Swinnow

Coordinates: 53°48′07″N 1°38′42″W / 53.802°N 1.645°W / 53.802; -1.645

Swinnow (A Yorkshireised contraction of "Swine Moor") is a housing estate in west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is sited between Bramley and Pudsey on the west side of the outer areas of Leeds.

History

Bramley and Swinnow were part of the Leeds rhubarb fields--which in turn formed part of the so-called 'Rhubarb Triangle'--which accounted for a large portion of British rhubarb production from the 1800s until the second world war. Every January at rhubarb picking time a special train would depart Bramley station at 8:30 pm every night bound for market towns all over the country ready for the next day.

After the second world war the population of Leeds was growing and consequently new cheap council houses were needed and the acres of fields in the Swinnow/Bramley area were perfect. They were sold on compulsory purchase to the council and development started on housing estates over the old rhubarb fields.

Although Swinnow is now cleanly integrated into the larger Leeds area, there are still people living in the area who remember how it was years before, their stories, memories and knowledge were compiled into a small volume published by Patchwork press in 1994.