I met a friend in Leeds recently. We had two objectives: 1) A coffee and a good catch-up 2) To find and explore the Leeds Wagon Lifting Tower mini museum. Both were achieved!
Just to the west of Leeds railway station there's a large area of development called Wellington Place, a new urban quarter, 'blending high-specification office space with all the perks of the city centre: independent restaurants, enviable facilities and attractive outdoor spaces'. It is indeed quite an interesting area, with wide pedestrian boulevards linking modern high-rise glass office blocks. In the middle sits one of the last remaining pieces of history in this area: one of the twin towers that, using steam power and hoists, lifted railway wagons down from the rail viaduct that spanned the river and canal to deposit them in the Great Northern Goods Yard, at a lower level, ready to be unloaded.
On the ground floor there is a tiny museum with old signs, photographs and sketches showing its history and how the area used to look between the 1850s and 1950s when it finally closed down. There were originally several rail stations in the city, belonging to the various railway companies. Eventually they were amalgamated into the existing Leeds station.
It's a fascinating little piece of history and good to see a bit of Leeds' past restored and incorporated into the new urban quarter, part of Leeds' future.
No comments:
Post a Comment