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David Johnson |
How did Crossgates get its name? In 1965, I moved to Crossgates with my wife and young family from Upper Wortley. Not knowing anyone in the area, it was a logical step to join a local club to try and intergrate with the local community. I joined Crossgates Bowling Club, where I learned to play bowls, though some might say this is a mute point. I really wanted to join the Recreation Club on Poplar Avenue but there was such a waiting list at the time, I had to wait until 1972 before I was admitted for membership. I've always had an interest in local history and in my early days in the area, I often asked as a conversation starter, how Crossgates got it's name. Nobody really knew though I did hear a few different stories over the years. The most common one was the original name was 'Crossgets', which meant cross roads due to it's location, but this was changed over the course of time. One lunch time I was in the club and I got talking to the steward who was also it's oldest and most long-standing member. He was a wealth of local knowledge and I bought him a pint in lieu of an entertaining hour or so's chat on local history, from the horses mouth, so to speak. He was Crossgates-born in 1882. He grew up here and barely left the place in his life.His father, a carpenter, had told him of his own birthplace, in one of seven cottages that stood on the site now occupied by East Leeds Car Sales, next to the library. These cottages had been built for formen workers who supplied services for the local coal mines in the area. The occupiers of these houses were deeply religious people, as many were at that time. Around 1820 there was a particularly bad Flu-outbreak. This was before the time of flu jabs or even modern medicine and no doubt would have been responsible for a fair few lives. The residents turned to the bible for help and came across the stories of the plagues of Eygpt and of how the Israelites had painted a cross on the front of their houses, to ward off them off. They couldn't do that but they asked his father to make them their own crosses and erect them on every cottage's front gate. By chance or by miracle, no-one got the flu and from this, the name Crossgates began to be used more frequently. The coal mines closed down in about 1850 and the cottages were pulled down, but the name stuck. There is absolutely no way of confirming this story but it sounded good to me, so good that I bought him another pint. Share |
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