Canal Gardens Aug 2007.jpeg
Font Awesome map marker.svg Angle down icon.svg Location data
Loading map...
Location Leeds, United Kingdom
  • News The organisation transforming derelict homes – and how you can support it, positive.news (Sep 15, 2023)

Read more

Networks and sustainability initiatives[edit | edit source]

Ecovillages[edit | edit source]

Community resources[edit | edit source]

Holbeck Viaduct Project[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia W icon.svg

The Holbeck Viaduct Project is a community project that proposes bringing the Holbeck Viaduct in Leeds, England back into public use. The project is supported by a community group of the same name.

The Holbeck Viaduct (also known as the Farnley Viaduct) spans 92 archways and 1.1 miles (1.7 km). It runs from Leeds railway station, via Holbeck Urban Village and Old Holbeck, passes near Elland Road Stadium and ends onto wasteland in Wortley.

The viaduct was built in 1882 for the London and North Western Railway during the Industrial Revolution. It has been described as a feat of Victorian engineering, and provided a vital transport link into the booming city centre, which by the turn of the 20th century had developed into an important centre for the production of woollen cloth (See History of Leeds). The viaduct largely fell out of use in the 1960s following Leeds City Station modernisation, and the last scheduled train to pass over the viaduct did so on 11 October 1987.

A number of uses for the viaduct have been suggested, including a community garden, green walkway, arts space, park, cycle path, events hub, public allotment, café, music venue, viewing platform, local landmark or other community-focused project.

The Holbeck Viaduct Project community group envisages that the viaduct will open in 2023. The proposed timeline for the development is:

  • 2016–2017: Pre-feasibility scoping report
  • 2017–2018: Detailed feasibility and stakeholder engagement
  • 2018–2020: Fundraising and securing land and planning
  • 2021–2023: Constructing, planting and opening.

The project is happening at the same time as the South Bank Leeds regeneration, which has the aim of doubling the size of Leeds city centre.

The community group supporting the project seeks to develop the project in a highly participatory manner, drawing on the time, skills and resources of a wide range of people and organisations. The group has a website and mailing list, and is represented on Twitter and Facebook. The group is seeking new volunteers and supporters to support their community-based proposals, including detailed feasibility study to underpin future fundraising.

The project has previously been referred to as the Holbeck High Line, echoing the High Line in New York. However, the name Holbeck Viaduct Project reflects a wider range of options and a desire to create an affordable project which truly reflects Leeds and its local communities.

The Holbeck Viaduct Project is not to be confused with the nearby Monk Bridge Viaduct development, in nearby Whitehall Road, which will see a separate viaduct turned into a sky park, alongside bars, restaurants and apartments.

Climate action[edit | edit source]

Leeds Climate Change Citizens' Jury[edit | edit source]

Commissioned by the Leeds Climate Commission in 2019, the Citizens' Jury recruited 25 randomly selected citizens over nine sessions to answer the question 'What should Leeds do about the emergency of climate change?'

An oversight panel of key stakeholders met to ensure the recruitment process was fair and robust and to agree which 'commentators' should present evidence to the jury.

The twelve strong oversight panel included representation from The City Council, the Chamber of Commerce and Extinction Rebellion.

The citizens' jury commenced on 12 September 2019 and will run for a total of 30 hours over nine sessions, ending on 3 November.[1]

Environment quality[edit | edit source]

mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg
Car Free Leeds: An Introduction
Authors: Possible, Mar 15, 2021

Resources

Leeds will introduce a Clean Air Zone in 2020, which will charge the most polluting buses, coaches HGVs £50 a day to enter the city, while taxis and private hire vehicles which are not clean enough will be charged £12.50 a day. The proposals came after the government ordered the council to come up with ways to lower the air pollution in the city, which causes around 29,000 premature deaths in the UK. W

Open spaces[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia W icon.svg

Leeds has many large parks and open spaces. Roundhay Park is the largest park in the city and is one of the largest city parks in Europe. The park has more than 700 acres (2.8 km2) of parkland, lakes, woodland and gardens which are all owned by Leeds City Council.

Other parks in the city include: Beckett Park, Bramley Fall Park, Cross Flatts Park, East End Park, Golden Acre Park, Gotts Park, the gardens and grounds of Harewood House, Horforth Hall Park, Meanwood Park, Middleton Park, Potternewton Park, Pudsey Park, Temple Newsam, Western Flatts Park and Woodhouse Moor. There are many more smaller parks and open spaces scattered around the city, which make up around 21.7% of the city's total area. A 2017 survey ranked Leeds 7th among the ten largest UK cities (by population) for the amount of green space, although published comments on the survey pointed out major inconsistencies in the city boundaries used.

As part of the South Bank regeneration project, plans are in development for Aire Park, a new 3.5 hectare city centre park located close to the former Tetley Brewery site. Planning permission for the first phase to be undertaken by Vastint UK was granted in December 2018. In 2023, the Monk Bridge viaduct was restored by a developer and subsequently opened as the Monk Bridge Viaduct Garden.

Wikipedia W icon.svg

Leeds is within a green belt region that extends into the wider surrounding counties and is in place to reduce urban sprawl, prevent the settlements in the West Yorkshire conurbation from further convergence, protect the identity of outlying communities, encourage brownfield reuse, and preserve nearby countryside. This is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas, and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building.

Over 60% of the Leeds district is green belt land and it surrounds the settlement, preventing further sprawl towards nearby communities. Larger outlying towns and villages are exempt from the green belt area. However, smaller villages, hamlets and rural areas are 'washed over' by the designation. The green belt was first adopted in 1960, and the size in the borough in 2017 amounted to some 33,970 hectares (339.7 km2; 131.2 sq mi). A subsidiary aim of the green belt is to encourage recreation and leisure interests, with rural landscape features, greenfield areas and facilities including Temple Newsam Park and House with golf course, Rothwell Country Park, Middleton Park, Kirkstall Abbey ruins and surrounding park, Bedquilts recreation grounds, Waterloo lake, Roundhay castle and park, and Morwick, Cobble and Elmete Halls.

Trees, woodland and forest[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia W icon.svg

The Forest of Leeds was originally the Forest of Loidis in which today's city of Leeds arose. It now refers to patches of woodland throughout the metropolitan district, managed by Leeds City Council amounting to 1200 hectares. These are in 55 units of various kinds of woodlands, including those of Belle Isle, Gledhow, Golden Acre Park, Lotherton Hall, Meanwood Valley, Middleton Park, Moortown, Roundhay Park, Temple Newsam and Woodhouse Ridge, formed as a forest in 1993.

Cycling activism[edit | edit source]

  • Leeds Cycling Campaign, a broad and inclusive group of people united in our desire to make Leeds a much better place for cycling. added 18:31, 31 December 2021 (UTC)
Wikipedia W icon.svg

In 2010, Leeds Cyclepoint opened at Leeds railway station providing cycle hire by the day as well as paid secure parking for up to 300 cycles. The council provide maps showing ideal road routes for cyclists cycling maps. The Leeds Cycling Campaign works with the council and campaigns for improved cycling provision.

In late 2014 work started on Cycle City Connect, which includes a mostly segregated cycle path connecting Seacroft in East Leeds to Bradford, as well as resurfacing parts of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal shared use tow path. The government granted more money to Leeds, one example is £7.06 million under Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) to deliver improved and expanded cycle links and cycling routes in the city centre and beyond.

Since the 2014 Tour de France the number of publicly available bike lock-up rack has been increased, which includes high-capacity racks shaped like car outlines. Sustrans' National Cycle Network has several of its routes running through Leeds. These are the major routes 66 (between Manchester and York) and 67 (from Sheffield), as well as suburban routes 668 (from Alwoodley) and 677 (Wyke Beck Way).

An electric bicycle rental scheme, Leeds City Bikes, operated by Beryl, opened in September 2023. Users must download an app, and can pay on a one-off basis or buy a pass or a "bundle" of minutes as a regular customer. The bikes are collected from bays around the city centre, and hirers are penalised if they do not return the bike to one of the bays. The company is named after Leeds cyclist Beryl Burton. In the period from the scheme's launch until February 2024, 13,000 journeys were made totalling almost 36,000 km (22,000 mi). There were 200 bikes available from 20 bays. The number of bikes was planned to increase to 650 in spring of 2024.

Visions

Health and wellbeing[edit | edit source]

Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle[edit | edit source]

Sustainable transport activism[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia W icon.svg

Leeds is one of the best cities in the UK for walking. The Leeds Country Way is a waymarked circular walk of 62 miles (100 km) through the rural outskirts of the city, never more than 7 miles (11 km) from City Square. The Meanwood Valley Trail leads from Woodhouse Moor along Meanwood Beck to Golden Acre Park. The Leeds extension of the Dales Way follows the Meanwood Valley Trail before it branches off to head towards Ilkley and Windermere. Leeds is on the northern section of the Trans Pennine Trail for walkers and cyclists, and the towpath of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal is another walking and cycling route. The White Rose Way walking trail to Scarborough begins at City Square. There are many parks and public footpaths in both the urban and rural parts of Leeds, and The Ramblers' Association, YHA and other walking organisations offer sociable walks. The Ramblers' Association publish booklets of walks in and around Leeds.

Wikipedia W icon.svg

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool.

Over a distance of 127 miles (204 km), crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branches, and in the early 21st century a new link was constructed into the Liverpool docks system.

In the mid-18th century the growing towns of Yorkshire, including Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford, were trading increasingly. While the Aire and Calder Navigation improved links to the east for Leeds, links to the west were limited. Bradford merchants wanted to increase the supply of limestone to make lime for mortar and agriculture using coal from Bradford's collieries and to transport textiles to the Port of Liverpool. On the west coast, traders in the busy port of Liverpool wanted a cheap supply of coal for their shipping and manufacturing businesses and to tap the output from the industrial regions of Lancashire. Inspired by the effectiveness of the wholly artificial navigation, the Bridgewater Canal opened in 1759–60. A canal across the Pennines linking Liverpool and Hull (by means of the Aire and Calder Navigation) would have obvious trade benefits.

A public meeting took place at the Sun Inn in Bradford on 2 July 1766 to promote the building of such a canal. John Longbotham was engaged to survey a route. Two groups were set up to promote the scheme, one in Liverpool and one in Bradford. The Liverpool committee was unhappy with the route originally proposed, following the Ribble valley through Preston, considering that it ran too far to the north, missing key towns and the Wigan coalfield. A counter-proposal was produced by John Eyes and Richard Melling, improved by P.P. Burdett, which was rejected by the Bradford committee as too expensive, mainly because of the valley crossing at Burnley. James Brindley was called in to arbitrate, and ruled in favour of Longbotham's more northerly route, though with a branch towards Wigan, a decision which caused some of the Lancashire backers to withdraw their support, and which was subsequently amended over the course of development. In 1768 Brindley gave a detailed estimate of a distance just less than 109 miles (175 km) built at a cost of £259,777 (equivalent to about £32.67 million as of 2014).

An Act was passed in May 1770 authorising construction, and Brindley was appointed chief engineer and John Longbotham clerk of works; following Brindley's death in 1772, Longbotham carried out both roles.

A commencement ceremony was held at Halsall, north of Liverpool on 5 November 1770, with the first sod being dug by the Hon. Charles Mordaunt of Halsall Hall. The first section of the canal opened from Bingley to Skipton in 1773. By 1774 the canal had been completed from Skipton to Shipley, including significant engineering features such as the Bingley Five Rise Locks, Bingley Three Rise Locks and the seven-arch aqueduct over the River Aire, at Dowley Gap. Also completed was the branch to Bradford. On the western side, the section from Liverpool to Newburgh was dug. By the following year the Yorkshire end had been extended to Gargrave, and by 1777 the canal had joined the Aire and Calder Navigation in Leeds. From Liverpool it had reached Wigan by 1781, replacing the earlier and unsatisfactory Douglas Navigation. By now, the subscribed funds and further borrowing had all been spent, and work stopped in 1781 with the completion of the Rufford Branch from Burscough to the River Douglas at Tarleton. The war in the American colonies and its aftermath made it impossible to continue for more than a decade.

In 1789 Robert Whitworth developed fresh proposals to vary the line of the remaining part of the canal, including a tunnel at Foulridge, lowering the proposed summit level by 40 feet (12 m), using a more southerly route in Lancashire. These proposals were authorised by a fresh Act in 1790, together with further fund-raising, and in 1791, construction of the canal finally recommenced south-westward from Gargrave, heading toward Barrowford in Lancashire. By this time planning for the competing Rochdale Canal was under way and it was likely to offer a more direct journey to Liverpool via Manchester and the Bridgewater Canal. The same year John Rennie surveyed a branch of the Rochdale between Todmorden and Burnley.

In 1794 an agreement was reached with the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal company to create a link near Red Moss near Horwich. The company's experiences running the two sections of the canal had shown that coal not limestone would be its main cargo, and that there was plenty of income available from local trade between the settlements along the route. With this in mind in the same year, the route was changed again with a further Act, moving closer to that proposed by Burdett.

The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal company proposed another link from Bury to Accrington. This new link would have been known as the Haslingden Canal. The Peel family asked the canal company not to construct the crossing over the River Hyndburn above their textile printworks; such a crossing would have required the construction of embankments, and reduced the water supply to their factories. Consequently, Accrington was bypassed and the Haslingden Canal was never built.

Yet more fund-raising took place, as the Foulridge Tunnel was proving difficult and expensive to dig. The new route took the canal south via the expanding coal mines at Burnley, Accrington and Blackburn, but would require some sizable earthworks to pass the former. The completion in 1796 of the 1,640 yards (1,500 m) long Foulridge Tunnel and the flight of seven locks at Barrowford enabled the canal to open to eastern Burnley. At a cost of £40,000 (about £3.65 million in 2014). The tunnel became the most expensive single item in the whole project.

At Burnley, rather than using two sets of locks to cross the shallow Calder valley, Whitworth designed the Burnley Embankment, a 1,350 yards (1,234 m) long and up to 60 feet (18 m) high earthwork. It would also require another 559 yards (511 m) tunnel nearby at Gannow and a sizeable cutting to allow the canal to traverse the hillside between the two. It took 5 years to complete this work, with the embankment alone costing £22,000 (about £1.55 million in 2014{{efn|Comparing the historic opportunity cost of £22,000 in 1801 with 2014.). Whitworth died aged 64, on 30 March 1799 and Samuel Fletcher, previously the inspector of works took over as engineer. Once the Burnley work was completed, the canal opened to Enfield near Accrington in 1801. It would be another 9 years until it reached Blackburn only 4 miles away. Following the French Revolution, Britain had been at war with France from 1793 to 1802. The peace proved temporary, with the Napoleonic Wars beginning the following year. High taxes and interest rates during this period made it difficult for the company to borrow money, and the pace of construction inevitably slowed.

In 1804 Samuel Fletcher also died and his brother Joseph and son James were jointly appointed to replace him and they were provided with Gannow House in Burnley. In 1805 they estimated the cost of linking Enfield to Red Moss would be £245,275 and £101,725 for the shorter continuation to Wigan (totalling about £27.36 million in 2014). The planned link with the Manchester, Bolton and Bury did not materialize.

The latest plan for the route had it running parallel to, and then crossing the southern section of the Lancaster Canal, but common sense prevailed and the Leeds and Liverpool connected with the Lancaster Canal between Aspull and Johnson's Hillock. The main line of the canal was thus completed in 1816.

There had been various unsuccessful negotiations to connect the canal to the Bridgewater Canal at Leigh but agreement was finally reached in 1818 and the connection was opened in 1820, thus giving access to Manchester and the rest of the canal network. The Bridgewater Canal, like most of Brindley's designs was for narrow boats of 72 feet (22 m) length, whereas the Leeds and Liverpool had been designed for broad boats of 62 feet (19 m) length. There was naturally a desire by the narrow boats to reach Liverpool and the locks of the westerly end of the canal were extended to 72 feet (22 m) in 1822.

James Fletcher continued as engineer until his death in 1844.

The canal took almost 50 years to complete; in crossing the Pennines the Leeds and Liverpool had been beaten by the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Rochdale Canal. The most important cargo was always coal, with over a million tons per year being delivered to Liverpool in the 1860s. Even in Yorkshire, more coal was carried than limestone. Once the canal was fully open, receipts for carrying merchandise matched those of coal. The heavy industry along its route, together with the decision to build the canal with broad locks, ensured that (unlike the other two trans-Pennine canals) the Leeds and Liverpool competed successfully with the railways throughout the 19th century and remained open through the 20th century.

The canal suffered some damage during the Second World War. It was breached when a German bomb fell on it in Bootle. The canal in West Lancashire was part of Britain's defensive plans against invasion. Along the canal there were tank traps, bunkers and blockhouses. Some buildings such as barns and pubs along the canal were fortified. There are still some remaining concrete pillboxes and brick built blockhouses.

In August 2010, a 60-mile stretch of the canal was closed due to the low reservoirs, following the driest start to the year since records began. It was reopened the following month, although some restrictions remained.

The £22 million Liverpool Canal Link was completed in 2009, joining the Leeds and Liverpool Canal with the City Centre.

On 11 October 2021 the stretch between Barrowford and Blackburn was closed following a breach in the canal appearing between bridges 109 and 110.

Later that month, lock numbers 73 and 80 were among 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million grant from the government's Culture Recovery Fund.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is 127 miles (204 km) long and crosses the country from Liverpool to Leeds, via East Lancashire and the Pennines. It was generally built with locks 60 ft (18 m) long and 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) wide.

From Liverpool to Appley Locks, the canal runs for 27 miles (43 km) without locks, across the West Lancashire Coastal Plain.

The two main side-branches both connect to other waterways. The Rufford Branch links into the River Douglas and, via the Ribble Link and the River Ribble to the previously isolated Lancaster Canal. The Leigh Branch from Wigan leads to the Bridgewater Canal and thus to Manchester and the Midlands.

The canal at Aintree passes close to the racecourse and gives the name to the course's Canal Turn.

Direction: East (top) to west (bottom)

  • Leeds
  • Granary Wharf, Leeds city centre
  • Armley Pool
  • Kirkstall
  • Bramley
  • Apperley Bridge
  • Shipley
  • Saltaire
  • Bingley
  • Keighley
  • Silsden
  • Skipton
  • Gargrave
  • Barnoldswick
  • Foulridge Tunnel
  • Nelson
  • Brierfield
  • Burnley
  • Hapton
  • Clayton-le-Moors
  • Church
  • Oswaldtwistle
  • Rishton
  • Blackburn
  • Wheelton
  • Chorley
  • Adlington
  • Aspull
Wigan flight
  • Ince in Makerfield
Leigh branch
  • Leigh
  • Wigan - Wigan Pier
  • Appley Bridge
  • Parbold
Rufford branch:
  • Rufford, Tarleton
  • Burscough
  • Scarisbrick
  • Halsall
  • Maghull
  • Melling
  • Aintree
  • Litherland
  • Bootle
  • Vauxhall
Stanley Dock Branch:
  • Stanley Dock
  • Liverpool
  • Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society

Bibliography

  • Google Map of Leeds Liverpool Canal and Branches
  • "200-year-old 'canal cottages' at risk in Liverpool city centre: Must we lose this historic link with Liverpool's commercial past?". The fight to save 91-93 Old Hall Street. 10 September 2001. Retrieved 3 May 2006.
  • images & map of mile markers seen along the Leeds & Liverpool canal
  • A walk along the Leeds Liverpool Canal at Litherland

News and comment[edit | edit source]

2022

  • News How refugees leading city walking tours helps increase their sense of belonging – new research, The Conversation (Jun 16, 2022)

2016

Soil and soul: 'Leeds is the perfect combination of rural and urban', Oct 28[2]

2014

How to create happy communities through co-housing, November 21[3]

Leeds city council's radical step to give more power to the people, June 30[4]

Past events[edit | edit source]

2021

Oct 10 - 16 Leeds Festival Of Kindness, Compassion & Wellbeing The Kindness Revolution at #KinderLeeds

Campaigns[edit | edit source]

  • Tidal campaigning group that works to support, coordinate and grow global activism in Leeds

About Leeds[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia W icon.svg

Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. The city was a small manorial borough in the 13th century and a market town in the 16th century. It expanded by becoming a major production and trading centre (mainly with wool) in the 17th and 18th centuries.

References

FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Keywords cities, uk cities, visions
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-4.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 2 pages link here
Aliases Leeds
Impact 670 page views
Created March 26, 2021 by Phil Green
Modified April 6, 2024 by Phil Green
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.