# Lost buildings of the A1 widening scheme - March/April 09



## mexico75 (Apr 23, 2009)

The highways agency or whoever does this sort of thing is currently widening a large stretch of the A1 between Leeming and Dishforth. I drive this stretch of road every day and have watched as a boundry line was established along side the Southbound carriage way. It became clear that all the buildings inside this line were going to be demolished to make way for the new carriageway. One of these buildings was an old GPO exchange/repeater shed, not very exciting but I'd always wondered what was in one, and knew if I didn't stop and have a look I'd be gutted when it was gone. I knew before I stopped it would be crap and it was, but this started me on my mission to try and record all the interesting buildings that are going to be lost forever under the tarmac. Over the last couple of weeks I've managed to record the older and more interesting buildings along my route. There are a lot more, but flatpack petrol stations and Little chefs are crap and can be seen all over the country. So here they are, on their own not particularly interesting but as a group worth a look. Anyway in my head I thought it was important to record these familiar sights, seen and forgotten by thousands of people everyday, before they are gone forever.

The GPO building that started it all,
_Demolished 30 Sep 09_










A Victorian or older? Farmhouse,
_Demolished May 09_
























This next house will be a very familiar sight to anybody who travels this road. Abandoned as long as I can remember, it never crossed my mind to stop before,
_Demolished July 09_




This place was really eerie and I didn't like the feel of the place at all,









Now this room really freaked me out, loads of big rusty metal hooks in the ceiling with a dead stuffed toy hanging from one,









The cellar steps,




Southbound view,


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## mexico75 (Apr 23, 2009)

Next is Sinderby Station Built in 1851 as part of the Northern extension of the Harrogate to Northallerton line by the Leeds Northern Railway. Sinderby Station was closed in 1961, but the line was not lifted until 1969. The first pic shows the station in 1962 a year after closure,
_Demolished 01 Oct 09_




Again during the 1950's when still open,




And today,









Inside the station house,









In the old waiting room,









Last building is 'The Little Bistro' Cafe.The Little Bistro Cafe is a familiar sight along this stretch of the A1. Popular with truckers it was always busy till the day it closed. Of all the buildings to be demolished I should think this will be missed by the most people.
_Last bit demolished 28 Sep 09_

























I may add some more if I see anything else that's slightly interesting ​


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## daddybear (Apr 23, 2009)

nice work mexico great pics of the site.so has the last train been removed yet?


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## mexico75 (Apr 23, 2009)

No that's still there, I forgot to mention the train grave yard


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## LittleMadam (Apr 23, 2009)

Just want to say that report is AMAZING!! Thanks for getting to them before the A1 did and how cool are the hooks. There are a few ex boyfriends I'd love to string up there mwah ha ha ha ha.


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## james.s (Apr 23, 2009)

Yeah, those hooks are odd, what do you think they were for? Aside the obvious...


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## Lightbuoy (Apr 23, 2009)

Nice work Mex -some consolation to know that even when all these buildings are demo'd, there'll be this long lasting record. Nice work dude


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## Kaputnik (Apr 23, 2009)

Good to see these pics, as we ( Neosea, Gangeox, 85Vintage and I) noticed these on the way to St Mary's recently, isn't there an abandonned Burger king along there too?


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## Trudger (Apr 23, 2009)

well thats what DP is all about, getting pictures of stuff before it goes. Well done, cracking pictures, and your very brave going down into the cellar after your were already creaped out by the place !
nice one.


T


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## Pip (Apr 23, 2009)

Nice report mate.

I love that old station, and I think I stopped at the Bistro once or twice on my way to Newcastle.

Pip


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## mexico75 (Apr 23, 2009)

Cheers for the comments guy's @ kaputnic, there is a BurgerKing but I didn't bother with any of the new stuff. Can't believe you went to St Marys instead of stopping at these  St Mary's is good though isn't it


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## Seahorse (Apr 24, 2009)

Whilst I can understand the feeling that the GPO building was empty and boring, you need to remember that they just don't make them like that any more. And to quote a sales blurb, once they're gone, they're gone. 

So I do think it's important to get a pictorial record of places like that. I have too many regrets of not using a camera in the past, and of course, it's way too late now in many cases. It might not be considered interesting enough to post, but that doesn't mean it's not important enough to capture, is what I'm trying to say.

Apart from petrol pumps, obviously. 

So well done Mex.


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## Seahorse (Apr 24, 2009)

Oh, and the hooks used to have those string things for hanging plants in. I can't remember the proper name at the moment. No plants though as far as I can remember. But my guess at the time was, it was used for hanging meat.

Assuming of course, this was the wee cupboard sized room.


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## RichardB (Apr 24, 2009)

Is macramé the word you are looking for? That's the name of the technique for making them. I made a macramé plant hanger when I was at primary school.


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## daddybear (Apr 24, 2009)

Seahorse said:


> Oh, and the hooks used to have those string things for hanging plants in. I can't remember the proper name at the moment. No plants though as far as I can remember. But my guess at the time was, it was used for hanging meat.
> 
> Assuming of course, this was the wee cupboard sized room.



i think the hooks would have been used for hanging game bird and rabbits etc cos that little room looks like a pantry/larder of years gone by


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## vmlopes (Apr 24, 2009)

Great report Mex' thanks for sharing


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## Seahorse (Apr 24, 2009)

RichardB said:


> Is macramé the word you are looking for? That's the name of the technique for making them. I made a macramé plant hanger when I was at primary school.



That's the word. But they looked like a cross between those and string bags.

I think DB is right. Game hooks. Although I'd been thinking hams and stuff. I've seen something similar with a chunk of meat that had obviously been hanging for decades. Mummified pork anybody?


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## Badoosh (Apr 24, 2009)

Great stuff Mexico, you've captured a fair bit there, hope you get to do some more. Some really nice buildings there.


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## UrbanX (Apr 24, 2009)

Beautifully recorded! Some lovely shots of some lovely old buildings.


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## Kaputnik (Apr 24, 2009)

mexico75 said:


> Cheers for the comments guy's @ kaputnic, there is a BurgerKing but I didn't bother with any of the new stuff. Can't believe you went to St Marys instead of stopping at these  St Mary's is good though isn't it


If we'd had time, Mex, we'd have had a nosey around some of these, but with travelling time, and a good few hours at St Mary's, it would have been a very long day! so it's good to see your pics of these places before they vanish into the tarmac.


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## Neosea (Apr 24, 2009)

Nice one, yes it would have been good to stop at these.


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## BigLoada (Apr 24, 2009)

Excellent man, well done for recording these! The hooks in the ceiling are ace, gives me a idea for my living room. And I agree with Seahorse, I think the wee GPO building is great, there just aint stuff like that nowadays and I find anything to do with telecommunications from the old days is fascinating stuff


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## mexico75 (Apr 24, 2009)

Cheers for the comments guys, what would the GPO building have been BL? Was it an automatic exchange or would people of worked there?


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## BigLoada (Apr 24, 2009)

mexico75 said:


> Cheers for the comments guys, what would the GPO building have been BL? Was it an automatic exchange or would people of worked there?



Well I really dont know much about telephone stuff, but the GPO did have automatic repeater stations at regular intervals to compensate for signal losses. Dont know if thats what this is though.


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## Dirus_Strictus (Apr 24, 2009)

daddybear said:


> i think the hooks would have been used for hanging game bird and rabbits etc cos that little room looks like a pantry/larder of years gone by



You will notice the hooks are mostly in pairs. Their original use was probably to hang a pig carcass on during salt curing - one hook per back leg means that the carcass interior was very accessible. Obviously one could and would hang any carcass or game on them, should the need arise. If the floor was tiled or concrete, the room may even have been used to finish dressing out slaughtered carcasses.


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## kevininwales (Apr 24, 2009)

I regularly pass the site and now i might keep my eyes open and stop for a look!!


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## mexico75 (Apr 24, 2009)

You'll have to be quick The first farmhouse is all but gone, and they've started demolishing the out buildings of the hook house, oh and if you were bothered the GPO building has been sealed to protect all the valuable............air? inside

@ Dirus_Strictus the floor was tiled so you could be right


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## Dirus_Strictus (Apr 24, 2009)

Just for interest - On the A639 Leeds/Oulton/Methley/Castleford road, a similar small GPO building in Methley has recently been sold - according to the Estate Agents sign nailed to the wall. It's in a nice position and firmly locked, but does not appear to have any land with it.


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## Krypton (Apr 25, 2009)

If in not mistaken, just before you get to the train station there is an abandoned restraunt and petrol station?


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## Foxylady (Apr 25, 2009)

Definitely worth posting up, Mex. Interesting site with lots of things to see...the GPO building is brill! 
Look forward to seeing anything else before it all goes.


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## dave (Apr 25, 2009)

Great report went past here yesterday and was tempted to have a look so i thought on the way back i will have a look sadly my car engine blew up before i got there damn and blast thanks for sharing with us the house you looked at with the hooks is Roxby house i went there last year i think it was for a look i felt the same way as you did any how heres the report i did. 
http://www.northeasturbex.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=43


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## Locksley (Apr 25, 2009)

Went past these only the other day on the way to and from Newcastle and was really intrigued about what they were like inside. There's only one loco left of that graveyard now I think, a 47? Really quite impressive on the side of the road!


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## Seahorse (Apr 25, 2009)

dave said:


> Great report went past here yesterday and was tempted to have a look so i thought on the way back i will have a look sadly my car engine blew up before i got there damn and blast thanks for sharing with us the house you looked at with the hooks is Roxby house i went there last year i think it was for a look i felt the same way as you did any how heres the report i did.
> http://www.northeasturbex.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=43



We're buggered unless we register. And I'm buggered if I'm going to register on another flippin forum.


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## dave (Apr 25, 2009)

Seahorse said:


> We're buggered unless we register. And I'm buggered if I'm going to register on another flippin forum.



Sorry about that i didnt realise you couldnt see it my mistake i dont blame you still i know now for the future.


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## mexico75 (Apr 27, 2009)

jacko159 said:


> If in not mistaken, just before you get to the train station there is an abandoned restraunt and petrol station?



Yeah that's right, I didn't bother with the more modern stuff, you see one petrol station you've seen them all And thanks for all the replies, I wasn't expecting such a positive response TBH


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## sheep21 (Apr 27, 2009)

I'd venture a guess that the Farmhouse is of Georgian construction...

all in all they were all pretty intersting, the hooks in the ceiling would freak me out aswell! Good pictures


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## Mikenuk (May 16, 2009)

I was wondering what was happening when I passed there a few weeks ago!


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## Chocmonster (Jul 12, 2009)

Drove past this afternoon and the Bistro is no more.


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## Krypton (Jul 12, 2009)

My God. I drove past today and its soo confusing. The North Bound slip road towards ripon has all changed and theres new roads cutting through all the fields.


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## Potter (Jul 20, 2009)

Superb!

Shame it's all going. 

That hook room is rather yucky, as I'm a veggie. 

Where was the decades old meat hanging, and have you got a pic of it?


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## mexico75 (Oct 3, 2009)

Well Sinderby Station was Demolished yesterday so all these buildings have finaly gone now


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