Burley, Leeds

For Burley-in-Wharfedale, see Burley, West Yorkshire.

Burley
Looking east over Burley Model Allotments towards Leeds University.
Burley  Burley shown within West Yorkshire
Metropolitan borough	City of Leeds
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LEEDS
Postcode district	LS4
Dialling code	0113
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Leeds West
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Burley is a suburb of north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, characterised by the red brick terraced housing, much of which was built in the period 1899 - 1903^{[citation needed]} and green spaces. Sometimes called 'The Cardigan Triangle'^{[citation needed]}, it stretches north from the main Kirkstall Road, towards Hyde Park and Headingley. It is served by Burley Park railway station and regular bus routes along Kirkstall Road, Cardigan Road and Burley Road.

The area has a smaller student population than do the surrounding areas of Headingley and Hyde Park. It has few pubs or bars, perhaps due in part to the Methodism of the one-time landowner in this area. However, there is a large cinema and restaurant complex at Cardigan Fields Leisure Park. Yorkshire Television and Radio Aire broadcast studios and the Home Office's Immigration offices are all located on Kirkstall Road in Burley.

A feature of the area, which gives the area a large part of its identity and character is Burley Model Allotments, which is right in the heart of Burley. The site, numbering over 100 plots in all and bisected by Beechwook Crescent, was once a quarry. The allotment gardens have existed since 26 August 1892 when Leeds City Council obtained the site. The site was replanned in 1956 and 1957 and on 26 June 1958 the allotments were re-opened as Burley Model Allotments by the then Lord Mayor of Leeds Aldrderman Mrs Mary Pearce (JP).^{[citation needed]}

History

See also: History of Leeds

Burley grew from a humble village during the latter stages of the industrial revolution. Parts of the original village can still be seen at the junction between Burley Road & Haddon Road, as well as the area around Burley Lodge.

Several mills along the River Aire were built in towards the end of the 19th century, some of which still remain today. Housing for the workers in these establishments and those in surrounding areas inevitably followed, with homes being built further up the bank.

Burley remained largely a working class area for many decades, however the growth of both the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University (formerly Leeds Polytechnic) in the latter 20th century brought a growing student population to Burley as well as surrounding areas such as Hyde Park, Woodhouse and most notably Headingley.

Today, Burley is growing in popularity with young professionals & families.

Amenities

Burley has several pubs & members clubs (The Cardigan Arms, Aire of the Dog, Burley Social Club, Burley Liberal Club, Burley Conservative Club, The Merry Monk).

It's served by a number of small supermarkets (Iceland, Asda, Co-op & Aldi), as well as smaller chains such as One-Stop, Costcutter & Premier.

A number of shops and restaurants are also in Burley, the main shopping area being Kirkstall Road & Burley Hill. Viva Cuba & Sheesh Mahal are both award-winning restaurants (both located on Kirkstall Road).

As well as the Virgin Active gym, there's also a Fitness First gym, a 5-aside football centre (Goals), and a nine hole golf course.

The Leeds/Liverpool canal & River Aire run alongside Burley's Southern boundary, and are popular with walkers, cyclists and fishermen.

The Cardigan Fields Complex

Located on Kirkstall Road, the Cardigan Fields Complex is home to a multi-screen Vue cinema, Evolution Nightclub, Virgin Active Gym, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Nandos, 10-pin Bowling, a pub and other restaurants.

Transport

Burley is linked to Leeds city centre by the A65 and Burley Road. It is also situated close to the Leeds Inner Ring Road. Burley has its own Railway Station, Burley Park which opened in 1988 and connects Burley with Leeds city centre, Headingley, Horsforth, Harrogate, Knaresborough and York by rail services which run approximately every half hour. The First Leeds 15, 18, 18A, 33, 33A, 49, 50 and 50A bus services link Burley with Leeds city centre, Bradford, Farsley, Horsforth, Ireland Wood, Tinshill, Kirkstall, Headingley, Bramley, Garforth, Guiseley, Menston, Otley, St James' Hospital and Seacroft. Until 1959 the Leeds Tramway ran through Burley, the proposed Leeds Supertram would have run close to Burley, through Headingley and Hyde Park.

Housing

Terrace houses on Wetherby Terrace in Burley

Burley is characterised by the many red brick Victorian terraces built throughout the area. These include both small back to back houses and larger through terrace houses. As well as this, the twentieth century saw the building of many private houses in the area, including many large semi-detached houses around the Burley Wood area. There are also small pockets of twentieth century council houses in Burley including a small estate of prefabricated concrete houses on Burley Road close to the Yorkshire Television studios and a small estate further North heading towards Kirkstall.

Appearances in Popular Culture

Perhaps Burley's most notable appearance in popular culture was it providing the back drop for television drama Harry's Game, in which houses of Burley Road were portrayed to be Belfast. Belfast at the time was considered by Yorkshire Television to be too dangerous to use for filming so instead they used housing adjacent to their Leeds Studios, these have since been demolished. The Haddon Hall public house was used for filming in the Beiderbecke Tapes while Burley Park railway station is sometimes used as Hotton railway station in Yorkshire Television soap opera Emmerdale. Occasional scenes from Fat Friends were also shot in Burley.

Notable residents

See also: :Category:People from Leeds

Melanie during her world tour in Detroit, MI on 16 February 2008

Arguably the most famous celebrity from Burley to have struck stardom worldwide is Melanie Brown (aka Scary Spice) from the popular girl band - The Spice Girls.

Melanie was born in Leeds in 1975. She originally lived in Harehills for a very short period; however, her mother Andrea and father Martin soon moved to Burley where Melanie spent all of her life up until she made it big in the band. Melanie attended Kirkstall Valley Primary School (known then, as Kirkstall Primary & Middle School.), which is also situated in this Leeds suburb.

Melanie still owns the Burley house that she grew up in before her Spice Girls success. To date, her father still resides here.

Arts

Several times a year, local artists open their homes as galleries to display their work as part of Triangle Art Day.

The Haddon Hall Public House, which used to be located on Bankfield Road was used for the filming of the Beiderbecke Tapes.

Sport

Rugby League:

Queens ARLFC, who play in the Pennine League Premier Division, have their headquarters based at Burley Social Club. They also run a reserve side.

Football:

Burley United represent the area, who play their games at West Park football fields, playing in division 1 of the Sunday League.

Rugby Union:

Burley RUFC play in Yorkshire Division 4, currently playing their games next to Kirkstall Abbey.

Headingley Stadium:

Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Leeds Carnegie and the current Superleague Champions Leeds Rhinos play at the Headingley Stadium which lies close to the area.

External links

• The ancient parish of Leeds: historical and genealogical information at GENUKI (Burley was in this parish)
• Cardigan Fields website