Old Roundhay

When Roundhay Rinked! Early roller skating in Leeds  Roller skating had a few brief periods of popularity in the late 1800s – most notably a craze lasting for a few years during the mid to late 1870s. It seems that the Victorians were very fond of ice skating and were always quick to take advantage when the weather was cold enough. Roller skating was initially conceived as a kind of 'reality simulation' experience that allowed skating to continue in the ‘off season.’ Initially some small rinks were set up in a temporary fashion but I believe the first large scale, dedicated facility built exclusively for roller skating in Leeds was the 1500 square foot outdoor rink that opened at the Leeds Horticultural Gardens in 1876.  Outdoor Ice Skating on a frozen Roundhay Park Lake  The Leeds Horticultural Gardens rink was an outdoor asphalt surface which replaced a previous small indoor rink that had been set up in the gardens that had proved too small and too hot in summer. The op...

The Hermitage was constructed some time in the early 1800s when Roundhay Park was still the private estate of the Nicholson family. Like the nearby castle folly the Hermitage was intended to break up the landscape and provide some visual interest while also evoking romantic notions of times past.   The Hermitage was modelled as a small cottage on the edge of the lake in a rustic style - supposedly the dwelling place of the mysterious Hermit who had retreated there after turning his back on the world. Inside some items of furniture were provided and stained glass windows were placed either side of the door.    It seems that the Hermitage was a popular attraction when the park first opened to the public and the majority of people treated it well, however after a relatively short while it became the target of some minor acts of vandalism and eventually, over time, fell into disrepair, subsequently being removed. Only a few small signs of the spot where it once sto...

 Professor Higgins was killed in an accident just after 5:30pm on Saturday the 8th August 1891 while attempting to travel by balloon from Kirkstall to Roundhay Park. It had been planned that Higgins and Miss De Voy, another performer that he was associated with, would perform a parachute descent for a crowd of onlookers gathered near the new entrance to the park (close to where Oakwood Clock would later stand.)   The two had been engaged to perform their act as part of the Leeds Hospital Gala earlier that week on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th of August but their balloon became damaged on the first day after it landed in trees so they agreed to return later in the week to give another demonstration after having it repaired. While taking off from Kirkstall, Higgins clipped telegraph wires and fell 35 feet suffering fatal injuries witnessed by a crowd of around 20,000 horrified onlookers.    Professor Baldwin from the Illustrated London News (Sadly I couldn't find a p...

Introduction  Rowland Ding was working as the chief test pilot for the Blackburn Aircraft company when he tragically lost his life in an accident on the evening of Saturday the 12th of May 1917 near Roundhay Park, Leeds. The crash that cost Rowland Ding his life has been quite well documented in a number of sources but information about his earlier life and career has been harder to find. Thankfully a number of early aviation publications are now available digitally either via the publisher or via the Internet Archive project (archive.org) allowing a large volume of additional material to be located. I am also very grateful to the staff of the archives of BAE Systems at Brough for allowing me to visit and view numerous original copies of 'The Olympian' magazine and photographs held in their collection. I hope that the information I have collected will help to provide additional context to the story of Rowland Ding, his life and his career as a daredevil pilot during the early d...