Lawnswood

Lawnswood is a small suburb in the north west of the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. As such it is north north east of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. The suburb falls within the Adel and Wharefdale Ward of the City of Leeds Council.

The Boundaries of Lawnswood
Golden Acre Park lies to the North of Lawnswood separating it from Bramhope

Lawnswood

The Lawnswood Arms
Lawnswood
Lawnswood
Location within West Yorkshire
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLEEDS
Postcode districtLS16
Dialling code0113
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament

Location

It is bordered by West Park, Adel, Ireland Wood and Holt Park. The A660 Leeds to Otley road runs through the area..

University influences

Bodington Hall, a former major hall of residence for the University of Leeds was in Lawnswood[1] and it was not uncommon to find some students taking accommodation in Lawnswood after their first year. Also, when considering Lawnswood School as part of Lawnswood, one must also regard Oxley Hall as if not in Lawnswood itself, then on the very border of Lawnswood and Headingley or Weetwood. Oxley, as it is affectionately known, is also a major hall of residence of the University of Leeds. The Stables Pub and the Lawnswood Arms are both occasionally, but rarely, visited by students doing the Otley Run.

Transport

Lawnswood is 4 miles (6 km) north of Leeds city centre and its nearest railway station is in Horsforth.

Lawnswood is served by regular buses on the First Leeds Overground Lines that pass through the area towards the Leeds city centre.[2]

  • Brown Line (1)[2]
  • Sky Line (6)[2]
  • Pink Line (18 18A)[2]
  • Unilink (95)[2]

Supertram Lawnswood and Bodington Hall were two of the planned stops on the Leeds Supertram North Line.[3] The Supertram project was cancelled by the Government in 2005 much to the disappointment of many Lawnswood residents.

Politics

The area is in the parliamentary constituency, Leeds North West, represented by Greg Mulholland MP.[4] In terms of local politics, Lawnswood constitutes a large portion of the council ward, Weetwood.

Housing
1930s housing in Lawnswood
Private semi-detached houses in Lawnswood

Most of the houses in Lawnswood are large private detached and semi detached suburban houses. Houses in the area fetch amongst the highest prices in the City of Leeds along with neighbouring Adel, Alwoodley, Roundhay, Scarcroft and Boston Spa. Besides these large houses there are many 1930s flats in Lawnswood, built in the style of semi-detached houses, each block contains four flats, each with a private entrance, these are a good example of architecture of their time and while there are examples of similar houses in Moortown, Lawnswood has a great number of them.

Amenities
Lawnswood Co-op and Post Office

Lawnswood has most of its amenities on the western side of Otley Road. Lawnswood School lies on the Leeds Outer Ring Road. Along Otley Road there are several shops, including a Co-op, a post office (named 'Adel Post Office'), several banks as well as hairdressers, estate agents, delicatessens and other independent retailers. Towards the top end of Lawnswood is the Lawnswood Arms, a large detached public house, whilst on the opposite side of Otley Road there is an Esso Petrol Station.

Sport

To Support

Lawnswood is within walking distance of Headingley Stadium and so naturally, many of the residents are supporters of the Leeds Rhinos Rugby league club, Leeds Carnegie, the Rugby Union club and the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, all based at the stadium.

In terms of football, most people in Lawnswood support the city's major football club, Leeds United.

To Take Part

The City of Leeds Lawnswood[5] YMCA provides facilities for Aerobics, Soccer, Rugby league, Rugby Union and many other competitive sports.

Lawnswood Cemetery

Lawnswood has one of the city's main cemeteries and crematoria. Lawnswood Cemetery was opened in 1875, its grounds and most of its buildings designed by architect George Corson, who was himself buried here in 1910. The crematorium, first in Leeds, was opened in 1905.[6] The cemetery contains the war graves of 138 Commonwealth service personnel of the First World War and 67 of the Second World War, besides a screen wall memorial listing 105 service personnel buried in the closed Leeds General Cemetery whose graves could no longer be maintained. The crematorium has a memorial erected within the columbarium central hall by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to 94 service personnel cremated here during the Second World War.[7] Three soldier recipients of the Victoria Cross were also cremated here:

  • Colonel Richard Kirby Ridgeway (1848–1924) (earned in Naga Hills Expedition)
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Daniels (1884–1953) (First World War)
  • Sergeant Albert Mountain (1895–1967) (First World War)[8]

Also buried here is Second Lieutenant Anthony Moorhouse (1935–1956), whose kidnap and murder following the ceasefire in Suez formed the diplomatic row known as the Moorhouse Affair.[9][10]

Local employment

The Department for Work and Pensions, (DWP), has a cluster of buildings in Lawnswood dealing with Disabilities and Carers.

Notable Lawnswoodians

Playwright Alan Bennett and BBC television presenter John Craven attended Leeds Modern School,[11][12] now known as Lawnswood School (slogan "a truly comprehensive school".)[13]

gollark: What, esolangs.org or my search engine?
gollark: It is slow enough that people probably won't complain that I'm DoSing their server.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: Okay, I'm going to put it in and try and index it (though obviously at the reasonable 1/second rate), let's see if it explodes anything!
gollark: We can get their attention by adding it to my search thing and turning the crawling delay all the way down!

See also

Lawnswood School

Bodington Hall

Otley Run

References
  1. Aerial View, Bodington Hall
  2. Leeds Overground bus route map, First Group
  3. http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/leeds/leeds1.html
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. http://www.touchleeds.com/business/list/bid/2850801
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Leeds Council website.
  7. CWGC Cemetery Report.
  8. Burial locations of VC holders in West Yorkshire.
  9. "Parents Mourn Suez Victim" The Spokesman-Review, 11 January 1957
  10. "Amateur sleuths find last resting place of soldier executed in Suez" The Yorkshire Post, 2 December 2005
  11. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/bennettalan/bennettalan.htm
  12. http://www.lawnswoodhighschool.com/lhs/OldMods.html
  13. http://www.lawnswood-portal.co.uk/Pages/Default.aspx%5B%5D
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