Gledhow
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Gledhow is a suburb of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, east of Chapel Allerton and west of Roundhay. It sits in the Roundhay ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency.
Etymology
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').<ref>Harry Parkin, Your City's Place-Names: Leeds, English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Names Society, 2017), p. 49.</ref> 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)<ref>GLEDHILL GENEALOGY – New theory on the origin of the name of Gledhill</ref> giving a translation of "Pleasant Hill".
Description and history
Well into the 19th century, Gledhow was known as a picturesque area of woodland near Leeds.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Passing through the valley is Gledhow Valley Road, built in 1926.<ref name=Friends>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Notable people
- Arthur Louis Aaron, Leeds' only Second World War recipient of the Victoria Cross, was born in Gledhow.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Sir Edmund Beckett, 4th Baronet (1787–1874), railway promoter and politician, was born at Gledhow Hall.<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
- Albert Johanneson, professional footballer (Leeds United) lived in Gledhow Towers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale, industrialist and MP.<ref name="obit">Template:Cite news</ref>
- Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale, inter alia a director of Midland Bank and British peer.<ref name="obit">Template:Cite news</ref>
Parks and green spaces
The Green is a small green space 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gallery
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Lidgett Towers
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The Highwood public house
