Now! Then! Amid motorway mania in Leeds, West Yorkshire Council will today unleash secret plans to link Chapeltown and Woodhouse with a ¼-mile suspension bridge across Meanwood Beck

1 April 1979: Amid motorway mania in Leeds, West Yorkshire Council will today unleash secret plans to link Chapeltown and Woodhouse with a ¼-mile suspension bridge across Meanwood Beck

An artist’s impression of the proposed bridge (Leeds Other Paper 1979/03/30). Reproduction through the blind benevolence of Leeds Other Paper (RIP).

Leeds Other Paper. 1979/03/30. A Bridge Too Far? L.O.P. Exclusive. Leeds: Leeds Alternative Publications Ltd. Leeds Alternative Publications Ltd went into liquidation in 1994, but Tony Harcup, a coop member who has been republishing material on Bluesky as Remember LOP (rememberlop.bsky.social), thinks his colleagues would be happy with reproduction here. Get it:

Excerpt

Details of the project were leaked to us as this issue went to press and are due to be published on April 1st. The bridge would be second in length only to the Humber Bridge, in Yorkshire. The plan would bring a new four-lane clearway from the Potternewton roundabout on Scott Hall Road direct across the valley to the top of Delph Lane in Woodhouse. Residential Delph Lane would be widened and pedestrian barriers erected to create a fast route to a new interchange on Woodhouse Little Moor. The A660 Joint Action Group told LOP that the plan appeared to be a backdoor attempt to bypass opposition to the Headingley Expressway. But the bridge has received a cautious welcome in other quarters, as it would eliminate for some people an often frightening walk home along lonely lanes at night. The council’s report states: “The planners opted for the visually stimulating curves of a suspension bridge which would bring an air of grace to the stark angular lines of this 19th century industrial valley. Paris has its Eiffel Tower, New York has the Statue of Liberty, but Leeds has no outstanding landmark it can call its own.” The report envisages a “thriving souvenir trade” at the shops on Meanwood Road at the base of the western support tower, which would incorporate a pedestrian lift from Meanwood Road to deck level and a high-level viewing platform. The report adds: “The idea of a bridge linking these two communities is not new. Delph Lane in Woodhouse ends abruptly looking across the valley from what was intended to be the buttress of a viaduct planned by the city’s masters last century.” Completion is scheduled for 1st April 1983.

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Via Remember LOP, a feed by Tony Harcup which pays tribute to some splendid local journalism, unimaginable today.

Council sources claim the scheme was a victim of the first wave of cuts imposed by Margaret Thatcher following her General Election victory a month later.

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Original

An amazing county council plan to link the Leeds districts of Woodhouse and Chapeltown with a £20m. suspension bridge has fallen into the hands of Leeds Other Paper.

Details of the project – which envisages a single ¼-mile span sweeping across Meanwood beck – were leaked to us as this issue went to press and due to be published on April 1st. The bridge would be second in length only to the Humber Bridge, in Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire Council plans to finance the bridge partly from the Government’s Inner City programme and partly from loans. Interest charges are predicted to cost Leeds ratepayers an extra 2p rate.

The bridge plan is thought to be the result of pressure from the road transport lobby and while the idea has been broadly welcomed by some groups we have contacted, it looks like running into strong criticism, particularly considering the associated road schemes envisaged.

As it stands, the plan would bring a new four-lane clearway from the Potternewton roundabout on Scott Hall Road direct across the valley to the top of Delph Lane in Woodhouse. From there residential Delph Lane would be widened and pedestrian barriers erected to create a fast route to a new interchange on Woodhouse Little Moor.

A representative of the A660 Joint Action Group told LOP that the plan appeared to be a back door attempt to by-pass opposition to the Headingley Expressway.

“With few Tory votes to lose in the Blenheim area, the county will clearly be seeking to use the new bridge, bringing as it will a new fast route to the city’s stockbroker belt, as justification for reviving plans for a new expressway through Blenheim.

“This would conveniently divert the threat from the Headingley area where up till now most of the opposition to the A660 plan has been,” she said.

And Leeds Council for Voluntary Services believes the plan exemplifies the lack of consultation over spending of the Inner City money.

But the principle of building a bridge has received a cautious welcome in other quarters, particularly as it would eliminate for some people an often frightening walk home along lonely lanes at night.

The council’s own report states: “The planners opted for the visually stimulating curves of a suspension bridge which would bring an air of grace to the stark angular lines of this 19th century industrial valley.

“Paris has its Eiffel Tower, New York has the Statue of Liberty, but Leeds has no outstanding landmark it can call its own. Meanwood bridge should put this state of affairs to rights.”

The report duly envisages the blossoming of a “thriving souvenir trade” at the shops on Meanwood Road which stand where the bridge’s western support tower will be erected. The tower would be built incorporating a pedestrian lift from Meanwood Road to deck level and a high level viewing platform.

The report – due to be delivered to county councillors by Sunday, for discussion at the next Highways Committee – adds:- “The idea of a bridge linking these two communities is not new. Delph Lane in Woodhouse ends abruptly looking across the valley from what was intended to be the buttress of a viaduct planned by the city’s masters last century. While more recently the city council demolished the refuse destructor chimney in the valley bottom to make way for a bridge.”

Completion of the bridge – if the plan wins the approval of councillors – is scheduled for 1st April 1983.

607 words.