Holt Park is a medium-sized low-rise 1970s housing estate in the northwest suburbs of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from the Leeds city centre situated between Tinshill, Cookridge and Adel, and is at the edge of the Leeds metropolitan urban fringe, bordering the green belt which makes up two thirds of the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds. The nearby Tinshill BT Tower dominates the skyline.
Holt Park is in the Leeds North West constituency; its Member of Parliament is Liberal Democrat Greg Mulholland, who won the seat from Labour in the 2005 General Election. The Liberal Democrat constituency office is in Holt Park District Centre.
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One half of Holt Park was built as a council estate; the other half as private housing - the latter being of the period 'Ashton' design (similar to many across Leeds such as Ainsty in Wetherby and Knottingley), comprising a mixture of detached and semi-detached housing, and several apartments. This came about after an agreement between Norman Ashton (an experienced developer) and Leeds City Council to create a new 'village' within the city, which would include a mixture of private and council housng stock with shops and leisure facilities. The farm was sold to the developers by The Co-op, who purchased the land in 1920 as one of five dairy farms in Leeds.[1] The earlier housing was completed before the farm was closed, the farmer took advantage of this delivering milk to all the new residents in the early years.[1]
The council housing is prefabricated small mews-style set in cul-de-sacs, with several parades of two storey blocks of flats. At the same time two schools, a sports centre (Holt Park Leisure Centre), a library (Holt Park Library, which was annexed to and therefore part of the High School)[2] and a shopping centre were built. The sports centre can be found within the shopping complex, and the area is collectively known as Holt Park District Centre.
The original Ralph Thoresby buildings were built around 1975, and remained the school's premises until September 2007. This previous campus was strategically built as part of the district centre, and so the leisure centre and the library were actually, as well as being fully accessible to the public, a part of the school's premises.
Holt Park Library and Ralph Thoresby High School were re-built on a new site off Holt Dale Approach (south), with the opening in September 2007. The old school buildings have since been demolished and the area cleared, although what will replace it remains unclear. This is one in a long line of North Leeds secondary schools to be rebuilt, following Lawnswood School and Roundhay School to name but two.
The shopping centre has decreased in character over the past ten years, with many businesses occupying the units either closing or relocating, such as Casavanty, United Newsagents and Weigh 'n' Save. Some have remained, however, such as the popular fish and chip shop (Holt Park Fisheries), the bookmakers. A dental practice was established in the late 2000s. The Asda store, which underwent a small extension and revised floor layout in late 2004, remains the most significant and dominant retail unit at the Centre. Although it is in Holt Park itself, it is (mistakenly) named and referred to by Asda as 'Asda at Adel'.
Adjacent to the shopping centre is High Farm, the farm which the estate was originally built on and around, and later converted into a public house. The building itself is known to date back to the 17th century and the interior of the pub still contains period features such the original oak beams.[3] The shopping centre also contains the area's bus 'station'. In many ways the district centre is similar (although smaller) to many new town shopping centres such as those in Newton Aycliffe and Cumbernauld.
There are two public houses in Holt Park. The High Farm, adjacent to the shopping centre, is situated in the old farm buildings and won awards when converted into a pub in the 1970s. It has a function room in an original barn with beams dating back to the 16th century. Further away,in a wooded area at the edge of the local authority part of the estate, is the 1970s-built pub, The Eyrie, which has changed little since first being built.
Lawrence Gaunt Opticians operated in the area from 1978 until 2011, when it relocated from Holt Park District Centre to the newly-built Ireland Wood Medical Practice.
A prominent health service in Holt Park, High Field Surgery, is located close to the Holt Park District Centre, the local GP practice. An additional practice, Holt Park Doctor's Surgery (also known as 'Holt Park Health Centre') lies close to Highfield Surgery, and next to the shopping centre main entrance.
Since the building of the shopping centre, a pharmacy-cum-chemist has existed for the collection of prescriptions from the nearby surgeries. Initially Bloom's the Chemist, it was located adjacent to Asda supermarket. In 1999 it became Moss Pharmacy, and used the same unit until 2004 when it moved into a smaller unit due to the refurbishment and expansion of Asda. It subsequently became a Lloyd's Pharmacy; in 2009 it was re-opened as part of the Boots chain.
In 2007 Holt Park Dental Practice was opened.
Holt Park has bus services operated by First Leeds (formerly Yorkshire Rider), particularly Route 1 "Brown Line" which runs from the shopping centre, through Weetwood, Headingley, Leeds University, Leeds city centre and terminates in the South Leeds area of Beeston. The original terminus of the Route 1 in Holt Park was the roundel where Heathfield meets Holt Lane. The very first public-service bendy-buses in the United Kingdom were pioneered on this route in 1999. By 2009 withdrawals had begun on these vehicles and by 2011 they were fully withdrawn.
The Route 6 "Sky Blue Line" (formerly the 96 "Sky Line") bus service runs through Cookridge, Tinshill, Weetwood, Headingley and Leeds University to Leeds City bus station. The original 96 route ran to, and terminated at, Cookridge. In the late 2000s, the route was extended to Holt Park via Cookridge, before being renumbered as the number 6 in 2009.
Route 940 (operated by TLC of Bradford) also runs from the shopping centre to Otley, via Bramhope and Pool-in-Wharfedale. Routes 31 and 32 run to Horsforth via Cookridge.
The nearest railway station to Holt Park is Horsforth situated on the Leeds-Harrogate-York Line.
| Eccup, Bramhope | ||||
| Horsforth, Cookridge, Tinshill, Ireland Wood | Adel | |||
| Holt Park | ||||
| Adel, Lawnswood |