Viaducts and Lifting Towers, Repurposed Railway Infrastructure

Inspired, in part, by The High Line in New York there has been discussions about creating similar on Holbeck Viaduct for some years now. So far this has sadly not come to anything, but on a smaller scale the Monk Bridge Viaduct development has started to take shape, creating something of that nature in Leeds. It’s been a while since I have explored round holbeck, something I used to do quite a lot a number of years ago charting the urban decay of this intersting but troubled Leeds landscape.

I’ve been meaning to get to Monk Bridge for a while and managed to do so a few weeks ago. The first thing to bear in mind is that although this is a publically accessible space, it is very much built as part of a development of premium apartments – though the viaduct of course was never public it is a symptom of gentrification that more and more public space is provately owned.

That said, this is quite a gem in the otherwise very built up Wellington Place development, and is certainly an asset to this part of Leeds.

You approach via an imposing rust red staircase and lift, where the amputated end of the viaduct once stood starkly over the semi-wasteground to be met with an eliptical path round the planted areas. Work is still taking place and tower blocks are sprouting from the ground below at an alaming rate. It’s very reminiscent of another similar landscape (which I need to visit again), the area surrounding Kings Cross.

It is nice to be able to look over the river and the canal, both of which the viaduct straddles, and see views that have not been seen by the public for many many years – though how they will have changed.

I also like the reminders of the old infrastructure – this old signal gantry standing solitary on between the towering buildings.

At the far end is this impressive (but still rather damp smelling) atrium with its spiral staircase. The arches are, I understand destined to be completed with shops and bars in the final stage of the development, though I think these will be quite out of the way to anyone other than residents of the apartments.

Close by there’s another little peice of railway heritage, which has been preserved. Dating back to 1850, the lifting tower was one of a pair which stood either side of the old river and canal viaduct. Using steam power and large chains, its role was to hoist wagons from the higher level passenger line down to the Great Northern Goods yard at the original Leeds Central railway station. This has stood empty and semi-derelict in what was a car park for as long as I can recall, and it is good to see this turned into a micro-museum displaying exhibits from Leeds’ Railway history. It also creates an interesting juxtaposition to the visceral mirrored glass environment in which it stands.

Much as a little peice of me cries at the way that the bleak industrial buildings I love are fading out of the landscape, I have to say I think they have done a good job here. I plan to go down again and explore some of the new development a little more, talking to my London Docklands images from 15 years ago. It is interesting how The North catches up eventually.