Post Hill Leeds

[telecat]

A piece of land bought and paid for by the Yorkshire Post for Motor sport. Taken over during the war and not given back to the club. Now Leeds City council seem to like messing anybody using it for anything but dog walking and locals using it as a "party" venue. Sorry but the "war Dept" and the land they requisitioned needs to be sorted out. too many people lost out and the use of the area by passing to to "local" authorities has lead to loss of amenities. Allowing building on this area is just not in keeping with it's original use.

[johnnyboxer]

Edited February 14, 2016 by johnnyboxer

[laird387]

Hi,

 

I'm sorry but the information from telecat is not entirely correct.  The piece of land known as Post Hill and used by the West Leeds club for many years was never bought and paid for by the Yorkshire Post!

 

It belonged to the quarry owners who had extracted the stone used in the construction of many of the major buildings in the area and when they ceased the active quarrying it was leased to the West Leeds club for a peppercorn annual rental in order to use it as a motorsport venue.

 

I know this to be correct because I was Treasurer of the West Leeds club and part of my duties included the payment of that rent............

 

The Yorkshire Post contributed trophies and prize money for the series of Freak Hill Climb knockout events in the 1930s onwards.

 

I have no idea what the current ownership status is.

[telecat]

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/west-leeds-post-hill-built-by-newspaper-s-readers-1-5847218

 

[telecat]

"A Portrait of Farnley" by the Farnley Local History Group says.

"In 1925 Leeds Motor Club were looking for land on which to construct tracks for speed and freak climbing conditions. A Mr. Fred Langton "discovered" the hill, and the Yorkshire Evening Post arranged to purchase the land, and present it for the permanent use of the Leeds Motor Club, as a centre for motoring events.

Officials of the club announced that as a compliment to the Yorkshire Evening Post the hill would be named Post Hill. The site was cleared of shrubs and small trees and there was ample stone to lay a rough track. The inclined length of the hill is 527ft and rises 200ft. The steepest gradient is 1 in 1.6

On 24th July 1926 the hill was formally presented to the club by Mr. R. R. Whittaker, editor of the Evening Post. Sir Charles Wilson, MP, officially declared the hill open. There was an estimated crowd of 10,000 spectators when racing began"
 

[laird387]

Hi,

 

Sorry to be the bearer of fact - but the piece entered at post 4 by telecat includes the following statement:  

 

"Somehow, during or just after the Second World War, the ownership of the land was altered and the 40-acre site became part of the estate of a quarrying company called Harrisons.

It was transferred to Leeds City Council in the 1990s but members of the club are still official tenants and use the infamous hill regularly for motorcycle trials event"

 

Sadly the piece by the Farnley Local History Group is not entirely complete.  The hill was discovered by the Langton brothers, Eric and Oliver, who were both keen motorcyclists. They no doubt told their father Fred, who I do not recall having similar interests.

 

I suspect the comment that "the Yorkshire Evening Post arranged to purchase the land" would more correctly be stated as  "the Yorkshire Evening Post assisted the club to negotiate a tenancy agreement with the quarry owners............"  I have no doubt that there was a public ceremony on 24th July 1926  where copies of the agreement could be handed to the club officials. 

 

 

 

[telecat]

Looking at the Maps of 1810 It seems that the Quarry was where the Houses were Built and Post Hill Itself was not actually Quarried until after the War. Even then it seems to be a fairly small area. The 1800's Quarry was known as "Mary Harrisons Quarry" And Harrisons was a local Building company. It's ironic that the area is under Housing. As stated the Yorkshire Post themselves state they bought the land presumably off Harrisons, and it was Renamed "Post Hill". Previously it was Park Springs. The Land was used during the war for a POW camp although I would expect that to be the Quarry and also AA batteries. After the war it was transferred to Harrisons and that's were the Lease must have started.

[laird387]

Hi telecat,

 

My understanding was that the land was sequestered from the Harrisons by the Ministry of Defence, in order to use it for the AA batteries - we used to use part of the foundations of one of the batteries during club practice sessions.  After the war the land would be 'made good' by the Ministry of Works and then returned to the owners.

 

I am not sure whether the POW camp was a reality, much more likely it would have been quarters for the gun crews, as was the case in many other parts of the country. 

 

I can assure you the lease to the club definitely started pre-war.

 

In my day Tommy Wortley was the Club President and Stan Pitts the Chairman, his wife Mary did most of the clerical work associated with the many sporting events that we ran.  

 

Not many people are aware that a TV scramble that was never broadcast took place at Post Hill long before any other was screened, merely for the production editors to look at it to decide whether it was a new sport that would be suitable for a TV audience!

 

The whole area was criss-crossed with public footpaths, so when we ran scrambles very frequently potential spectators turned up at the gate where we took the entry money and claimed to be ramblers merely wanting to use the footpaths.  I used to hire six policemen to stand by the entrance, and when we had the 'ramblers' story, we used to say: "Well, all motor racing is dangerous, so we have a police constable who will accompany you on your walk to ensure your safety on the footpath..........."  The answer would often come, "But we might want to stop and watch some of the racing...." to which we responded, "Then buy a ticket......."

 

None of the six constables ever had to walk through over all the years that I was Treasurer - but we had to provide them with gallons of tea.........

[laird387]

Hi,

 

To help bring back some nostalgic memories for us oldies who enjoyed the use of Post Hill in the 1950s here is one of the images from my archives of one of the Knockout Hill Climbs in full swing with two of the riders just away from the start.

[sparks2]

Hi
I know Post Hill quite well, so read the above with interest although I can't add much.

But I can offer an explanation as to how the POW / AA (anti-aircraft) battery confusion may have come about.

Towards the end of the war (1944/1945) and in the immediate post war years some of the AA battery sites around northern towns
were used to house Italian and no doubt some German prisoners of war.

The 'prisoners' worked on local farms during the day and were pretty much free to come and go as they pleased.
After the war the process of returning POWs took some time that in many cases stretched to years.

Indeed, many chose not to return, maybe they had nothing to return to, they just integrated / married into the local community and made their life here.

Of course, when an AA battery site was turned over to house POWs it would cease to function as a gun site but by then the risk
of raids was small.

Regards
Sparks

Edited February 22, 2016 by sparks2