The destroyed bridge over the River Aire earlier today. Photo: Mark Stevenson
Words & Photos: Mark Stevenson
Before this bridge over the River Aire was built by Joseph Butler and Co in 1856 there was a ford here.
Like most other fords in Leeds, it was a horse ford and may even have had a small ferry to transport goods across it.
The bridge dated back to 1856. Photo: Mark StevensonThe bridge during calmer times. Photo: Mark StevensonThe bridge prior to its destruction. Photo: Mark Stevenson
Armley Mills has been flooded after the River Aire broke its banks
Staff at Armley Mills are working to keep the museum open after the building was hit by flooding during yesterday’s Storm Franklin.
A statement on the museum’s Facebook page said staff were ‘working to keep the site open for half-term’ and said the upper floors would remain open, but admitted large parts of the grounds will remain closed. The statement said:
“Due to significant recent flooding and high river levels your visit to Leeds Industrial Museum may look slightly different over the next few weeks.
“We are working to keep the site open for half term and beyond, and hope you can still visit us at Armley Mills.
“Lift access between floors is currently possible but we apologise if there are times that accessibility between floors is less than ideal.
“Large parts of our grounds will be closed, but the top floors of the museum will remain open to you and our planned family activities will still take place. Stay safe, and we hope to see you soon.”
It’s the first major flooding at the site since it was closed for several months due to Storm Eva on Boxing Day 2015.
A flood warning was issued last night on the River Aire in the Cardigan Fields area. High river levels led to a pontoon used to construct flood defences breaking free of its moorings in Kirkstall, destroying an old bridge leading to Armley Mills.
Wortley Beck broke its banks, leading to the closure of the Ring Road near Matalan. Photo: Daniel Riley
‘There may not be a silver bullet’ to solve the problems with flooding in Wortley, a councillor has admitted.
Wortley Beck again flooded near its junction with Branch Road, near Matalan, which lead to the close of the Ring Road and diversion of public transport for much of yesterday (Sunday). The road re-opened to traffic this morning.
Fez Mazhar and Josh Longford, from Doctor Drainage, again donated free sandbags and their time to help stop a handful of homes in the area from flooding, repeating the selfless acts they also carried out during flooding last February.
Concern: Cllr Ann Blackburn
Farnley & Wortley councillor Ann Blackburn today said Leeds council and Environment Agency had been looking at a scheme to ‘re-model’ the beck further upstream to reduce the risk of flooding.
But the Green Party councillor said any scheme would take a long-term view and there would be no ‘waving a magic wand’ to tackle problems with flooding.
“We are aware of the problems in Wortley,” the Green Party councillor said. “I have to say I have seen it worse than it was yesterday when it’s been all the way up the Ring Road from Ringways to Sunnybank Mills.
“I know the council has been looking to see what they can do to solve the issues in the long term, but there are no guarantees when it rains like it did and with the affect of climate change that it will work.
“They’re hoping to put a bid in for government money, but there’s no silver bullet to solve this problem.”
“Incidents like this are inevitable with climate change, because there is more rainfall,” Cllr David Blackburn said at the time. “But we are building on more and more land and it is causing more water run-off. It’s inevitable if we carry on as we are – we are going to get more situations like this.
“We can invest in schemes to stop flooding, but some of it is taking place in a catchment area where we are allowing building and the taking away of trees.
“We need to be more careful about where we are building, and we need to take the wider cause into consideration.”
WLD understands that Farnley Balancing Reservoir, which was built built in 1973 in a bid to prevent flooding in the Wortley Beck area, did not overtop yesterday and that water passed through the normal overflow system to the downstream watercourse as originally designed. The reservoir is maintained by Yorkshire Water.
A batch of community reporters graduated at our course in Armley. Photo: John Baron
If you’d like to get more involved in what’s going on locally, our free West Leeds Dispatch community reporters’ training course is right up your street.
The friendly and informal course runs over SIX sessions and offers a fun introduction to writing articles, taking photos, making videos and basic podcasting – as well as offering wider help and guidance on everything you need to know to be a community reporter. We can even help with spelling and grammar!
Our free course is aimed at beginners and runs over SIX, two-hour sessions. There will be lots of tea, coffee, cake and biscuits – and it looks great on your CV as you will learn transferable skills you can take into employment or studying.
The community newsroom is based at Bramley Lawn. Photo: John Baron
They’re run by West Leeds Dispatch editor John Baron, a journalist with over 25 years’ experience who has worked for a variety of local newspapers as well as The Guardian.
At the end of it, you’ll become part of the Dispatch family and earn a community correspondents’ ‘press card’ and goodies, as well as increased skills and confidence.
All we ask is that you turn up once you’ve signed up, as places are limited.
Our latest course starts from Thursday, 17 March 2022 and runs weekly until 21 April.
The West Leeds Dispatch community newsroom is based at Bramley Lawn. Photo: John Baron/westleedsdispatch.com
It runs from 7pm to 9pm at our new community newsroom, based at Bramley Lawn Social Centre, Rossefield Approach, which is just off Stanningley Road.
The number 16 bus takes you nearby and the 72 stops less than a minute away if you need public transport. We’re also about ten minutes’ walk from Bramley Train Station.
Sign up for the free course here or by using the booking form below:
Outline plans to extend a residential street in Stanningley with new houses have been submitted to Leeds Council for approval.
Developers say the new houses would effectively extend Vickersdale Grove and would be sited between Arthur Street, Back Bank Terrace and the recent Pavilion Close development.
The proposal is to demolish all the existing old outbuildings on the site and replace them with one row of five new terrace houses set on the northwest of plot.
The houses would be three storeys high and have three bedrooms. There would be parking for two cars for each property.
Vehicular access would be via a new road entrance off Haydens Terrace.
The plans are only at outline phase, which means applicant Mrs A Carey, of Tadcaster, is only seeking to establish the principle of development at this stage. Detailed designs would be subject to a full planning application in the future.
The plans can be read in full, and commented upon, here.
Plans for a new multi-use games area (MUGA) with 15m-high floodlights at Leeds West Academy in Rodley have been given the green light by council planners.
Leeds West Academy, off Intake Lane, wants to provide a new all-weather pitch on an existing playing field to provide a year-round playing surface for pupils in PE lessons, recreation time and for wider community use.
The pitch will replace an area of natural grass playing field which becomes too muddy to use for a significant part of the school curriculum.
The use of the new all-weather facility will be restricted to between 8am-9pm and the new sporting facility shall be provided alongside patron access to the school’s cycle parking, changing and shower facilities.
The footbridge near Armley Mills was destroyed. Photo: Andrew Tutin/Climbing Labs
Incredible footage this afternoon has shown the partial destruction of an old footbridge crossing the River Aire near Armley Mills.
Torrential rain has led to rising river levels on the River Aire and a flood alert has been issued for the Middle River Aire catchment, which includes Burley and Kirkstall. The alert warns residents and business owners that flooding is possible.
Andrew Tutin, co-owner and founder of the nearby The Climbing Lab at the Kirkstall Industrial Estate complex, has captured footage showing a pontoon used to carry out flood defence work crashing into the footbridge, which has not been used for many years.
The centre section of the bridge then crashes into the river and is carried off downstream. Watch the footage below:
When asked whether new flood defences, which are currently being constructed, were holding strong. Mr Turtin said: “So far so good, but there is water building up down the road now.”
The incident was also captured from the other side or the river, off Canal Road (warning, footage contains swearing):
Wortley Beck has broken its banks, leading to the closure of the Ring Road near Matalan. Photo: Daniel Riley
What’s a flood alert?
There are three different levels of flood warning when bad weather strikes, including a flood alert, a flood warning, and a severe flood warning.
The three levels each indicate varying severity, with a flood alert being the lowest.
If a flood alert is issued, this indicates that an area should prepare, including making defences, preparing a bag that includes medicines and insurance documents, and staying up to date with the latest flood alerts.
Wortley Beck broke its banks, leading to the closure of the Ring Road near Matalan. Photo: Daniel Riley
Words: John Baron
Flood alerts have been issued for the River Aire due to heavy rain – and Wortley Beck has already broken its banks, leading to the closure of the Ring Road.
The Environment Agency has issued flood alerts for Wyke Beck, Meanwood Beck and Wortley Beck catchments in Leeds as well as the Middle River Aire catchment.
The A6110 Ring Road at Wortley was closed yesterday after Wortley Beck broke its banks near Matalan and the junction with Branch Road, flooding some local homes. The flood alert for Wortley Beck can be read in full here.
A6110 currently closed due to #WortleyBeck bursting its banks.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said in a statement: “Motorists and road users in #Leeds are advised to avoid the A6210 Whitehall Road and the A6110 outer ring road/Wortley Lower Ring Road due to traffic congestion caused by flooding in the area.
“Several bridges, including foot bridges, over the River Aire have also been closed in #Leeds due to concern for safety after a large pontoon broke free from its moorings. People are asked to avoid the area.”
Incredible footage of a disused footbridge near Armley Mills being destroyed by a pontoon used to build flood defences in the Kirkstall Valley can be watched here.
Farnley Reservoir and water safety campaigner Daniel Riley also posted videos of a swollen Farnley Reservoir:
— Open Water Related incidents & advice (@OpenWaterAdvice) February 20, 2022
Troydale Lane in Pudsey is no longer passable as the beck has breached its banks. Pudsey Councillor Simon Seary said earlier today:
“We are continuing to monitor the situation at Troydale, the council gully team attended this morning and ensured that all the gullies were running. The fire service is on standby to attend if the water levels continue to rise in the beck which prevent the gullies from operating.”
Kirkstall Valley Development Trust (KVDT) have posted a photograph of a waterlogged Kirkstall Valley Farm on social media. The River Aire has breached its banks in at least three places on the community led farm, leaving some fields swamped.
KVDT posted: “Sadly Kirkstall Valley Farm is looking ever so soggy! Tragic to see it looking so sad but thankfully the site has been evacuated and everyone is safe.”
A sodden Kirkstall Valley Farm. Photo: Adele Rae
What’s a flood alert?
There are three different levels of flood warning when bad weather strikes, including a flood alert, a flood warning, and a severe flood warning.
The three levels each indicate varying severity, with a flood alert being the lowest.
If a flood alert is issued, this indicates that an area should prepare, including making defences, preparing a bag that includes medicines and insurance documents, and staying up to date with the latest flood alerts.
A new website raising the profile of Pudsey Market has been launched by a group of Pudsey residents.
The new site – PudseyMarket.com – is part of the wider MyPudsey site, set up by volunteers Glenn and Hayley Taylor, Damon Sugden and Trish Smith.
MyPudsey exists to serve the residents, businesses and visitors of Pudsey by helping to provide up-to-date business information, job listings, event listings and town information.
Pudsey resident Glenn Taylor, who designed the site, said:
“We live in an age where content is expected to be available on demand, yet with places like markets it can be hard to establish who will be there, when it will be available and how to get there.
“That’s why we setup the Pudsey Market website, following the success of a Pudsey Market Facebook page established by Hayley, one of our team, late last year.
“There are many people with access to the internet that have no interest in platforms like Facebook, which is why we wanted to establish an easy-to-use network of websites for anybody to use, entirely free, with the aim of supporting everybody from tourists through to business owners.
“The most important part of what we’re doing is to ensure a level playing field for all, if you want to advertise your business, promote an event, or share job listings then our network allows you to do that at the click of a button, no matter who you are.”
Trish Smith, who is also a Pudsey councillor, said:
“The aim is to boost the market, let people know which stalls are on what days and generally encourage people to visit a stand-out destination in the town. The market offers good quality and well-priced products and we know a lot of work needs to be done to support it.
“Not everybody is on social media like Facebook and we didn’t want anyone to be excluded or disenfranchised.
“We also want to encourage new stallholders and push Pudsey forward as we come out of Covid. Businesses need that ongoing support.”
Demolition: The former Blakey's foundry in Armley. Photo: Google
Plans to demolish a dilapidated former iron works which used to cause a hideous smell across Armley have been approved by Leeds council planners.
The site, off Carr Crofts, Modder Place and Modder Avenue, consists of former mill buildings which used to be the Blakey’s factory. The company was famous for manufacturing shoe and boot protectors from the site.
A map of the buildings to be demolished.
Applicant Lisa McShane, of Allclear Demolitions, said in her demolition application to Leeds City Council:
“The building is in a very dilipidated, unsafe condition and is infested with rats. There has previously been an accident on site. We feel the building needs to be demolished ASAP.
“The site will be left safe, level and clear on completion of the demolition works. The site has no future development plans and the building is being demolished due to its unsafe condition.”
Blakey’s segs – shoe and boot protectors – were invented in 1880 by Keighley-born John Blakey.
The Blakey’s factory was notorious for distributing a hideous odour throughout the district. The factory, set next to residential streets, also had its own direct rail link for receiving raw materials and distributing finished goods.
Goodwins of Walsall in the West Midlands bought the Blakey’s brand in 2014 and continue to protect the nation’s soles.
Abbey House Museum will be opening their long-awaited Kirkstall Lives exhibition in May this year and are looking for people to share their photographs to form part of a digital display in the Community Gallery.
Photographs can be of people, places and activities in the Kirkstall area.
You will just need permission to share the photograph if you did not take it yourself, and be happy for it to be included in the gallery.
The exhibition team are also interested in hearing from people who may have an object related to the history of Kirkstall from the 1940s onwards.
If you would like to find out more, contact assistant community curator Patrick Bourne at patrick.bourne@leeds.gov.uk.
Christ The King in Bramley has a rich history. Photos: Mark Stevenson
Words & photos: Mark Stevenson
Christ the King Church on Kings Approach, Bramley was built in 1928. The church was built on the initiative of Mgr William Hawkswell, secretary to Bishop’s Gordon and Cowgill, to serve the new housing developments at Sandford, Wyther, Westfield and Greenthorpe.
As it was a new church it never had a graveyard. Prior to the church being built the land was owned by Joshua Burton occupied by Joseph Hill.
The plot of land the church is built on was called Cause Close and was a grass field.
Joshua Burton, who owned the plot, also owned large parts of Eightland Lane and the plot where the house where singer David Bowie’s family once lived.
Mark’s History: The destroyed 19th century bridge over the River Aire – in photos
Words & Photos: Mark Stevenson
Before this bridge over the River Aire was built by Joseph Butler and Co in 1856 there was a ford here.
Like most other fords in Leeds, it was a horse ford and may even have had a small ferry to transport goods across it.
The bridge was destroyed as a result of Storm Franklin yesterday, as captured by Andrew Tutin from The Climbing Lab:
Here are some images of what’s left of the bridge today: