Lost photos take you back to Hunslet in the 1980s – see how Leeds has changed

Forget Blackpool or Bridlington or Bridlington - the latest place in the 1980s for relaxing on the beach. Incredible as it sounded, work to create an artificial shingle beach was already underway around a lake in the south Leeds suburb. The beach was not being created for sun worshippers but as part of a conservation project by the city’s newest environmental charity, the South Leeds Groundwork Trust. Work on the £11,000 project at the IMI industrial site at Pontefract Road began in early 1988 and was expected to finish in the spring of 1989. The lake was until recently hidden by rubble and tipping. It was to serve both as a wildlife reserve and as a recreation ground for IMI workers who would be able to fish in it. The beach was to provide shallows for bullrushes and irises and a nearby beck was also to be cleaned up. The story was one of 12 featured a in a gallery of memories charting life around Hunslet in the 1980s. The photos have never been seen before having been discovered in the Yorkshire Evening Post archive. READ MORE: Memories of lost Leeds pubs in Hunslet, Belle Isle, Middleton and Stourton LOVE LEEDS? LOVE NOSTALGIA? Join Leeds Retro on facebook YEP RETRO NEWSLETTER: Sign up for our free monthly email digest of Leeds nostalgia