The proposed North West Leeds Country Park and Green Gateway trail is a circular trail linking Leeds and Otley which crosses Monument Moor. Above is an extract from a council map which shows that the route of this trail cuts diagonally across Monument Moor, bypassing Marsden’s Statue. The map above shows that the trail would be blocked both by the trolleybus route, and the construction compound. The photo below shows the route more clearly.
Samuel Waite was a grocer who lived in Woodhouse. He was also a keen cricketer who had played on Woodhouse Moor for thirty years. As a Conservative in a town that had been controlled by the Liberals since 1835, he didn’t agree with the council’s policy of gradually converting the Moor from common land into a People’s Park, a policy which included stopping people playing cricket.
The council’s problem with cricket was that it deterred non-cricketers from using the Moor. The council hadn’t purchased the Moor in 1857 at a cost of £3,200 and drained it, so it could be used by a small group of cricketers. It was meant to benefit everyone. The council was also concerned that it could be held liable if someone was injured as result of being hit by a cricket ball.
In an interview broadcast this morning on Radio Aire, Councillor Richard Lewis, the head of Highways said about the trolleybus scheme:
“There are a lot of pluses that come with it as well in terms of us getting a pocket park down at St Michael’s church which is a big improvement; improvements to Woodhouse Moor, part of it is fairly grim for an urban environment.”
Featured above is a photo of part of the Moor which Councillor Lewis has de-classified as ‘park’ so that it can be appropriated for the trolleybus scheme.
The pocket park referred to by Councillor Lewis would be a traffic island on Headingley Hill bordered by the A660 and the trolleybus route. How could this possibly compensate for the loss of sections Woodhouse Moor, the oldest, most historic and intensively used park in Leeds?
Woodhouse Moor looking splendid at lunchtime today.
sw but or swiss built h Photo courtesy of Yorkshire Post Newspapers
This afternoon, a deputation from the Friends of Woodhouse Moor addressed Leeds City Council and said that whilst they would prefer that the trolleybus scheme were scrapped, if councillors are determined to go ahead with it, despite the expressed wishes of so many local people, then would they please choose the second option being offered by the NGT team, the one that leaves Monument Moor intact, and which does not encroach on the broad grass verges and York stone pavements which border the A660 where it crosses the Moor. Here is the text of the speech that was given to the councillors:
Whether they live in the countryside or the city centre, the outer suburbs or the inner city, human beings have the same fundamental need for green space. This is one of the reasons why recently, councillors worked so hard to provide the city centre with its own park-like area on Sovereign Street. It’s also one of the reasons people are so concerned about changes taking place which could result in loss of the green belt.
Your concerns about the need for a city centre park, and people’s worries about loss of the green belt, are understandable, and shared by everyone who cares for the environment and the green space needs of their fellow human beings.
Until a few years ago, it used to be possible to play football all year round on the broad stretch of grass that lies between the Victoria Memorial and the bowling greens. But in recent years, the land has become very marshy, especially in the Winter making it difficult for people to walk on without their shoes becoming covered in thick mud.
The problem has suddenly become very much worse since work carried out two weeks ago to prepare the area for the annual bonfire staged by the council’s Central Events Team.
The area is now covered with pools of water – something never been seen before in living memory.
The problem has been caused by the Central Events Team bringing heavy vehicles onto the Moor so that they can put down the heavy metal barriers needed to hold back the crowds from the bonfire.
These vehicles have damaged the drainage pipes that were laid down at considerable expense after the Moor was purchased in 1857.
Prior to the laying of those pipes, the Moor was a a real moor, with large unusable marshy areas. The reason it was so boggy is because there are several springs beneath the ground.
On a quiet day after rain, if you stand on the grass that slopes down towards Hyde Park Road, you can hear the water running through the drainage pipes that lie beneath the ground.
Given the council’s current lack of funds, it seems unlikely that the damage to the drainage system will be repaired in the foreseeable future.
Visitors to the Swarthmore tent at today’s Unity Day event, were treated to a display by Bryony Lawless of interesting information from the Moor’s past. There were images showing what the Moor looked like in Edwardian times, some showing features which have since been removed, such as the bandstand, water fountain with clock, and stone lion. Bryony’s display also included a large map which made it easy to see where each of these now missing features had been located.
Congratulations and thanks to Bryony for creating what for me was the highlight of this year’s Unity Day.
Bryony Lawless has launched Woodhouse Moor Tardis on Twitter so people can quickly and easily exchange information about the Moor and its history.
If you know anything interesting, why not let us all know by tweeting the information on Bryony’s site.
Gardeners from Parks and Countryside were hard at work today creating yet another dazzling floral display in the flower beds around the Victoria Memorial. This morning, the beds were empty, but by lunchtime, they looked like this:
The gardeners are seen here carrying out the back-breaking work of putting in the summer bedding plants:
An ornamental flower garden has existed in this location since the early 1880s. Prior to the relocation of the Victoria Memorial from the city centre in 1937, the garden was known as the Adam and Eve Garden, after two statues nicknamed “Adam” and “Eve.” The picture below shows the garden in Edwardian times.
