
Candy floss and ice cream at a fair don't constitute a feast in my mind.
Feast corresponds directly to Fest in modern Danish, Norwegian and German. Fair sounds more French/Latin in origin.

[jim]

Feast days were traditionally held annually to celebrate some event, especially religious festivals. Perhaps they included fairgrounds as adjuncts, but as time went on the festivals themselves died out, but the fairs continued, hence the survival of the term.

[MargaretC]

« Hollas » is how we pronounced it , so I’m not sure about the spelling, but the description you have used of the « oiler » is exactly that. Unfortunately my 2 brothers who used to spend so much time there have passed away and I don’t know anyone else that I could ask. Thanks for replying.
We used to use the word «  feast «  as welll.