Adel, West Yorkshire

Cookridge - Once fields and Farms

I moved from Holbeck in 1948 into one of the first estates to be built in North West Leeds, Ireland Wood (Raynels). In 1950 I went to Cookridge School, then a wooden hut right slap bang opposite where Cookridge fire station is now. The old locked school gates leading nowhere are still there.. behind them is the grassy bank of the... [more]

Catching the train to Leeds

I was born in 1960 within a short walk of this photo. The scene is still clearly recognisable, although the wooden station building spanning the bridge and the steps leading down to the station were demolished and replaced (sometime in the early 1970s?)

Mum would walk to the station with my little sister in a big pushchair, my brother and... [more]

In 1973 to 1977

I was 7yrs old when I visited this place with my mum and sister which was (1973) and I was told this was going to be my home for a while because mum was too ill to look after me...it was called Springfield boarding school and although I hated it at first because I got homesick I settled in and... [more]

Anticipating a Memory of Kirkstall Abbey

In among my family genealogical records is a note that an ancestor of mine named Richard de Berecrofte gave lands to Kirkstall Abbey in the 12th century.  I am SO looking forward to visiting the Abbey next year and taking my own pictures of it!
It is my understanding that my ancestors left the Cliviger area about 1650 for Boston, MA.... [more]

Village On A Hill

In 1941, shortly before my sixth birthday, I arrived at what was then a large branch of the National Children's Home & Orphanage, at Old Bramhope. To get there I had enjoyed an exciting (for me) train journey from Kings Cross (London) to Leeds Central Station. There followed a walk (I was carried) to Cookridge Street, then a bus to the... [more]

Old Days

I was born in Quarry Hill Flats, it brings back a lot of memories.

Preparing for the Festival of Britain.

This photograph shows a Wednesday afternoon, early closing day, hence the low volume of traffic and few shoppers. The year is definitely 1951. On the left is myself and my apprentice electrician seen manhandling the long ladder outside William Timpson's shoe shop. The other people are just members of the public stopping for a chat. I worked for... [more]