Gledhow

The name Gledhow is first attested the period 1334–37 as Gledhou. Its etymology is uncertain. The gled- element could plausibly come from the Old English words gleoda ('kite, bird of prey') or glēd ('embers, burning coals'). The second element could be from Old English hōh ('ridge, escarpment') or Old Norse haugr ('hill').Harry Parkin, Your City's Place-Names: Leeds, English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Names Society, 2017), p. 49. It has been suggested (in relation to similar names like Gledhill) that a gled- element may alternatively be based on the Old Norse ‘å glede’ (to please, or be glad about a subject)[https://www.gledhillgenealogy.info/gledhill_viking_connection.htm GLEDHILL GENEALOGY – New theory on the origin of the name of Gledhill] giving a translation of "Pleasant Hill".

File:GiptonSpa02.jpg

Well into the 19th century, Gledhow was known as a picturesque area of woodland near Leeds.{{cite book |last1=Measom |first1=G. |title=The official illustrated guide to the North-western railway |date=1859 |page=402 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6goHAAAAQAAJ&q=the+village+of+gledhow+Yorks&pg=PA402 |accessdate=28 May 2020}} It had become a suburb of Leeds by the late 19th century. Gledhow Valley is a strip of mixed deciduous woodland on either side of a beck and lake. Gipton Spa, a bathhouse dating from 1671, is in the woods.{{cite web|last1=Bailey|first1=Steve|title=Leeds: Places features: Gipton's Spa|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2008/09/11/places_gipton_bath_house_feature.shtml|website=BBC|accessdate=23 November 2017}} Passing through the valley is Gledhow Valley Road, built in 1926.{{cite web|url=http://www.fgvw.co.uk/index.htm|title=Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods – Home Page|publisher=}}

Gledhow Lane crosses Gledhow Valley Road and on the eastern side is a steep road up from the valley. A residential area near the top has been referred to as "Little Switzerland", although a Leeds City Council website refers to this as a "former" name.{{cite web|publisher=Leeds City Council |url=https://www.leodis.net/viewimage/86500 |title=Sydney Kitson's House, Gledhow Lane |work=Leodis |accessdate= 28 December 2022}}

• Arthur Louis Aaron, Leeds' only Second World War recipient of the Victoria Cross, was born in Gledhow.{{cite web|url=http://www.leodis.org/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=200341_30665225|title=Arthur Louis Aaron Statue, Eastgate|first=G. Wilson|last=Leeds Library & Information Services|publisher=}}
• Sir Edmund Beckett, 4th Baronet (1787–1874), railway promoter and politician, was born at Gledhow Hall.{{cite ODNB |last=McLean |first=Iain |title=Beckett, Sir Edmund [known as Edmund Denison], fourth baronet (1787–1874), railway promoter and politician |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/57573}}
• Albert Johanneson, professional footballer (Leeds United) lived in Gledhow Towers.{{cite web| url = https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/albert-johanneson-book-turns-a-spotlight-on-leeds-united-hero-1-5267683| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170926143505/http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/albert-johanneson-book-turns-a-spotlight-on-leeds-united-hero-1-5267683| archive-date = 2017-09-26| title = Albert Johanneson: Book turns a spotlight on Leeds United hero – Yorkshire Evening Post}}
• James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale, industrialist and MP.{{cite news|title=Obituary: Lord Airedale|work= The Times |date= 13 March 1944|page= 6|via= The Times Digital Archive}}
• Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale, inter alia a director of Midland Bank and British peer.{{cite news|title=Obituary: Lord Airedale|work= The Times |date= 13 March 1944|page= 6|via= The Times Digital Archive}}

File:Samosa Park.jpg

The Green is a small park located on the junction Gledhow Lane, Lidgett Lane and Gledhow Wood Road. It is identified in the Gledhow Valley Conservation Area Appraisal as an important green space that has been harmed by visually unsympathetic highway works.{{cite web|url=https://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/gledhow%20caa%20%203%20(final).pdf|title=Gledhow Valley Conservation Area Appraisal|date=December 2006|page=6|accessdate=20 October 2024}}

File:Lidget Towes.jpg|Lidgett Towers

File:Highwood.jpg|The Highwood public house

• Listed buildings in Leeds (Roundhay Ward)

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• [http://www.fgvw.co.uk/index.htm Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods]

Category:Places in Leeds