Seacroft was once bounded by fields and broad open spaces.
A report from the Yorkshire Post on July 17, 1931 reads: “This village of Seacroft is the stuff of which songs are made. Here is a green fit for Hambledon men - for old Tyson to celebrate, at the furthest side a ribbon of old houses.. and the Cricketer’s Arms.”
Crows still nested in the tall elms which lined the road around Seacroft Hall.
Such was its idyllic nature.
There were concerns as far back as 1965 over the state of Seacroft, as voiced by Mr G Ward, chairman of a group set up to fight council plans to rebuild the village. He said: “We feel very strongly the council should not have left property half demolished.”
He said Seacroft could have been another Thornton-le-Dale, regarded as one of the most picturesque in North Yorkshire.
In 1968, Leeds Corporation announced it was to compulsory purchase several acres of land around the village green but one canny resident, Melvyn Levi, of The Green, had the lot registered as a village green under the 1965 Commons Registration Act, an order which was upheld by the then minister of housing.
In the end, change did come.
In 1970, Alderman Donald Bradley said the famous Seacroft village green, where cricket had been played since the 19th Century, would be preserved.
In January 1973, Leeds Corporation approved plans for a 40-bed motel incorporating the old windmill near Seacroft roundabout.
Neighbouring Whinmoor and in particular the Whinmoor estate came under the jurisdiction of Leeds after the Second World War, having been acquired from Tadcaster.
It led to the creation of an almost utopian (in concept) estate capable of housing up to 40,000 people.
When the first houses were built, rents were £5.25 for a one-bed flat, £7.50 for a two-bed house and £8 for a three-bed house with garage. The estate was open plan, with no fenced in gardens.
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