Meanwood Beck

{{Short description|Stream in West Yorkshire, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}

{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}

File:Adel Beck Source Bridge 14 May 2017.jpg

File:Meanwood Beck 2008.jpg

File:Adel Beck and Mill 10 May 2017.jpg

File:Sheepscar Beck 03 June 2017.jpg

File:Lady Beck Mabgate 2.jpg

The Meanwood Beck is a stream in West Yorkshire, England, which flows southwards through Adel, Meanwood and Sheepscar into the River Aire in central Leeds. Different portions of the same watercourse have been referred to as Adel Beck, Carr Beck, Lady Beck, Mabgate Beck, Sheepscar Beck, Timble Beck or Wortley Beck.Leeds Mercury 19 February 1866 p4 "The Leeds Improvement of Becks Bill" The Meanwood Valley Trail footpath follows the line of the beck for much of its course.

The ultimate source of the water is Otley Chevin and the Marsh Beck feeds into what is now the Wildfowl Lake (formerly the Black Hill Dam)[http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Golden%20Acre%20Park-%20download.pdf Golden Acre Park - A brief History] in Golden Acre Park.[http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=2002514_39361209 Leodis] Cross Stamford Street, Sheepscar Beck According to Ordnance Survey, it is called Adel Beck from the outflow of the lake down to the A6120 Ring Road, then beyond this is the Meanwood Beck.Ordnance Survey (1996) Street Atlas of West Yorkshire {{ISBN|0-319-00843-6}} John Cossins' 1775 plan of Leeds shows Sheepscar Beck as essentially the East limits of the town at the time, Adel being some distance away and Meanwood still a wood.Brian Godward (2004) The Changing Face of Leeds (Sutton Publishing, Stroud) {{ISBN|0-7509-3413-1}} It became the Lady Beck from Quarry Hill to the River Aire.

It is of historical importance because it deposited silt into the River Aire. Along with the Hol Beck[http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=2002813_12804812 Leodis] Hol Beck doing the same from the South-West nearby it led to a fording place and a small community which eventually grew into the town of Leeds.W. R. Mitchell (2000) A History of Leeds Phillimore, West Sussex, {{ISBN|1 86077 130 0}}

The beck was previously a source of water for the village of Headingley and two of its earliest bridges led straight to it. The beck carries a much reduced volume of water over recent years as water is collected instead into the many drains in the centre of one of Britain's largest cities.

Meanwood Beck runs through Meanwood Park and Woodhouse Ridge. It provides water and drainage for Meanwood Valley Urban Farm.

In the 16th to 18th centuries it provided power for corn mills.[http://www.mvuf.org.uk/ Meanwood Valley Urban Farm] History In the 19th century it supplied water for a chemical works and tanneries, one of which, Sugarwell Court, is now a university hall of residence.

The Beck suffered a serious pollution incident on 29 March 1999 when an oil tank at the University of Leeds' Bodington Hall was overfilled and 10,000 litres of oil flowed into the beck.{{cite web | url = http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/438/diesel.htm | first = Professor Adrian | last = McDonald | title = An Appraisal of the Oil Spill that occurred at Bodington Hall on 29th March 1999 | publisher = University of Leeds | accessdate = 27 April 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402095429/http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/438/diesel.htm | archive-date = 2 April 2015 | url-status = dead }} It is also a habitat for the indigenous European crayfish, which is currently threatened in the UK by a plague carried by the Signal crayfish introduced from America. As well as the crayfish there are also bull head fish present which can be found easily with a net and a pair of waders; they generally are located on the stream bed in the mud and silt.