I can remember watching the When Louis Met Jimmy documentary when filmmaker Louis Theroux spent
a few days with Jimmy Savile. This was before it emerged that Jimmy had been
mauling children for many years. He died and got away with it. The link to my
visit to his grave is here…
http://www.johnhalley.uk/Grave%20-%20Jimmy%20Savile.htm
Savile was
born in Leeds and though he owned flats in Scarborough and Bournemouth and a
house in Glencoe his main residence was one of the penthouse apartments in this
block in Rounday. He purchased it in the 1970 when he seemed to be on the
television or radio every week. On the way home from a long weekend in
Scarborough I thought I’d go and have a look at the place.
Roundhay is a
leafy affluent area north west of Leeds. Lakeside Court sits at up of the broad
tree-lined streets and is slightly at odds with the large detached tradition
Victorian houses leading up to it. The apartment block was undergoing improvements
when I arrived. It’s at a dead end for traffic but some people were walking passed
to get down to Waterloo Lake nearby. Nobody entered or exited the block when I
was there. I pressed my nose up to the glass entrance and could remember the
seat inside from the documentary. Though Savile had a kitchen he didn’t have a
cooker and normally ate out. It can only be accessed with through a lift and a
code.
Savile is one
of the more recent monsters and another is Peter Sutcliffe (the Yorkshire
Ripper) and they were acquainted. Savile worked voluntarily at Broadmoor Secure
Hospital where Sutcliffe is still kept. Oddly one of The Yorkshire Ripper’s
victims was dumped close to this apartment block (see photo.) At the time
detectives questioned Savile to determine he was connected to the shocking
serial killing spree in the 1970s. A cast was taken of one of his teeth as
bite-marks were found on the bodies of two Yorkshire Ripper's victims. He
denied he was the serial murder but at the time detectives thought (wrongly) he
was lying to cover for an accomplice.
He was found
dead here two days before his 85th birthday having been in hospital
with pneumonia. The apartment was bought for £300,000 in 2003 by his
neighbours. The gaudy interior and poor state meant they had to refurbish it.
One of the Yorkshire Ripper’s
victims was found near the apartment block (Savile was questioned about it)…
Inside the apartment…
The flat in March 2019...
Around the back...