Alwoodley

A61, Harrogate Road, Alwoodley

Alwoodley is a snobby suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Central Leeds and is one of the city's most affluent areas. The name Alwoodley is said to be a corruption of 'Aethelwaldley', as it was originally known in the Middle Ages, meaning the woodland clearing (ley), at Aethelwald's farm.

Background

Affluent streets in Alwoodley

It is home to a sizeable proportion (around 30%) of the Leeds Jewish community. The area contains one of Leeds' Synagogues, and a well-known Jewish primary school. Alwoodley is a well kept residential suburb, built mostly after World War II. The area has lots of green spaces and golf courses. There are a number of apartment blocks, which are popular with the retired section of the population. Recently a number of large properties have been sold and replaced by luxury flats. This is especially true in the Alwoodley Gates area, and increasingly along Harrogate Road, leading towards Alwoodley Gates. Many retirement flats have been built around North Alwoodley in the past decade. Around Alwoodley Lane and in the Wigton Moor area, the housing generally consists of tree lined avenues (pictured) many stretching for over a mile, surrounded by large double fronted detached housing, usually with around six bedrooms.

The A61 Harrogate Road runs from north to south through the centre of Alwoodley. The area comprises a large part of the postcode LS17, which contains most of North Leeds and the surrounding countryside. On either side of Alwoodley is Adel, to the west, and Shadwell, to the east. There are a number of commuter villages to the north such as East Keswick and Wike.

Housing

In Alwoodley there are a number of different areas of housing which are popular with middle and high class families such as the Primley Parks, the Sandmoors, the Plantations, the Turnberrys, the Sunningdales, the Birkdales, the Buckstones and the Wentworths. The residential areas on and around Alwoodley Lane and Wigton Lane are among the most exclusive in Leeds, and indeed the region.

Education

The two largest schools in the area are Allerton High School and The Grammar School at Leeds Junior & Senior site. There are also schools nearby in Gledhow and Roundhay.

Sport

The area is well known for its selection of golf courses in the immediate vicinity, namely Alwoodley, Moortown and Sandmoor Golf Clubs. Moor Allerton, Scarcroft and Wike Ridge Golf Clubs are situated in within a 3 miles (4.8 km) radius. Moortown Golf Club was also the home of the 1929 Ryder Cup.

Alwoodley Cricket Club is also situated in the area, and dates back to 1935. Nearby is Eccup reservoir - home to a growing population of red kites.

Parish Council

Elections for a new Alwoodley Parish Council were held on May 1, 2008. Eleven councillors were elected. The results were posted on the Leeds City Council website at Leeds City Council Election results - 1st May 2008. The following were elected:

ALLEN, CAROL MARY

BROWN, JONATHAN MICHAEL

BUCKLEY, LYN JEAN

BUCKLEY, NEIL

FINEBERG, LEONARD

GILBERT, ROGER

KENT, DAVID RICHARD

PEARLMAN, JERRY

ROBINSON, AMY

SMITH, SUSAN JOYCE

WILLIAMS, JUDITH SOPHIA The new civil parish of Alwoodley includes the area to the north of Nursery Lane and west of Harrogate Road, the Buckstones estate and Eccup village.

Location grid

References

External links

• The Ancient Parish of Harewood at GENUKI: Alwoodley was in this parish