the Barnbow Munitions Factory, which later became ROF Barnbow. The plant employed 16,000 workers, from Leeds, Selby, Wakefield, Tadcaster and Wetherby and had its own railway station to cope with the daily influx of workers. The railway station had an platform and 38 special trains from surrounding towns and cities. An explosion from Hall 42 killed 35 workers and mutilated many more. Mechanic William Parking was presented with an engraved silver watch for his bravery in saving factory workers during the incident. There are two memorials: one in Manston Park and one on Cross Gates Road by the roundabout with the Ring Road. Cross Gates Shopping Centre The demolition of Gas holder Number Two at the Cross Gates Gasworks made way for a shopping centre in Cross Gates as some felt that Cross Gates was badly lacking in amenities. This led to the building of the Cross Gates Arndale Centre. It opened on 21 September 1967 and was situated on the old coal and goods yards, which were behind what is now the parade of shops at the bottom of Station Road, just north of the Station Pub. In the mid-1980s it was renamed Cross Gates Shopping Centre and was renamed again into Crossgates in January 2005 as a consequence of new ownership and re-branding. This is a large indoor shopping centre (approximately 200,000 sq.ft) containing retailers such as Peacocks, Newlook, Select, Iceland, Wilko, Home Bargains, Superdrug and Bon Marche. There is also a LB's situated upstairs, Flavours Cafe, and several banks and building societies with almost 60 stores in total. The centre is 'L'-shaped, with both legs being approximately equal in length. The centre is single storey, except for the central part where there is a second storey containing LB's cafe, and an external unit with an East of India restaurant. The barrelled roofs at the Station Road and Austhorpe Road entrances were added several years after the shopping centre's construction in 1967 – they were refurbished in 2001. There have been many small-scale renovations in the Centre since its construction, including the car parks, which are operated on a ticket-on-entry and pay-on-foot system. Other shopping facilities in Cross Gates are found along Austhorpe Road. Cross Gates' main supermarket was originally a branch of Fine Fare next to the Methodist Church on Austhorpe Road, and then the GEM supermarket (formerly the Regal Cinema which was demolished for GEM to