Feature Park Life
Make the most of your summer and head out to some of Leeds' brilliant green spaces
Feature: Park Life
While Leeds centre arguably suffers from a lack of green spaces, throughout the rest of the city, we can be proud of the parks, gardens and grounds that we can boast. While the summer’s here and school holidays are in full swing, what better time is there to go our for a walk, bike ride or picnic and make the most of what the city has to offer.
THE MEANWOOD VALLEY TRAIL (FROM WOODHOUSE MOOR TO GOLDEN ACRE PARK)
One great way to take in a number of Leeds’ best green spot all in one go is the Meanwood Valley Trail, a seven mile walk that starts in Hyde Park’s Woodhouse Moor and ends up at Golden Acre Park beyond Headingley.
Also known as Hyde Park, Woodhouse Moor is separated into six areas: one on the East side of Woodhouse Lane and five on the other. The park features formal gardens, a boules pitch, tennis courts, basketball courts, children’s play area, skateboard ramps and an Indian restaurant. Situated in the corners of the park, there are statues of Sir Robert Peel, the Duke of Wellington and Henry Rowland Marsden (Liberal Mayor of Leeds 1875-6). In Leeds for the opening of the town hall, Queen Victoria visited the park and listened to 26,000 Sunday school children sing hymns in 1858; there is a memorial of Queen Victoria situated next to the Library Pub on Woodhouse Lane. The annual Hyde Park Unity Day festival is held in the park on the first Saturday of August; it was organised to help unite the community following the riots in the local area in 1995. There is a milepost on the East of Woodhouse Lane, which states 187 ¼ miles to London, 1 mile to Leeds and 9 ½ miles to Otley. There is also a horse/carriage mounting stone still intact by the upper moor.
Accessible from Woodhouse Lane, Clarendon Road, Moorland Road and Hyde Park Road
Woodhouse Ridge is home to the Grade II listed stone Packhorse Bridge, which is now used as a footbridge across the Meanwood Beck. A fight between the Royalist and Parliamentarian forces took place in here during the English Civil War and it is said that the Beck ran red with the blood of the fallen, hence the place name Stainbeck.
The Ridge was previously an Edwardian pleasure garden, featuring a bandstand and pavilion, but sadly these buildings have since disappeared and only their remains can be found in the undergrowth.
Accessible from Grove Lane, Woodhouse Street and Meanwood Road, for more information see http://bit.ly/bcthRI
The 29 hectares of Meanwood Park features basketball courts, a picnic area and children’s playground, plus a substantial wooded area. The Meanwood Beck flows through it over several small waterfalls and is crossed by many small footbridges.
Bordering Meanwood Park, The Hollies Botanical Garden is a 22 hectare public park made in a plantsman’s garden, and is the home of four National Council collections: Philadelphus, Deutzia, Hosta and Hemerocallis. The land also benefits from flowering rhododendrons and azaleas from early spring. The park is perfect for family days out, and also has numerous free tennis courts.
Adel Woods and the bordering Scotland Wood features the Seven Arches Aquaduct, which was built in 1840 but is now disused. The ‘Slabbering Baby’ well can also be found there, although it is now overgrown and indistinct. It is a carved water-spout dating to the mid-1800s and is also known as ‘Old Man’s Mouth’.
Remnants of the Scotland Mill Dam can also be found and what remains of Scotland Mill (foundations of buildings and the retting pits). The mill was originally built in 1785 for processing woollen cloth and later a massive water-wheel was built to harness the power of Adel Beck. The mill ran as a flax spinning and dressing mill until the 1850s but was burned down in 1906. The seven Scotland Mill cottages were occupied until much later in the 20th Century.
Also in the area, traces of a bricked potato store can be seen and for a short time, another flax mill, built in 1838, stood in the area, but it suffered when the Eccup reservoir was built, reducing the flow of King Lane Beck. The Mill was abandoned and Verity’s Tea House came into existence to cater for the thousands of visitors who walked to the woods after getting the tram to Far Headingley.
Car Parks are situated at Green Road (Meanwood Park) and Stairfoot Lane (Alwoodley). The Hollies is accessible from Weetwood Mill Lane
Golden Acre Park was opened as a privately-run amusement park in 1932 with a miniature railway, swimming pool and boating lake, but was closed during WWII and taken over by the Leeds City Council in 1945. It now features a wildfowl lake and is a National Plant Garden for Lilac, Deutzia, Hosta and Hemerocallis. There is plenty to see including an arboretum and beautifully-kept cottage garden. There is also a coffee house, information centre and toilets.
Bordering the park is Breary Marsh, a nature reserve and Site of Specific Scientific Interest.
Accessible from the Otley Road car park. Extensive car parking is available off the A660 Otley Road and off Arthington Lane.
ROUNDHAY PARK
Roudhay Park is one of the largest parks in Europe and boasts scented gardens for the blind, National Plant Collections, Canal Gardens, the Monet and Alhambra Gardens, Tropical World, and Waterloo Lake, which is used for fishing.
Purchased by the City of Leeds in 1872, the Roundhay Park estate was opened as a public park by HRH Prince Arthur in the same year. The then Lord Mayor John Barran was ridiculed for buying the estate, which became known as a ‘White Elephant’ as it was believed that the park was too far out of the city for the majority of the population to enjoy and only had one access road. Critics even published a booklet called The Big White Elephant in 1879, arguing that the park was seen as a reckless waste of taxpayers’ money. In 1907, an open-air swimming pool was opened at a cost of just over £1,600; it was built mainly by unemployed citizens. The baths attracted around 100,000 people a year during the 1950s and 60s.
Facilities include tennis courts, skateboard ramps, sports pitches, bowling greens, a sports arena, a golf course, fishing and a lakeside cafe. The Park Arena is a natural amphitheatre and provides the venue for special events, including major pop concerts and the spectacular fireworks display on Bonfire Night.
More recently, the old Mansion on Roundhay Park has been converted into a great restaurant and cafe by the team behind Dine Catering, under the name Dine At The Mansion.
Accessible from the A58 Wetherby Road at Oakwood and the A6120 Leeds Ring Road or by bus from Leeds City Centre (2 & 12)
ILKLEY MOOR
Ilkley Moor forms the highest part of Rombalds Moor (402m above sea level), which is an area with the second highest concentration of ancient carved stones in Europe.
The moor features many carved rocks and most famously the Swastika Stone – a stone found on the Woodhouse Crag, with a swastika-shaped pattern engraved in it. Other interesting stones include the Badger Stone, St. Margaret’s Stones, Hanging Stones and the Panorama Rocks – some are carved with simple cups and some have complex series of patterns. There is also a small stone circle known as ‘The Twelve Apostles’. The site is famous as the inspiration for the Yorkshire county anthem ‘On Ilkla Moor Baht ‘at’.
Ilkley, LS29
OTLEY CHEVIN FOREST PARK
Otley Chevin Forest Park is a wooded escarpment overlooking Otley market town. It boasts magnificent views of the Wharfe Valley and features massive rock outcrops which rise to the height of 280m above sea level. The park was designated as a Local Nature Reserve in 1989.
Otley Chevin also features the White House Cafe and Visitor Information Centre. There are plenty of things to do, including orienteering, geocaching, and miles of walking. Visit Surprise View for some spectacular views
Access from East Chevin Quarry and Surprise View car parks, or from Otley Town via Station Road.
Nearby are the Hunger Hills, whose name is apparently from a local legend in which a former mine shaft collapsed, trapping workers. Their cries for help could be heard but the rescuers could not reach them and they eventually died of hunger. The remains of the mine workings can still be found in the woods.
Access from Lee Lane East, Lee Lane West, Hall Lane, West End Drive and West End Lane, Horsforth.
MIDDLETON PARK WOODS
These woods feature the earthworks and buried remains of colliery workings, including shaft mounds and waggonways, can be found in the park. The woods have a permanent orienteering course, bridleways, and an education & visitors centre.
Access from Middleton Grove, near South Leeds Stadium
ECCUP RESERVOID
A popular destination among dog-walkers and runners, and is great for family walks, picnics and days out.
Access from Goodrick Lane and Eccup Moor Road
STATELY HOMES & HERITAGE SITS
A popular Yorkshire attraction, Harewood House is the home of the Earl and Countess of Harewood. The estate features contemporary art exhibitions, music concerts, kite festivals, car rallies and craft fairs and boasts beautiful gardens all year round.
The Edwardian estate of Lotherton Hall boasts a treasure trove of arts, craft and music. The extensive grounds feature a red deer park, bird gardens, nature trails, a cafe and family play area. The site of the Leeds Universities Summer Ball each year – with over 30,000 tickets sold to see the likes of Florence and the Machine and The Sunshine Underground.
Kirkstall Abbey is one of the best preserved 12th Century Cistercian monasteries in the county. It is surrounded by beautiful parkland along the banks of the River Aire.
Fountains Abbey was Yorkshire’s first World Heritage Site. It is the largest abbey ruins in the country and features spectacular Georgian water gardens. Learn about the heritage or just have a picnic in the grounds.
The magnificent Tudor-Jacobean mansion of Temple Newsam is set within over 1,500 acres of parkland, woodland and farmland and houses rich collections of works of art. The Home Farm is Europe’s largest working Rare Breeds Farm and has over 400 animals. It is the venue for the annual Opera in the Park and Party in the Park festivals and also hosts regular family activities, including demonstrations, guided walks, tours and funfairs.
Built in 1698, the Bramham Park Estate is still owned by the same family and boasts a rich and colourful history including the South Sea Bubble, dissipation by illegitimate children, crippling gambling debts, a devastating fire and survival through two world wars. Each year, the estate hosts the Leeds Festival and Bramham International Horse Trials
USEFUL WEBSITES
www.leeds.gov.uk/fol/forest.html
www.leeds.world-guides.com/leeds_parks.html
www.walkingenglishman.com/leedsharrogate.htm
CYCLE ROUTES
The Aire Valley Towpath Route
The Aire Valley Towpath is a 22km route from Leeds to Saltaire, which features a variety of attractions and places of interest along the way. Starting at Granary Wharf, the towpath passes through the bustling city of Leeds, passing the Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills, the medieval Kirkstall Abbey, Bramley Falls and Apperley Bridge before reaching its destination at the World Heritage Site village of Saltaire. Visit www.airevalleytowpath.org.uk
West Yorkshire Cycle Route
The West Yorkshire Cycle Route is a signed 150 mile circular route, mainly on quiet roads, following the West Yorkshire County Boundary. An undulating route, the terrain varies from flat farmlands to strenuous rises in the Pennine hills. The route can be followed in its entirety by very capable cyclists or alternatively, shorter rides can be planned to include places of interest along the route.
Transpennine Trail – Leeds Section
This route that follows the the Aire and Calder Navigation is mainly off-road and passes the Royal Armouries, Thwaite Mills Industrial Museum, and the nature reserve at Fleet Bridge, ending in Wakefield. Visit www.transpenninetrail.org.uk
Wetherby Railway Path
Following the disused railway track between Thorpe Arch Trading Estate and Retail Park and Spofforth, this route passes through farmland, woods and the market town of Wetherby. Attractions along the way include Wetherby Racecourse and Spofforth Castle. Download a map from the Leeds City Council website (www.leeds.gov.uk)
The Aireborough Greenway
Another route along a disused railway track, this time between Yeadon and Guiseley, passing through the Engine Fields Urban Nature Reserve. Download a map from the Leeds City Council website (www.leeds.gov.uk)
For more great cycle routes, try the following websites: www.cycle-route.com
www.gps-routes.co.uk
www.leeds.gov.uk
www.waterscape.com
www.bikely.com
Posted on Wednesday 4th August 2010
Sending you to Twitter, hold on... 
