The Leeds town hall-Welcome to the terror dome!
This was a most unusual & very different explore for me indeed. A good time was had by all.
The Leeds town hall will celebrate It's 150th anniversary in September and I managed to wangle a behind the scenes visit.
The pics look better re sized but i'm using the same photo bucket links from own report cos i'm lazy
Leeds town hall was the tallest building in Leeds at 262 feet until 1966. It has held this title longer than any other building in the city for a record 108 years.
We had a look around the public places but it was the behind the scenes stuff we really wanted.
Some wind pipes from the mighty organ in the Victoria hall. This is one of the largest musical instruments in the world.
We are now stood inside one of the largest musical instruments in the world. Behind the organ we find this impressive collection of wind pipes. There are 6500 of these pipes in total. Some are as wide as a dustbin and others are as fine as a feather. There are 3 whole floors containing these pipes.
Away from the splendour we descend into the darker side of the town hall. Down in the damp cellar we find the original Victorian cells. These cells are directly below the front steps of the town hall. The Great and Good dignatries of Leeds ascending the steps would be walking above the shamed criminal element below. The conditions down here were were so bad they were considered inhumane for prisoners as long ago as 1902.
This is more like it. Out on to the low roof and up on the organ dome in the hall below.
You can't beat a bit of urban exploration on your city town hall.
Moving up a level to the mighty pillars!
Moving up again we find this winch to lower the Chandeliers in place below.
Next level is the bell itself. This was taken during the night.
There are over 300 steps to reach the clock tower itself. I need to give up smoking lol
The clock mechanism is protected in it's own time Tardis.
150 year old time piece!
Some old gin bottles have been stashed up there for years.
A door leads out on to a narrow ledge around the clock face.
This wet night shot was on an earlier visit.
WELCOME TO THE TERROR DOME!
The clock face isn’t as high as you can go in the tower. There is another 70 foot climb to the crows nest. The hair raising ascent is via wooden steps. The dome narrows at the top and the stairs change into steeper vertical ladders. The platform at the top you can see supports the very last ladder.
At last I can see daylight shine through the top hatch. The dome is very narrow at this point. The stair treads look very worn indeed. After much creaking, moaning and groaning (The stairs, not me) I slowly climbed higher towards the pinacle.
MADE IT AT LAST AND I’M REALLY NOT HAPPY THERE’S ONLY ONE HANDRAIL HERE!
And what did we find when we got to the top? Yes of course the hatch was locked and we didn’t have the key. This was probably a good thing as standing in the crows nest itself involves balancing on a tiny ledge while you lower the trap door down again. There is very little room up there and the door is the only solid thing to stand on. Considering this is 262ft off the ground i wasn’t too upset it was locked.
Well i’ve got this far and i’m sure not going down without the money shot. Very carefully and slowly you could ease yourself around on top of the ladder and gain some back support. Then steady yourself and push the top of the hatch open with your head. Whilst doing this you took the picture with one hand and held on for dear life with the other. You can see the narrow ledge you need to stand on while you lower the hatch back down. From what i could see these railings look more for decoration than to actually stop you from falling off.
A job well done it was good to be going down the stairs. It was so dark up here I had to use the camera flash for this shot. If i could have seen i had just put my faith in some ladders stood on planks of wood balancing on other planks of wood I definitely WOULD NOT have climbed up there. DON’T look down at the big drop below.
These are just a few of the many shots from the day. I for one will not walk past the town hall and take it for granted again.
My full report, pictures, fact, myth and history about the Town hall here.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=265602590&blogID=367054783
This was a most unusual & very different explore for me indeed. A good time was had by all.
The Leeds town hall will celebrate It's 150th anniversary in September and I managed to wangle a behind the scenes visit.
The pics look better re sized but i'm using the same photo bucket links from own report cos i'm lazy
Leeds town hall was the tallest building in Leeds at 262 feet until 1966. It has held this title longer than any other building in the city for a record 108 years.
We had a look around the public places but it was the behind the scenes stuff we really wanted.
Some wind pipes from the mighty organ in the Victoria hall. This is one of the largest musical instruments in the world.
We are now stood inside one of the largest musical instruments in the world. Behind the organ we find this impressive collection of wind pipes. There are 6500 of these pipes in total. Some are as wide as a dustbin and others are as fine as a feather. There are 3 whole floors containing these pipes.
Away from the splendour we descend into the darker side of the town hall. Down in the damp cellar we find the original Victorian cells. These cells are directly below the front steps of the town hall. The Great and Good dignatries of Leeds ascending the steps would be walking above the shamed criminal element below. The conditions down here were were so bad they were considered inhumane for prisoners as long ago as 1902.
This is more like it. Out on to the low roof and up on the organ dome in the hall below.
You can't beat a bit of urban exploration on your city town hall.
Moving up a level to the mighty pillars!
Moving up again we find this winch to lower the Chandeliers in place below.
Next level is the bell itself. This was taken during the night.
There are over 300 steps to reach the clock tower itself. I need to give up smoking lol
The clock mechanism is protected in it's own time Tardis.
150 year old time piece!
Some old gin bottles have been stashed up there for years.
A door leads out on to a narrow ledge around the clock face.
This wet night shot was on an earlier visit.
WELCOME TO THE TERROR DOME!
The clock face isn’t as high as you can go in the tower. There is another 70 foot climb to the crows nest. The hair raising ascent is via wooden steps. The dome narrows at the top and the stairs change into steeper vertical ladders. The platform at the top you can see supports the very last ladder.
At last I can see daylight shine through the top hatch. The dome is very narrow at this point. The stair treads look very worn indeed. After much creaking, moaning and groaning (The stairs, not me) I slowly climbed higher towards the pinacle.
MADE IT AT LAST AND I’M REALLY NOT HAPPY THERE’S ONLY ONE HANDRAIL HERE!
And what did we find when we got to the top? Yes of course the hatch was locked and we didn’t have the key. This was probably a good thing as standing in the crows nest itself involves balancing on a tiny ledge while you lower the trap door down again. There is very little room up there and the door is the only solid thing to stand on. Considering this is 262ft off the ground i wasn’t too upset it was locked.
Well i’ve got this far and i’m sure not going down without the money shot. Very carefully and slowly you could ease yourself around on top of the ladder and gain some back support. Then steady yourself and push the top of the hatch open with your head. Whilst doing this you took the picture with one hand and held on for dear life with the other. You can see the narrow ledge you need to stand on while you lower the hatch back down. From what i could see these railings look more for decoration than to actually stop you from falling off.
A job well done it was good to be going down the stairs. It was so dark up here I had to use the camera flash for this shot. If i could have seen i had just put my faith in some ladders stood on planks of wood balancing on other planks of wood I definitely WOULD NOT have climbed up there. DON’T look down at the big drop below.
These are just a few of the many shots from the day. I for one will not walk past the town hall and take it for granted again.
My full report, pictures, fact, myth and history about the Town hall here.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=265602590&blogID=367054783
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Lovely pics too.
