Leeds in Pictures


Kirkstall Forge

Kirkstall Forge

From about 1600 a forge had existed at Kirkstall. In 1779 John Butler and George Beecroft leased  it from the Earl of Cardigan. By the  19th Century it was producing some of the finest axles in Britain. In the 20th Century it moved from manufacturing cart and railway axles to producing axles for motor vehicles. In the 1930s it was claimed that almost every bus and lorry in the country had a Kirkstall back axle casing.