CLIFFORD: Leeds Parish #19 of 38

It doesn’t take long for this one to get cracking with landmarks. Straight away we’ve got a stone structure on Bramham Road which houses the old village well, reputedly used as a source of baptismal waters for St Luke’s church. It’s built on a spring. St Luke’s church by the way, was associated with a lot of things here including a former convent.

Its name literally means “ford at the bank or cliff”. This perhaps referred to the crossing of the River Wharfe at Boston Spa, which was then within the manor, held by a man named Ligulf. It used to be a township in the old parish of Bramham, in the upper-division of the wapentake of Barkston Ash, and it formed a part of the old West Riding

The older historic core, which is a designated conservation area is based around the High Street and Old Mill Lane. Chapel Lane may be named as such, but there’s no chapel on it anymore. There used to be though, as it stood where the tower of one of the three churches here now is. The chapel in question was the original Wesleyan Methodist Chapel which was founded in 1796.

The village was originally a farming community, but in 1831, corn mills powered by Bramham Beck on Old Mill Lane, were transformed into flax mills, making patent yarn and shoe thread. The mills were owned by the Grimston Brothers. At its height, the business employed about 300 workers and some of them were Irish immigrants. Many of the workers lived in the stone terraced cottages in the village. Part of one of the mill wheels can still be seen from the road.

There are three schools the parish, including St John’s Catholic School for the Deaf, often referred to by past pupils and the deaf community as "Boston Spa", because that is much easier to lipread. This is CLIFFORD.

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My name is Andy. I am armed with a car, a GoPro and an unhealthy amount of time on my hands.

Join me as I try to visit every single parish in the City of Leeds. There are 38. Here's the NINETEENTH one –Clifford.

#Clifford, #BostonSpa, #Cliff, #Convent, #WestYorkshire, #OldStarInn, #Irish, #RiverWharfe, #Leeds, #Mills, #BramhamBeck, #Parish,

Junction 45:
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/565...

Clifford Moor Farm Pet Hotel:
  / cliffordmoorfarmpethotel  

Clifford Juniors AFC:
  / cliffordjuniors  

Snowdrop Cottage:
https://www.sykescottages.co.uk/cotta...

Boston Spa Academy:
https://www.northleedsgymnasticsacade...

Clifford General History:
https://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Cliffor...

War Memorial:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item...

Demographics:
http://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/yo...

Zoopla:
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices...

Some of the following music tracks may appear in this video:
Brendan Perkins - “Foxsnow” (B. Perkins)
   • Foxsnow  
Brendan Perkins - “Mickey's House” (B. Perkins)
   • Mickey's House  
The Keyhouse - "Voices" (H. Flunder)
   • Voices  
The Keyhouse - "Circles" (H. Flunder)
   • The Keyhouse - Circles (official audio)  
Helen Flunder - "Sun" (H. Flunder)
   • Helen Flunder - 'Sun' (Official Audio)  
Helen Flunder - “Angels” (H. Flunder)
   • Helen Flunder - Angels (Official Audio)  
Helen Flunder - “C Song” (H. Flunder)
   • Caistor and the Lincolnshire Wolds  

I have me a Facebook page too!
  / the-village-idiot-226069228730989  

And now an INSTAGRAM - @andythevillageidiot

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