Madame Psychogeography

The Ghost of Madame Psychogeography Still Haunts Armley Mills



The rumour is that the ghost of Madame Psychogeography still haunts Armley Mills, what is now the Leeds Industrial Museum. The story states that on mild damp early autumn days she can sometimes be seen moving around the museum site in a spectral fashion. It is believed she was a Victorian woman who wanders endlessly around the area looking for something. However, no-one knows for sure what she is looking for, and there are varied opinions on what this might be.



Some say that she spends many an hour looking up at one of the windows of the mill. It is said that her lover jumped from this window to his death after hearing rumours that she was intending to join the suffrage movement.



Others say that she is looking for the gear on the lock in which she caught her hair. The one that flung her to her death in the Aire, when she lent over the fence to pick a flower. But, many believe that she is looking for her bicycle because she knows she needs to get home for tea.



Madame Psychogeography was considered to be a frivolous woman, full of dreams and fantastical ideas about the world. Unable to engage in any productive way with life - as a woman of her status was expected to - she would spend many an hour wandering along the river, or riding her bicycle up and down Kirkstall Valley, her unfettered hair flowing behind her.



If you visit Armley Mills, look out for Madame Psychogeography. You may sense she is there, but before you turn around in the hope of catching sight of her, she will have moved on. The lucky ones can be fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of her retreating shadow.

Armed for Armley - Part 2

Armed for Armley - Part 2
A Psychogeographers Aesthetic Response to the Leeds Industrial Museum Grounds





Armley Mills - Take 2

A friend and I set out around lunch-time on September 15th for my second visit to the museum. The sky was cloudy, the chilly air required an extra layer of clothing and rain was threatened. By the time we reached the museum the rain had arrived. Since I had planned to visit only the outside of the museum, I sat in the cafe with a coffee (which had gone up in price by 1/3 since my last visit, to the grand sum of £1) and hoped that the rain would abate. Here is a photo, from the cafe window, of a 'typical' dull and rainy Northern day:



This blog will be themed around particular types of imagery on and around the site of Armley Mills. Before I begin I would just like to say a little about the type of psychogeographical approach I take to urban space.

The signs in our environment, which appear in the form of urban décor, not only provoke an aesthetic response but also contain a history within them that may not be apparent on a superficial viewing. However, the Armley Mills is a good place to be introduced to notions of social history, because when the visitor is inside the museum the history of the struggle of the workers of the 'Industrial North' is laid out for you.

However, even postmodernity (the cultural period in which we now live) holds a history of social struggle that can be read off the topography: space as historical text. Here is an obvious example of this on the very grounds of the museum. It is a memorial that appears under a tree:




Graffiti Bridge

On approaching the museum from the same route taken on the last visit, you see some interesting graffiti. This route to the museum is far more aesthetically rich, from an industrial perspective, than the other route (which I have now discovered and mention towards the end of this blog), the 'official' one over the modern bridge that takes you straight onto the museum grounds.

Here are some images of the graffiti. I particularly like the second image, not just for the graffiti but for that lovely big pipe going into the two walls - and the arch and railings.






Danger Sub-Station and Fragile Roofs

When passing the lovely blue-green box on this second visit, I noticed that the ivy had come off in some places, leaving a mark of where it had been. I liked this because it looked like the trail on a map, a dashed line often representing a path.



I also then discovered that it has/had some electricity-based function at some point:



There were also many signs on a number of buildings warning visitors of the fragile roofs on these outbuildings. I only took photos of three, but there were many more:






Liminal Spaces

I, and other psychogeographers, are particularly interested in what are often called liminal spaces. These are spaces that generally go unnoticed and are threshold spaces that can be in between, or on the edge of, other spaces. These areas are difficult to define and can be ambiguous. Here is one that I took a photo of at the seaside resort of Hunstanton in Norfolk. While this may look like a garden, it is actually just off the promenade and is in between the crazy golf and the childrens' slide:

Hunstanton Promenade

The images below were taken at, or near, Armley Mills. The first one was taken on Kirkstall Industrial Estate, very close to the old bridge that takes you over to the museum. I would consider this one to be a good example of a liminal space. However, the other two are some steps on the museum grounds taken from the top and the bottom. I think they could be considered liminal spaces, especially because they are closed off to the public. What do you think?






Signs of the Times

Under this heading I am including both some commercial signage on the periphery of the museum site, and also some signage on the museum grounds.

The first image is taken on Kirkstall Rd and is for the Cardigan Fields leisure park which is connected to the museum via the new bridge. The second photo was taken just near the museum car park.




The following are all signs taken on the ground of the museum. I liked the red/black one the most, however the photo didn't come out very well. I also like the three different signs together in the same image:









A Design for Life

While this is a song by the Manic Street Preachers it is also the name of this section, as I have selected the following images because I think they offer up a design aesthetic in regards to form, colour or composition. I shall not make any reference to my own aesthetic response to them, nor explain what they are images of, because I think decontextualising them makes them more interesting:










Walking Home to Post Industrial

The last image I took on the grounds was the following one. It is the window of the maintenance shed. I guess that these are children's toys that have been left at the museum in the past. However, I'm not sure that a child would take a massive hobby horse to a museum, but you never know.



We went home via the 'proper' bridge that can be accessed through Cardigan Fields leisure park. If you head to the Vue Cinema, look for Frankie and Benny's restaurant, you will see the bridge which takes you directly into the museum grounds which is to the right of the restaurant:



However, I would recommend that you do take the route highlighted in the first blog at least once, exiting or entering the museum.

I have also taken another image of the Yorkshire Evening Post sign to provide the updated headlines:



Here is a link to the news in the Guardian:

Thousands of Leeds Council workers offered redundancy or early retirement


The Power of Representation

In The Burden of Representation (1988) John Tagg looks at photography in relation to its representation of history. Much of his text is concerned with how institutions enable certain photographic images to gain status when representing particular aspects of history. Representations become what Tagg describes as “discourses which themselves function as formidable tools of control and power, producing a new realm of objects both as their targets and as instrumentalities.” (1988: 70). Power produces the lived experience, what we consider to be 'reality'. This orients power in everyday gestures, actions and practices, at the same time naturalising it.

Reference:
Tagg, John. 1988. The Burden of Representation (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan).

Armed for Armley - Part 1

Armed for Armley - Part 1
Leeds Industrial Museum Reconnaissance

In preparation for a psychogeographical expedition with the Design School students at the University of Leeds, I set off on August Bank Holiday Monday to do a 'reccy' of the Leeds Industrial Museum (nee Armley Mills):

Leeds Industrial Museum

Armed with my phone-camera but not my usual notepad, I checked out the online museum map before I left and also took my Leeds A-Z.




Could you tell me where the Industrial Museum is, please?

This museum must be the least well signposted museum in the UK. I did not see one brown signpost denoting cultural-places-of-interest until I was right outside the museum car park which was already well signposted. This may be because most people drive and then you would need to approach the museum from the opposite side than I did. I walked and entered from Kirkstall Rd.




However, do not be put off by the lack of directions for walkers, as it is well worth the doubt once you get there and I have provided directions for you here, if you are walking from Kirkstall Rd. The walk from Kirkstall Rd is interesting and well-worth the psychogeographical experience, so if you drive why not park near the Vue cinema and follow my directions as well.


Mission: Armly Mills

1) Enter Milford Place from Kirkstall Rd - well, I've worked out it was Milford Pace, going by my A-Z, but as you can see from the image below, the road sign seems to be missing. However, don't worry as it is the road opposite the Rising Sun pub and also there is a sign that points to Kirkstall Industrial Estate.



2) You will know you are in the correct road once you see this sign, about half way down on the left:



3) At the end of the road there is a narrow bridge slightly to the left. Here is the view from the bridge:



4) At the other side of the bridge go up the steps to the road:



4) Once you get to street level, turn right across the bridge and keep right. The museum is a few yards along on the right.

5) There is a lane to the right of the car park which leads to the museum.

This plaque is outside the entrance to the museum and so are the painted metal bollards, one of which had a disabled parking sign on:





A Psychogeographer Undercover

It is really cheap to get in, only £3.10 (max) and £1.60 for students! I got in for a student rate but the nice chap at the reception later said that, as I was doing a reccy, I could have got in for nothing. However, £1.60 is a bargain and we need to support our local museums in case the government takes them away from us!

You cannot take photos inside the museum, but do not worry, as by far the best shots for the psychogeographer are outside. I took one photo from the inside, of the fabulous chimney. Here it is alongside a shot of the chimney from the outside, notice the difference in the sky of the two shots, only taken a short while apart:





Engine Room Surveillance

For me the 'Small Engine Room' was by far the most exciting section of the inside museum. Also, it was semi-outside, so I took this to mean I could take photos. The first picture is blurry, but I have kept it in as the machinery itself is so massive and interesting. Please just attach some artistic licence to the blurryness and pretend it was intentional:




This wheel has also come out blurred, but I like it as it looks like it is turning.




Hunslet was an engineering company and also the manufacturer of 'Jack' the steam engine that is located at the museum. Hunslet is also a region of Leeds and the engine company is named after it. The mini steam train is named Jack after Jack Lane, where the engine manufacturer was located in Hunslet.


EMDs: Engines of Mass Production

Here is the wiki page on the Hunslet Engine Company:

Hunslet Engine Company

Another engineering company located in Hunslet was J & H McLaren:

J & H McLaren

Here is a picture I took of Jack, just before he started moving:



This is a blog/website dedicated to the area of Leeds called Hunslet: Hunslet Remembered

The following images are of the engines, or engineering-related equipment, that I took outside. The first one looks like waves made out of iron. The grill is strange-looking but I like it as it has a warp and weft (woven) look about it; very appropriate for a textile mill:




The situating of the the original mill on the Aire, and in particular on a bend where there was fast-moving water, meant that this site was perfect for the wheels that ran the mill. Here is a photo of the river, and some kind of sluice, inside the museum site:



I don't know what this object is, but I like the shape and colour. It also looks like it is being caressed by the ivy:



The nature/culture dichotomy is something I have written about in a previous blog:

The Disinhibition of the Persistence of Gaia

Here is a nice picture of a plant growing in the pointing of a wall on the museum land, along the same lines of the above blog:




Peripheral Observation

The following images are taken on the edge of the museum site, just before the steps that take you down to the river and back to the industrial park. The first picture shows some piping that runs parallel to the bridge that you cross to get to the steps. I like this image, with the pipes in the middle, the bridge one side and the trees the other:



But, I think the following photo is my favourite image of the trip. I'm guessing this wooden outbuilding will either fall down or get pulled down at some point. However, in the meantime it potentially makes for a good composition. I have named it Water Shed:



I also like this roof, with the interesting chimneys and the dilapidated sign:




Homing Device

On the way home I didn't take too many photos as I didn't want to make this blog any longer than it already is. Here is a nice piece of paving(?) in Milford Place. I have called this image Chocolate Pavement:



I bumped into a cat I know from working in the area a few summers ago. Her name is Mimi and here she is on the wall of her garden in Argie Rd. I like it when cats do that arched-back-cat-thing that they do when they rub up against something. Mimi is quite friendly, with a little bit of encouragement, and according to her owners she likes corn snacks:



And, finally, here is a sign outside a convenience store in the Burley area:



I really like these newspaper pull quotes that get placed in signs. I'm guessing this one might well sell some papers as people would be interested to see if Leeds noisiest neighbour lives in their own street or, maybe, if they are indeed Leeds noisiest neighbour!


A Psychogeographer Decommissioned

I enjoyed my mission to Armley Mills and would recommend it to anyone. I consider it to be one of Leeds best kept secrets. I know people who have lived here for years and have never been. Please buy the guide book when you are there, it is under two squid and will help keep the museum going. It also has some lovely images in it and a concise history of the mill. Also, coffee/tea is only 75p, although it is help yourself. I think you can take your own picnics and eat outside.

The area surrounding the mill is particularly interesting for psychogeographers as it runs along the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. These waterside areas often contain signs of our industrial past (and often present) and also conceal all those interesting liminal spaces. For a previous blog in the same area please click here:
Kirsktall Valley Subdub or The Prozac Walk

I would like to conclude with some quotes from the psychogeographer Iain Sinclair. They are very pertinent to how psychogeography can reveal the history in the palimpsest postmodern urban landscape. He states that the most hackneyed of objects appear intriguing when examined from a new perspective:
“These sites, come upon by accident, prick our imagination, provoke reverie.”
“When you don't see it, it is still there. And when you do, it is on the point of disappearance.”
From: 'A world you never new', 'Secret Britain', The Guardian, April 2009