It was an ambitious plan aimed at separating cars and pedestrians in Leeds city centre.

Leeds Skywalk was a council planners led idea to connect the whole of the city centre via a network of elevated walkways.

These walkways would allow pedestrians to float high above the chaos of the cars below as they made their way unencumbered about the city.

This view looks towards Russell Street from Infirmary Street. The spiral staircase in the centre led to East Parade Walk, a footbridge taking pedestrians across Park Row and onto the other side to the grounds of Mill Hill Chapel. | Leeds Libraries, www.leodis.net

placeholder image — This view looks towards Russell Street from Infirmary Street. The spiral staircase in the centre led to East Parade Walk, a footbridge taking pedestrians across Park Row and onto the other side to the grounds of Mill Hill Chapel. | Leeds Libraries, www.leodis.net

A section of this network was created in the 1970s, and new buildings constructed at this time had walkways built in for eventual connection to the ‘grid’.

You could walk from the now gone Bond Street Shopping Centre, over Park Row and across City Square passing the old Norwich Union building , along Infirmary Street and Russell Street to finish up at Greek Street. It even boasted benches along the route for people to stop and enjoy the peace and quiet.

However, the success of the scheme was short lived and the and the walkways on Bank House were never actually used.

YEP reader Andrew Collinson reached out to share his memories of Leeds Skywalk.

He said: “Millgarth Police Station was built with Skywalk in mind. When it first opened, the front office was originally on the second floor. Old photos show steps leading up to the front door. This was soon abandoned due to accessibility. There was also a hole in the building which lead to a portion of Skywalk that ran above the rear yard and was visible from the roundabout at the foot of The Headrow.”

DO YOU REMEMBER THE LEEDS SKYWALK? Share your memories with Andrew Hutchinson via email at: [email protected] or tweet him - @AndyHutchYPN