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Issue 57 | December 2019
What’s happening in Beeston, Belle Isle, Cottingley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Middleton & Stourton
DOES NEW STATION PUT COTTINGLEY AT RISK? White Rose rail station to be built just 750m from Cottingley station
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by Jeremy Morton
ome of the shine has been taken off the news that South Leeds is to get a new rail station to serve the White Rose Office Park and Shopping Centre, by doubts about the future of Cottingley station. Plans for the station at White Rose took another step forward in November when West Yorkshire Combined Authority approved funding of over £2.5 million towards the development of the station. The full contribution, budgeted at £5m, will come from the £272m awarded to Leeds after the Trolleybus scheme was cancelled by the government. This funding is being used to deliver a range of transport schemes including the Stourton Park & Ride scheme and the changes to streets in the city centre under the banner of Connecting Leeds. But residents have been warned that with new station being located just 750m along the busy Leeds–Manchester line from Cottingley it is “unlikely that two stations that are so close together can be fully sustained.” Commuters we spoke to at Cottingley station were not impressed with the possible closure. “It’s a very convenient station to have” one passenger told us. “I commute daily to work in the city centre. I think they are underestimating the number of people who take this route, a
lot of people rely on this station. It’s one the reasons I bought my house here, being close to the station.” Another passenger who lives on Cottingley Hall estate and uses the train everyday for work said: “It would be terrible, I would have to take the bus, but it’s a long walk through the cemetery and I would be frightened on my own. I’d probably move away.” Another Cottingley resident said she would have to use the bus, but added: “Everyday the bus goes past and it’s full, so you’d be lucky to get to work for nine o’clock.” And another passenger told us: “I moved about a year ago to Churwell New Village mainly because of the convenience of the station. “I can understand the logistics of not keeping this open with the White Rose station, but obviously it would be a big blow to us and another 87 houses are being built here. “I’m not keen to walk on any of the routes around here on my own. The station might be 750m along the railway line, but it’s not quite as easy as it sounds to extend that journey.” A further round of consultation is promised for next year before final decisions are taken. Cllr Gohar Almass, member for the Beeston & Holbeck ward which includes Cottingley Hall, but not Churwell, told South Leeds Life: “Firstly, I’m grateful to Cllr
In this issue:
Same organisation new name
page 3
Pupils support Children In Need
page 13
Buddhist Mandala created in Holbeck
page 10
Passengers board the train at Cottingley station, but for how much longer? Kim Groves who attended a Cottingley Hall only live a stone couple of events we held in throw away from the very lively Cottingley regarding transport city centre, they are often issues. I’d be very happy if disconnected from it due to Cottingley Station continues to infrequent and in some cases stay open, but on the other very unreliable transport hand there needs to be enough system. people using it for it to continue “This needs radical reforms to be viable. If the proposed and urgent improvements by new station is built it should the private companies who run ensure more frequent trains the services and are making which is a positive news for the huge profits out of their Leeds wider area. operations.” “It is vitally important to have The new station would be good and safe walking routes to located close to White Rose it from all over Cottingley Hall Office Park, home to firms such area, meaning accessible and as Capita and HSBC as well as well-lit paths to the proposed Elliott Hudson College. The new station. A hopper bus has plans are being developed also been discussed as a jointly by Munroe K who own possibility. the Office Park and the West “I think it’s a shame that Yorkshire Combined Authority. although the residents of The station will be fully
accessible (unlike Cottingley) and be integrated with road access, bus services and cycle routes. Cllr Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee and a Middleton ward councillor said: “A new station serving the White Rose Office Park would result in improved transport links across the area and would act as a catalyst for local regeneration and housing growth, economic activity and jobs in the surrounding area. “This would mean new opportunities for people in my own ward of Middleton and for the communities of Cottingley, Churwell and Millshaw and Morley.”
Corinthians are on the charge
page 24
NEWS ELECTION
2-11 8-9
SCHOOL LIFE 11-13 COMMENT
14-15
ART LIFE
16-17
LOCAL LIVES WHAT’S ON
18 19-22
SPORTING LIFE 23-4
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
2 News
About us South Leeds Life is written by and for local people. People who live, work and play in the LS10 and LS11 areas of South Leeds. The website and newspaper are produced by South Leeds Life CIC, a social enterprise registered with Companies House, No 9998695. South Leeds Life is a member of the Independent Community News Network.
Our aims To inform people of events, activities, issues and opportunities taking place in the South Leeds community; To encourage the involvement of the wider community in communicating their experiences; To foster community spirit and involvement; and To provide a platform for local people to contribute and respond to community life more fully. South Leeds Life is pleased to publish views from across the political spectrum, provided they comply with our editorial guidelines. We remain a neutral publication with a diverse readership, as such we do not endorse any particular political party.
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South Bank: what’s in it for us? A
s we went to press, Leeds Citizens members from South Leeds were launching their “South Bank for South Leeds” campaign on Monday 25 November at a meeting in Holbeck. As the city centre begins to expand into what will be known as the South Bank (currently parts of Holbeck and Hunslet), it is easy for the people of South Leeds to feel disconnected and even disillusioned by the developments with many feeling that the offices and flats being built are “not for them.” Leeds Citizens “South Bank for South Leeds” is a campaign aimed at making sure that the South Bank is something that has a tangible, positive impact across South Leeds. The campaign hopes to establish a direct working relationship between the property developers investing in the South Bank, and South Leeds communities. South Leeds Life understands that Commercial Estates Group (CEG) who are developing sites around Water Lane and Globe Road and own the historic Temple Works were due to make a commitment to the meeting to work with the community. During the campaign, ordinary people will be supported by Leeds Citizens member organisations to share their ideas for how the developers and the community could work together for the common
Examining a model of plans for the Tetley Brewery site in Hunslet / South Bank good of the area – and how the developers could do business in a way which brings real benefits in South Leeds communities. One potential benefit for residents is the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) that developers must pay to the Council. Another is the use of Section 106 Agreements (s106) when granting planning permission. These can include things like local employment schemes to ensure jobs are secured for local residents. Leader of Leeds City Council and ward member for Middleton Park, Cllr Judith Blake, told South Leeds
Life: “We welcome this campaign to help local people get more involved in decisions about the South Bank. It is one of the most significant regeneration initiatives in Europe and it’s important to its success that local residents give their views to help shape how the work progresses. A key priority for the Council in this is to better connect this part of the city to surrounding neighbourhoods. “We want economic growth in the South Bank to be Inclusive Growth, which means making sure local
residents, especially young people, are given the appropriate training and support to enable them to access some of the thousands of new jobs that will be created. The South Bank will also include a new park, meaning more green space for the area with all the environmental and health benefits that brings.” As part of the campaign, Leeds Citizens members will visit other cities around the UK to gain inspiration from community groups who have worked together to secure large benefits from big developments. In East London, organised community action meant that thousands of jobs for local people were created as part of the Olympic Legacy in Stratford. Are similar things possible in South Leeds? South Bank for South Leeds is a bold ambition – to bring the communities of South Leeds together to work with business and civic leaders in South Leeds so that what we see growing in the South Bank isn’t just “ivory towers.” If the campaign should be successful, it will mean that instead of just being a buzzword, “inclusive growth” becomes a reality for people in Beeston, Holbeck, Hunslet, Cottingley and the other surrounding areas of South Leeds, as they see new opportunities and changes created.
Green light for inland port at Stourton
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The three last barges to run on the Aire & Calder Navigation in 2013 he Canal & River Trust Leeds City Council in 2018 delivered to the site. Plans to has secured full planning and is now speaking to West accommodate other goods permission from Leeds City Yorkshire Combined and container freight are Council, to bring the vision Authority to secure the also under development. for an Inland Port at £3.37 million needed for the Sean McGinley, Yorkshire Stourton Wharf one step scheme. & North East director from closer. Designs for Leeds Inland Canal & River Trust, As South Leeds Life Port have also been explained: “We are looking reported at the time, the revealed by Canal & River forward to progressing our waterway and wellbeing Trust, which hopes to plans to realise Leeds Inland charity that looks after commence construction Port which will have capacity 2,000 miles of the nation’s onsite in summer 2020. to take up to half a million canals, submitted its Aggregates will initially be tonnes of freight traffic off planning application to the first goods to be the roads.
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“The overall marketplace for freight within West Yorkshire is over ten million tonnes per annum and the potential to move a considerable proportion of this by water is high. “Leeds Inland Port presents a fantastic opportunity for our charity to help to reduce the environmental impact of transporting goods, reducing carbon emissions and road congestion, as inland waterways across the world continue to be effective and efficient transport corridors. “By improving the connection between Leeds and the North Sea through our canal network, we hope to pave the way for further development of the inland waterway freight sector across Britain and internationally.” Councillor James Lewis, Leeds City Council executive member for air quality, said: “Utilising our waterways better to improve the flow of road traffic and cut air pollution is a real step forward in helping to shape the city’s greener, cleaner future.
“Our city’s waterways have historically played a significant role in transportation and with this new investment rightfully reinstate their importance for moving goods once again.” The Aire & Calder Navigation provides sustainable transport routes between Leeds, South Yorkshire and the Humber Ports. Barges using the inland port at Leeds will be able to grow the freight volume significantly, making a significant contribution to reducing road congestion and improving air quality. Alex Veitch, the Freight Transport Association’s lead on water freight said: “There’s never been a better time for businesses to explore waterways as a means of freight transport. “Waterways provide businesses with the perfect opportunity to reduce costs and environmental impact and should be an integral part of any effective multimodal logistics strategy. However, further investment in infrastructure is urgently needed to help reach its full potential.”
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December 2019 | South Leeds Life
News 3
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Chinese investment Dancers continue to dazzle brings jobs to new thanks to Vodaphone V Stourton plastics recycling plant
Waste in at the start of the 100m production line
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by Jeremy Morton
orty five jobs have been created at a new plastic recycling plant in Stourton with the promise of 300 jobs by the end of 2021. The Acting Consul General, Mr Fan Yingjie, from the Chinese Consulate in Manchester paid a visit to the OSO Polymers plant on Friday (15 November 2019) which has benefited from £3m worth of Chinese investment. OSO Polymers currently run two production lines at their factory processing 10,000 tonnes of packaging waste per year. They plan to install a further six lines over the next two years. Running through a series of machines on the 100m long production line, the process produces polymer pellets that can be used as a raw material for new packaging. The process uses a lot of water, but this is all recycled at the onsite treatment works. The factory produces
8,000 tonnes of pellets a year, representing an 80% recycling rate. OSO’s Managing Director Shen explained that China had changed its policy in 2018 to stop accepting waste plastic from the west. The Stourton plant was bringing the operation which used to happen in China into the UK to reprocess all the waste in a ‘closed loop’ system to reduce long term environmental harm. The company has ambitions to open a second plant in the south of England in the future. Roger Marsh OBE, Chair of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “We are delighted to have worked in partnership with Shen to bring this facility to Leeds City Region. We helped secure visas for Chinese engineers to come here, and we’ve worked with the DWP to get people into jobs here. We wish you every success.” Acting Consul General Fan Yingjie said: “I am very happy to attend this launch ceremony of this company, which represents the cooperation of China and UK in the field of environmental protection. I hope this project will help further promote cooperation between China and Leeds.”
odafone have stepped in to support the award winning dance group DAZL by sponsoring tshirts and equipment. The company are working with CityFibre to offer Superfast fibre broadband to the home with speeds up to nine hundred Mbps upload and download across Leeds. With the first properties to benefit being in Hunslet and Beeston, Vodaphone were keen to offer support to local grassroots organisations. DAZL is based in Middleton but runs groups right across South Leeds and across the city. Everyone from tots to older people are benefiting from dance and movement sessions. Dawn Whitehead, Vodaphone’s Gigafast Manager Leeds explained: “Vodaphone takes its corporate social responsibility (CSR) very seriously. We are working in the area and hope to have many more customers soon, so we are keen to give something back. We are so impressed with the work DAZL does in this community and are delighted to help them where we can.”
Ian Rodley (DAZL), Rocket Kid and Dawn Whirhead (Vodafone) This has started by providing branded t-shirts and pom-poms. Ian Rodley, DAZL’s Director explained what the support meant: “We work with children from all backgrounds. Being able to give them a t-shirt to perform in rather than charging them £8 means everyone’s on a level playing field. I know that many of our families just can’t afford that extra £8. I don’t
want our dancers ever to feel second best, because they are not second best.” Both Dawn and Ian (and Rocket Kid) are looking forward to developing a very positive and mutually beneficial relationship. If you would like any information about DAZL’s services or would like to know more about what they offer, visit www.dazl.org.uk
Baby Love
White Rose Shopping Centre marked the fourth Baby Week Leeds by working with Nurture Landscapes to plant the 187 trees – one tree for every baby born in Leeds during Baby Week 2019. The Baby Week initiative was brought to the UK by Lucy Potter from Beeston who launched it with partners from all sectors including Leeds City Council, Child Friendly Leeds, and NHS Leeds.
A big thank you to our newest sponsors To find out how we can help your organisation please The OSO production line (top) takes packaging waste (above) and converts it into polymer pellets (right). It can already handle 10,000 tonnes a year.
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
4 News
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On the beat
by Insp Lucy Leadbeater
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his month your Neighbourhood Policing Team have been working hard to tackle a rise in theft from motor vehicle offences that have been occurring right across Inner South Leeds. Having recently been the victim of a theft from motor vehicle in this area myself, I fully appreciate the impact it can have on people both emotionally and financially. Officers have been working extended hours to conduct proactive patrols across the area to tackle this issue. Just in the last two days they have recovered two stolen vehicles and one male has been arrested for a number of offences, including theft of motor vehicle. There are a number of things you can do to try and prevent offences occurring - please ensure that you do not leave any valuables on display and park in a well-lit area where possible. A common concern that is discussed at the many community meetings I attend is the condition of some of the private rented properties around Inner South Leeds. Last week officers from the Inner South Neighbourhood Policing Team worked in partnership with the Local Authority Housing teams and private rented teams to conduct a number of visits. During this
day of action in the Holbeck area 15 homes were inspected and from these inspections 10 legal notices are to be served on landlords for poor housing conditions. A referral was also made to a mental health service and two food parcels were delivered to families. I am a firm believer in partnership working and we plan to do more of these action days across the area. Another new operation that your Neighbourhood Policing Team has been conducting is using technology such as drones and smartwater to tackle nuisance bikes and quads in the Middleton area. This technology is assisting us to identify those responsible so that positive action can be taken. As it is now December I feel that it is alright to mention the word Christmas! Whilst this is an exciting and happy time for the majority of us, there will unfortunately be a small number of people who will be a victim of crime over this period. I have discussed in my previous article about crime prevention in relation to securing you home however this is extremely important over this period. There may be extended periods when you are away from your house visiting family and friends and the fear is that opportunist burglars could target homes left empty in the darkness. Please remember that simple measures such as timer light switches, and remembering to lock doors and windows at all times, could help prevent that. If you would like any further information then please visit our website www.westyorkshire .police.uk/burglary. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very safe, happy and peaceful Christmas and send my best wishes for the New Year.
Seal of approval
This stunning image of a seal emerging from the sea at Ravenscar on the Yorkshire coast won Richard Francis the title Best Amateur Photographer in a competition organised by Barratt Homes in Whitby. Richard, the caretaker at The Hunslet Club, came top out of over 500 entries. Commenting on his win he said: “I’m absolutely over the moon. Photography is my favourite hobby throught all the seasons, it makes all the wet and windy days worth it! Ravenscar is one of my favourite places to visit and is home to 300 seals.”
Holbeck comes together to support rebranded organisation
Holbeck Together’s staff team show off the new branding
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Partnership working in Holbeck
t Matthew’s Community Centre in Holbeck was packed on Friday 15 November as Holbeck Elderly Aid (HEA) unveiled its new identity as Holbeck Together. Members and service users were joined by partner organisations, funders and local councillors for a celebration of the organisation’s work to date and to look ahead to the future. Holbeck Elderly Aid was set up in 1992 as one of Leeds’ Neighbourhood Networks,
serving the older population of Holbeck. In that role is has provided meals, activities, advice and support to thousands of individuals over the years. Holbeck Together is also set to take over St Matthew’s Community Centre and has plans to remodel and modernise the space creating a full time cafe, meeting hall, small meeting rooms and offices. Commenting on the re-brand, Chief Officer, Elissa Newman,
explained: “Since moving to a more visible office in the centre of Holbeck, interest and demand for our services has increased. We have offered support, advice and reassurance that someone is there to help to older adults for 27 years and want to use this expertise as a community anchor to help a wider range of people. “We’ve been adapting our services for some time now to cater for all generations, which naturally led us to the name
change, which we believe has come at a key time in the charity’s evolution. Supporting people who are older in the local area will continue to be central to our work, as well as expanding support to the wider community who we know have and will continue to benefit from our services”. “Our new name ‘Holbeck Together’ is an exciting step forward for us and the community as we truly believe that it represents what we stand for now and in the future. We are now better placed to help and support each other through the tough times, making life that little bit easier”. Leeds United legend Eddie Gray spoke on behalf of the club who have supported a number of HEA projects. He talked about the importance of serving the needs of the isolated in cities like Leeds. “I’m so glad that our football club are getting involved in this project. I think your vision for this building and for the community is tremendous. It says a lot for the city of Leeds because its communities are what make cities.” For more details of Holbeck Together’s services go to: www.holbecktogether.org or call (0113) 245 5553.
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New bus interchange proposed for Middleton P
lans have been unveiled to make changes to bus stops at Middleton Park Circus. A new bus only ‘interchange’ is proposed on a quieter section of Middleton Park Road close to the Aldi store. The scheme is being developed by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Existing bus stops in the area would be re-located to the interchange, freeing up parking and loading space for local businesses. The new stops will have improved shelters including real time information displays. A new Toucan pedestrian/cycle crossing will be provided across
the Ring Road on the western side of the Circus (close to Midway Pharmacy). The existing crossing at the eastern side of the circus will be converted to a Toucan crossing. The area will also be overseen by CCTV. A consultation event has been organised on Thursday 28 November, 10am-1pm at St George’s Centre Community Hub. You can also respond using the online survey at www.yourvoice. westyorksca.gov.uk/Middleton Circus until Monday 2 December. Cllr Kim Groves, chair of the authority’s transport committee and a Middleton Park ward member, said:
“These proposals will mean facilities that provide a warmer, cleaner waiting area in a safe environment for the high proportion of local residents who are bus users. “These plans are in line with our overall ambitions, to reduce congestion and the pollution it causes by making bus travel more attractive and meet the Combined Authority’s commitment to tackling climate change. “I am delighted to see this investment planned for Middleton and would urge everyone with an interest to have their say online or to come along to one of the planned drop-in events.”
A chance to help plan local health services W
by Mike Love
ould you like to be actively involved in planning improvements to health and wellbeing in South Leeds? We are looking for people who able to give a few hours each month to meet up with people from organisations like the NHS and community groups, and with local Councillors. Together, you will be able to agree priorities to develop services that support people to self-care and thrive using their individual and community assets. The city’s Health and Wellbeing Board have a vision that Leeds will be a healthy and caring city for all ages, where people who are the poorest improve their health the fastest. To achieve this vision, the expectation is that local people will always be involved in the design and delivery of strategies and services. Local Care Partnerships (LCPs) is the term used in Leeds to describe this model of joined-up working to
deliver local care for local people tailored to local need and the features of each community. We are developing a pilot scheme to ensure residents can be fully involved in the LCP for Beeston Hill and Hunslet. If you
are live in, or are registered to a GP practice in these areas and would like to find out more about taking part, please contact hello@t4p.org.uk telling us why you are interested, or ring us on 07752 881833.
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
6 News
Good Ofsted for Building College
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Win-win as young people find a home and older people enjoy company W
D
erek Whitehead, the Principal of the UK’s only specialist further education construction college says he is “delighted” after Leeds College of Building was graded ‘Good’ in all areas in its most recent Ofsted inspection. Ofsted’s verdict came following a full four-day inspection. Ofsted Inspectors said: “Students develop professional workplace behaviours and practices that employers expect in the construction and the built environment sectors. “Students and apprentices work with and use high-quality industry-standard resources to support the development of their practical skills.”
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e at Leeds Homeshare provide a service that makes a huge difference in people’s lives, enabling them to stay independent & remain living at home for longer. Homeshare is a simple idea, we carefully match an older person who has a spare room and needs a helping hand with a younger person who wants somewhere to live. We’re a Leeds City Council service. We provide a safe and supportive service by carrying out background checks on our sharers including police, credit and references. We do a thorough assessment and carefully match householders with the right sharer for them. Householders tell us what sort of sharer they would like. We have a lady who wanted a Spanish speaking sharer and now they speak Spanish together. Some householders want us to find them a sharer of the same religion and we do this. We are asked by family members to find their parents a sharer because they worry about them being on their own in their home. The sharer provides 10 hours of support a week for the householder and helps with tasks such as cleaning, shopping. Lots of householders
contacted us because they live alone or after their partners have died because they want the reassurance of company in the house overnight. Homeshare brings two people together who have a lot to offer and the benefits are mutual. Householders can save money as their sharer contributes towards the cost of bills. Sharers contribute an affordable monthly fee to cover the running costs of the scheme. We have a South Leeds householder in Beeston, Bal, aged 74 who wants a sharer. We are looking for a young woman who speaks Punjabi and is a Sikh to share with her. Bal would like some company and someone to help her with cleaning. In return the sharer would live in Bal’s lovely house. We have another householder Margaret who has a sharer Holly living with her, she says: “I wanted a sharer so that I had the reassurance of someone with me in the house overnight. Holly is a very kind, caring, young woman. She likes cooking and makes lovely cakes. “My house has always been busy with my three boys and then my grandchildren. I get on well with younger people and I didn’t want to live on my own, I have a lot of life experiences and
Margaret (right) shares her home with Holly knowledge to give back to a sharer. I am enjoy spending time with Holly in the house and going to cafes together.” Holly says that “Margaret is very friendly, she’s lived a very interesting life, and she’s great to talk to! I really like living with her and helping her when she needs it.” Homeshare is not just for older people. Some of our householders are younger and have additional needs, for
example a physical disability. Homeshare is a culturally sensitive service, at the moment we have an older Muslim man in Holbeck who is widowed and we would like us to find him a Muslim sharer. Could you, or anyone else you know, benefit from having a sharer? If so please get in touch with Leeds Homeshare. Call (0113) 387 5410, or email: homeshare@leeds.gov.uk.
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News 7
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Helping you live later life well H
ear the name South Leeds Live at Home Scheme and you know you’ll be well supported. The team at St Andrew’s Community Centre are relentlessly fighting the fight against social isolation in our older community members. The team organise weekly, bi monthly and monthly social events and coach trips, making sure that those who wouldn’t necessarily have a day trip out have the opportunity to go to places like Whitby, Knaresborough and Canon Hall Farm. They also have a busy weekly programme with lunch clubs, breakfast clubs, exercise classes, friendship groups, hobby groups and so much more. Many of these Activities
Members enjoy a recent Tea Dance and trips wouldn’t be able to happen if it wasn’t for the 90 volunteers who support the team delivering everything from cups of tea to a full comprehensive befriending
programme where our volunteers visit the more isolated in our community who don’t get out often and don’t have many visitors. South Leeds Live at Home
Scheme pride themselves on being able to get the job done, with fantastic community links with police, fire service and community neighbourhood teams within the NHS they are able to signpost and refer into a wider network for support. If you feel you could benefit from our service or know someone who could contact us the team on (0113) 271 6201 or email southleeds .liveathome@mha.org.uk or follow us on facebook on our page South Leeds Live at Home. And this is what it means to their members: “I’m so glad I come it’s a life saver” “Thank you so much for giving us a reason to get up and go.”
St Peter’s Court marks 40 years S
by Abbie Randall
at neatly on a corner off Dewsbury Road is the sheltered housing development of St Peter’s Court. As you round the corner this beautiful building is complimented by the well kept and neatly trimmed gardens, maintained by both gardeners and the residents alike. Stepping inside the complex, I was greeted by Sue the Development Manager who enthusiastically told me that St Peter’s Court had just celebrated its 40th birthday. Moving into the lounge I was greeted by a sea of welcoming faces who talked with me about the centre, its history and also the party that was held to mark
December 2019 | South Leeds Life
the 40th birthday. The centre, which originally opened in 1979, is now managed by Alpha Homes and has 48 apartments which house individuals, couples and members of the same family, some of the same and some of different generations. Sue described the atmosphere as warm and full of supportive residents who have become one large closeknit family. Councillors attended the birthday event and a large birthday cake was enjoyed by all. The centre is on the site of the old St Peter’s Church which has long gone, Barbara Jagger was happy to talk about her heritage and history at the site and I will pen a separate piece
Councillors and residents enjoy the party at St Peter’s Court documenting the important and interesting conversations I
had with the residents about the old church (see page 18).
Railway hosts Taiwanese visit
South Leeds Remembers
This year’s Remembrance events included knitted poppies and painted stones at Holbeck Cemetery and a new memorial stone commissioned by Hunslet Carr Residents Association
Changing your furniture? Donate it to support people with Learning Disabilities
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Visitors from Taiwan in the engine house museum at Middleton Railway
hirty staff from the Taipei Railway Workshop recently visited Middleton Railway as part of a tour of UK railway museums. They learned about the restoration, technical operations and the management of heritage railways, as they set up their first railway museum. The visitors were most impressed at the facilities and very surprised that the railway is run entirely by volunteers. Museum Manager Tony Cowling commented: “Taiwan is a long way from Leeds but we all share a love of our railway past and the desire to see it protected and well managed for future generations.”
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
8 General Election
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The 2019 General Election in the Leeds Central constituency T
he country goes to the polls on Thursday 12 December for one of the most important elections in many years. The first December election since 1923 will see key decisions taken about the UK’s relationship with the European Union, how the economy should be run and where public funding should be spent. South Leeds Life does not support any political party, but we feel democracy is very important and voting is part of being an active citizen. So we encourage you to cast your vote on 12 December and we hope that the information we provide will help you choose who to vote for. South Leeds sits within the Leeds Central constituency which has been represented by Rt Hon Hilary Benn for Labour since 1999. His majority at the last election in 2017 was 23,698.
Six candidates are standing in this election. South Leeds Life approached them all to make a statement. Five have responded so far and we print their statements opposite. You can also find video messages from the candidates on our website at: southleedslife.com /general-election-2019 If you were already registered to vote before 1 November you should have received a Poll Card. If you registed after 1 November your poll card will be posted on 2 December. The card gives details of which Polling Station to vote at, although you don’t need to bring the card in order to vote. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 12 December. The deadlines have passed for requesting a Postal Vote or Proxy Vote. If you haven’t voted before, you can find out more about
the process at: www. aboutmyvote.co.uk/how-do-ivote or just ask the staff at the Polling Station. If you need somewhere to get away from the hubbub and noise on polling day, St Mary’s Church in Beeston will be open all day for for people to come in, say a prayer, or simply to sit in the silence. Votes will be counted into the early hours of Friday 13 December. South Leeds Life will be at the count and we will bring you the result as soon as it’s declared. As we go to press, the only Hustings meeting we are aware of is taking place at Belle Isle United Reformed Church, Nesfield Road, LS10 3LG on Monday 2 December. We will publish full details online. All the candidates have been invited to the Hustings where they will face questions from members of the public.
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December 2019 | South Leeds Life
General Election 9
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Your candidates in their own words Hilary BENN
Ed CARLISLE
William CLOUSTON
Peter FORTUNE
Jack HOLLAND
Paul THOMAS
Labour Party
Green Party
Social Democratic Party
The Conservative Party Candidate
Liberal Democrat
Brexit Party
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I
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A
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his election is about what kind of community and country we want to be. 10 years of austerity has hit many people in South Leeds hard. Every week, families tell me about living in overcrowded homes or struggling with bills and benefit cuts. We have polluted air, inadequate public transport, fewer police and public services under strain. Labour will invest in education and our precious NHS, with free prescriptions for all and free personal care for older people, introduce a £10 an hour Living Wage, build new homes with fair rents and take action on climate change by investing in new solar, tidal and wind energy to create good jobs. I’m campaigning for a Leeds tram system and for us to run the buses, and on Brexit, which has been so divisive, I support a final say referendum. If you re-elect me, I will continue to hold regular advice surgeries and be here to help you as I have always tried to do. Leeds is a wonderful city and ours is a great country with a great future. Let’s help everyone to fulfil their potential by building a fairer society.
love south Leeds, my home. Over 17+ years, I’ve helped launch and co-run dozens of community projects and events here. And I’m out year-round in communities, supporting residents to tackle local issues together. I got involved in politics because we’ve a stifling twoparty system – that’s failing our communities, and seems unable to address the huge challenges we face: climate change, reuniting our fractured country and world, building a fairer society, and more. The Green Party’s a smaller party – that’s long fought for a healthier, more secure, more vibrant society, living in balance with the planet. Key policies include: bold action on climate change and clean air; rescuing the NHS and schools from privatisation; well-funded and regulated public transport (and scrap HS2); a green housing revolution; voting reform; and a Green New Deal creating 100,000s of jobs. On Brexit, we believe people need the final say on where we go from here. Full info on me, my track record, policies, why it’s more ‘tactical’ to vote for a smaller party in seats like Leeds Central, and more, at greenleeds.org. Or get in touch anytime. Win or lose, every single Green vote makes a big impact – many thanks.
he main political parties are once again asking the people of Leeds Central for their votes. But before voting Labour or Conservative please ask yourself – has our country been well governed? Have the establishment parties looked after Leeds and its people? We Social Democrats (SDP) think not. Leeds needs and deserves a Rapid Transit System to get people across the city but after decades of Lab/Con/Lib Dem government we’re still waiting. Meanwhile, drug taking and street prostitution are tolerated in parts of Leeds despite calls for action from local residents. Together, Labour and Conservatives have mismanaged our country and have increased divisions in society. They’ve also failed to honour the democratic decision in the 2016 referendum to leave the EU. We must leave. It’s time for a better approach. The SDP will govern for the whole of society not just favoured groups. The public sector and the private sector are not opponents – both are vital for our country to thrive. I’ve been proud to lead the resurgence of the Social Democrats. Yorkshire – and Leeds in particular – has been at the centre of the SDP’s growth. I’d be honoured to represent Leeds Central in Parliament. Let’s build something better. Vote SDP!
n this election one issue is dominating on the doorstep. I’ve been told, over-and-over again, that we need to resolve Brexit and move forward. Whilst Brexit drags on, our country will be unable to deal with the important issues that have been delayed due to the inaction of Parliament. In Leeds Central we need to focus on housing, education, transport and travel infrastructure. By voting Conservative we’ll be able to move on to these important issues. The Conservative manifesto has laid out sensible, proportionate and costed policies to explain how, once Brexit is resolved, a majority Conservative Government will responsibly shape the future of our country in a positive and manageable way. Locally we’ll benefit from increased spending on our NHS with investment in Leeds General Infirmary, and by reducing business taxes and enabling you to keep more of your hard earned money. I’m from a normal background, growing up on a Council Estate in a single parent family. I know what it’s like to depend on services and work hard to build up a small business. I know a Conservative Government will help people live a better, healthier and safer life in solid communities. But we need to deal with the issue of the day to do that. The public voted for and expect Brexit to be delivered – I will help to achieve that.
sk yourself: Is Brexit going well? Is the 2-party system working? Vote Lib Dem to Stop Brexit. I am proud to live in Hyde Park and work at Leeds University. Like thousands of others, I joined the Liberal Democrats after the Brexit referendum, when it became clear that an inept Tory government and a divided Labour party were a threat to my family. I live the trauma of Brexit every day with my wife – me from England, her from Hamburg. We married one month before the referendum. Our son is 21 months old. He is British and German – and a proper ‘Yorkshire Lad’, as it says on his vest. When he is old enough, I hope to be able to tell him about how our country united, coming together to do the right thing, before it was too late. Stopping Brexit will create a £50 billion ‘remain bonus’ which we will invest in our children, funding 35 hours of free childcare from 9 months and building thriving schools. We will prioritise mental health care and ringfence £35 billion for our struggling NHS. Crucially, we will spend £100 billion tackling the climate emergency, creating a robust, fair, and sustainable economy.
ince 17.4 million of us voted to leave the European Union three-and-ahalf years ago, the political establishment has shown its hand – that is, its utter contempt and disdain for the electorate and democracy itself. And their attempts to undermine and overturn the Referendum result show that we cannot trust our political future in their hands. This is the same political elite that has spent the last two decades increasingly telling us how to live our lives, that ignored people’s concerns before the Referendum, and that has dismissed us as ignorant and stupid since for voting to leave their beloved EU restore UK sovereignty. Shaken by that result, they will do everything in their power to insulate themselves from any future will of the British people, or even criticism – just witness the way they’re already trying to proscribe the very language we can use to describe their acts of betrayal and surrender to the Brussels bureaucracy. That is why we need the Brexit Party now. – not just to defend the Referendum result and fight to ensure a cleanbreak from the European Union, but to extend democracy and begin to fundamentally change the way British politics is done. Vote Brexit Party!
South Leeds Life | December 2019
10 News
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South Leeds first to receive gigabit speeds as part of a city-wide digital transformation C
Sponsored Content
ityFibre, the nation’s leading alternative provider of wholesale full fibre infrastructure, will soon be coming to a street near you to connect your neighbourhood to Leeds’ very own full fibre network, future proofing its digital capabilities for decades to come. Once this phase of build is complete, South Leeds will be among the first areas of the UK to benefit from our £2.5 billion Gigabit City programme, which delivered in partnership with Vodafone, aims to level up the country’s broadband following decades of underinvestment. As part of this roll-out, we have committed £120 million in private investment to deliver Leeds’ digital transformation, which is set to connect practically every home and business locally by 2025. The build is gathering pace, and residents of Beeston, Hunslet, Middleton Park, Holbeck and Belle Isle may have already encountered our green livery in their area. This will be marking out live construction sites, which O’Connor Utilities Ltd is managing on our behalf using a locally recruited workforce. As an enabling infrastructure
Bath Road Mural
revered for its ability to we will need to carry out boost efficiency, installation works on roads productivity and economic and pavements in the area. growth, full fibre is the It is our overarching goal to essential foundation on manage disruption at all which to thrive in the digital times, and, we are working age. Its capabilities are in collaboration with Leeds about so much more than City Council to plan ahead unlocking new forms of and put measures in place entertainment for the to minimise impact. And, Netflix generation. For while installation works in a example, it can make home full street or area can take and remote working a some weeks, we will only be reality for so many workers, working outside individual it can bring entire smart city homes for a handful of ecosystems to life and it can days. make other innovations There will always be such as telehealth more someone to contact with accessible to citizens. any queries or concerns. This investment, Look out for one of our site alongside ongoing plans to supervisors dressed in regenerate the South Bank orange, or if you’d prefer, district and connect South please feel free to call us Leeds communities to the directly on 0800 083 6160. city centre, spells a bright Keeping you in the loop future for South Leeds. With We are doing everything the potential for children’s “Internet services offering faster speeds, greater bandwidth we can to communicate playgrounds, event spaces, with people in South Leeds and dramatically increased reliability will soon be available in new pedestrian bridges that and provide as much connect to Richmond Hill as South Leeds - and as soon as the city’s full fibre network goes information as possible. well as improvements to the live, users will experience a leap akin to lightspeed when Many of you will have underpass near Beeston already met one of our team comparing old with new.” Road, residents can look of doorknockers, who are Kim Johnston, CityFibre's City Manager for Leeds working their way through forward to a connected future and a modern South Leeds to talk to environment they can be proud to deliver some extensive the experience and capabilities residents about the ground works to install the we need to achieve this as forthcoming works. They are of. network. All over the country, efficiently as possible. How are we going to do it? very happy to help with any With projects of this nature questions you may have. In order to bring this brand- we are working with carefully new technology to life, we need selected contractors who have and scale, it is inevitable that We would like to thank
residents in the communities we’ve reached so far for their patience and support, and as we progress into new areas, we hope that South Leeds’ residents will bear with us as we future proof their internet services. We strongly believe in the transformational potential of full fibre, and we can’t wait to light up your streets and unlock the benefits the digital age has to offer. If you would like to learn more about our Gigabit Cities and how you might be affected, please visit: cityfibre.com /gigabit-cities.
Sounds great, sign me up
We will continue to keep you posted on our progress, but if high speed, high capacity future proof full fibre broadband sounds right up your street, then you can speak to our partners at Vodafone today. Vodafone will be using CityFibre’s network to bring Vodafone Gigafast Broadband to customers in Leeds and you can pre-register for the service from today at www.vodafone.co.uk/gigafast /register. We aim for first homes to be connected to Gigafast Broadband before Christmas 2019.
At 250m long the new mural on Bath Road and Sweet Street in Holbeck is the longest piece of abstract art in the UK. The design of the mural is inspired by the weaving heritage of Leeds, abstract geometry and site specific shapes and symbols. Artist Kasia Breska was commissioned by Leeds City Council as part of bringing to life the long stretch of hoarding on Bath Road and providing a fresher, more colourful route into the South Bank and city centre from Holbeck. The project started in 2018 when Kasia visited two primary schools – St Luke’s and Lane End, to host three creative workshops that explored the subject of Leeds’s weaving heritage, geometric shapes and site specific symbols. Using the young people’s drawings, the artist created a catalogue with dozens of variations that now make up the composition of the mural. The mural has been painted using paint from Seagulls, a paint reuse social enterprise based in Leeds. Kasia Breska said: “I have hugely enjoyed working with the young people at two local primary schools and transforming some of their ideas into the mural on Bath Road. It is a creative example of using the past and the heritage of the location to create something new, bringing new perceptions whilst remembering the old ones.”
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December 2019 | South Leeds Life
School Life 11
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Aye Up, author Richard’s a reight Bobby Dazzler A
uthor Richard O’Neill spent time working with Middleton Primary School last month. Headteacher Samantha Williams explained “Richard has been working at our school for a number of years now and is a huge fan of ours - and we are of him! “He came into school this week to deliver sessions to all of our children around oracy and dialect. He asked staff, children and parents for contributions so he could use them this week. Richard always has a project to work on with us and engages the whole community!” Here are some of the dialect words received from parents: • Put wood in t’ole;
Were ya born in a barn? (Leaving door open) • Yer brew’s mashin’ (Tea) • Ee I’ll go to foot of our stairs (surprised by something said) • As ‘appy as a pig in muck (pleased) • Ee’s a reight Bobby dazzler (like someone) • Down snicket; ginnel (alleyway) • It’s chuffin’ roasting out (hot outside) • Did I eck as like (didn’t do) • Ee’s on pot duty (washing up dishes) • Ee’s int bog (toilet) • Tha makes a betta door than a winda (in the way) • Ee bar gum (surprised) • Aye up (hello) Richard commented:
“It was lovely to work at Middleton Primary as always, it gets better every time I visit. I'm always impressed and go away having learned something. “I always look forward to coming to Middleton, it's a warm friendly, special place and I know the staff work very hard to make it so.” One of the Reception staff said: “Class 2 really enjoyed Richard’s visit this afternoon, I have not seen the children sit for so long this early in the year without being fussy! Each and everyone of them were so engaged! And so were we!” And one of the class 2 children asked “When can that daddy come back he was so funny!”
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Middleton Primary School Reception places for September 2020
Well maintained building, well equipped and resourced to meet the needs of all our children • Part of the Cockburn Multi-Academy Trust • Free Breakfast Club! • After school care at great value • Wide variety of after school clubs • High level of Pastoral Care for our children and families • Place 2 Be Counselling Service to support our children and families • Keen focus on outdoor learning • Many curriculum opportunities • Visits/Visitors and residentials heavily subsidised by school
please contact school to arrange a visit
Middleton Park Avenue, Leeds, LS10 4HU | 0113 271 7969
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
12 School Life
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Theatre experience for Offering a Sophie and Aiga helping hand W
estwood Primary School in Middleton have opened their very own food store at school. The aim of the store is to reduce food waste and stop perfectly good food ending up at landfill. It has also helped to overcome hunger in our community.
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Schools s
variety of people from low income families and those suffering benefit payment delays to people simply just wanting to grab a bargain. One parent said: “The shop is really good and handy if you need something quick at the last minute. The food is really good quality and the pay as you
Sophie Shaw (left) and Aiga Ancenkova i(right in yellow jumper) with The Paperbirds
C
ockburn John Charles Academy year 10 students Sophie Shaw and Aiga Ancenkova were chosen from students across Leeds to spend their half term working with internationally renowned Theatre Company 'The Paperbirds'. The girls spent the week
devising a piece of theatre called 'Home Sweet Home' based on the lives of people in Leeds and undertook a public performance on Saturday 2 November at Leeds Industrial Museum. Head of School, Siobhan Roberts said “This was a wonderful opportunity for two of our talented drama students to
gain invaluable experience working closely with professionals to devise, stage and perform in the local community. “We are always keen to engage with creative partners to give our students an outlet for their creative endeavours.”
Cockburn School gets creepy and kooky! E
veryone's favourite kooky family, The Addams Family, will take to the Cockburn stage for this spectacular musical comedy. From the writers of multi award-winning hit musical Jersey Boys, with music and lyrics by Tony Award nominated Andrew Lippa. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, is all grown up and has a shocking secret that only Gomez knows. She's fallen in love with a sweet young man from a respectable family. With his cherished Morticia in
Students working hard in rehearsal the dark will Gomez manage to keep his daughter’s secret until the two families meet for a fateful dinner with hilarious consequences? Join them, plus Uncle Fester, Lurch, Pugsley and more for a heart-warming story of love, family and friendship… with a twist! Featuring a live band and
extraordinary original score The Addams Family is sure to entertain audiences whether they are 7 or 307! The cast are set to perform evening shows on Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 and Friday 6 December. They will also perform matinees as a reward to Cockburn students with 100% attendance and also to local primary school pupils. South Leeds Life will be there for the dress rehearsal to interview members of the cast.
Pupils at Cottingley Primary Academy don
Another satisfied customer at the pay as you feel pantry We have partnered up with FareShare. Each week Fareshare provide us with a delivery of surplus food that they have prevented going to waste, which will go on sale that same day. We have a selection of chilled and store cupboard goods to choose from. We offer the food items to parents, carers, and grandparents. The pantry is run on a pay as you feel basis with an honesty jar on site for donations. The shop has been running for over a year now and is a definite hit with the school community and through donations received is selfsufficient and runs at no cost to the school. The pantry has helped a
feel is really good, and when you haven’t got much money it’s a lifesaver.” Another parent commented that “They had saved money on their regular shopping bill which has enabled them to spend the savings on a day out with the children. The food is quality and really good value.” We have found that the presence of the pantry within the school community provides much more than just meals. The panty is run by our very own care and support worker and also acts as a drop in for parents. In addition to the food items there is also a uniform shop where parents can recycle uniform that is outgrown, which may be of use to others.
The shop sells fresh food as well as store cupboard items
Pupils at
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support Children in Need
nated ÂŁ1 each to wear pyjamas to school. This is Y2 Hazel Class
t Middleton Primary School (above) and Westwood Primary School (below)
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
14 Comment
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In our view Please use your vote
Our forebears, who fought long and hard to win the right to vote, would be perplexed that South Leeds has some of the lowest turnout rates in the country. So whichever party you support, please vote in the election.
We need an integrated transport system now
The loss of Cottingley rail station, if it goes ahead, need not be as bad as commuters currently feel. But in order for White Rose station to really benefit the people of South Leeds we need a joined up transport system. Electic ‘Hopper’ buses serving estates and neighbourhoods, not just Cottingley Hall, could open up rail travel to people who are reluctant to go into the city centre to start their journey. But they won’t be provided by private bus companies unless they are forced to by elected bodies with the proper powers. The same goes for rail and unless public transport is sorted out we will never get the cars off our roads and break the city’s gridlock.
Consider a LoFi Christmas
We all complain the cost of Christmas. Most of us don’t enjoy the the shopping and then it seems to be all gone in a day. So let’s think about how we could reduce the cost and pressure of Christmas and perhaps bring some fun and creativity back to the festive season. Do you really need a “real tree� that no longer drops its needles, but has also lost its Christmas smell. Why not make a tree out of junk? You can enter it in the competition at the Lantern Festival and then take it home and enjoy something different in your living room. Whilst your at it take a look at the tips for reducing your waste and environmental footprint on page 22.
Your letters and comments Hunslet’s Spire
In response to your recent article regarding Hunslet Spire and the adjoining land I find it hard to believe that the article went to print without speaking to anyone from our SOS committee. The two resident and tenants associations mentioned only represent a small area of Hunslet and there are many more people who either reside, work, socialise, worship or volunteer in Hunslet who are just as concerned and passionate about our landmark and to what use the land is eventually used for. Some of us on the SOS committee worshipped at Hunslet St Mary’s church for 36 years plus before it's closure so I think we have a right to be concerned about the future use of the spire and land. Any group of people who are passionate about a cause can come together and work in order to try and make a difference. This should not make our group any less important to any other group or association in Hunslet of which there are many. Pamela Clark JP
Middleton bus interchange I would rather have cheaper bus fares with a more regular and reliable bus service, until then I'll stick with my car. Rob Chesterfield
Hunslet St Mary’s iconic spire trams on 7 November 1959. Asking my headmaster for leave to attend a funeral was picked up by the local press and resulted in my first appearance on TV, on the newly created ITV channel Southern Television (in black and white of course). Many years later I managed to help get trams back on the street in Manchester. If only Leeds had followed their example. Tony Young
Don't fix it if it isn't broken. We need a bus company that can get people to work and not having to use two bus companies around Leeds. Steven Moon
A great review of the final period. Growing up in the Carr Manor estate, my family used the trams on Harrogate Road if possible, though the bus service on both that route and Scott Hall Road was good. What a shame that the central reservation Months of disruption for pointless work. on Scott Hall Road was never used as a Oh, and not to mention the £1.1 million tram route. cost. It’s a waste of time and money. When I was really young, my mother said Gaz Lilley one morning, let’s go to Middleton Park by tram and go through the woods before the What a waste of money!! Why does route closes, so we went, presumably in Middleton need a bus interchange? It's the summer of 1957, as I would have been rare any buses even turn up! about 5 at the time, being born in Ian Pearson December 1951. My memory of the route is limited and we returned via Belle Isle The last tram Road so as to do the full route, which I I am not a South Leeds resident although actually remember better. The track in the I did live in Headingley in the sixties. 60 central reservation made so much sense years ago today I hitch-hiked from my home that I questioned at that age why Scott Hall in Southampton to witness the last Leeds Road didn’t have a tram track. Arguably, it still should have one. Today? We still need tram routes beside the main arterial routes despite the reluctance of central government to assist with Beeston & Holbeck ward funding for Leeds trams. I live in Stourton Grange and am pleased Includes Beeston from Cross Flatts Park to the Ring Road, Cottingley and Holbeck. to see some attempt to improve The three councillors are: transport in south Leeds, but the Gohar Almass 07445 878 333 gohar.almass@leeds.gov.uk Stourton Park & Ride is more Angela Gabriel 07946 632 468 angela.gabriel@leeds.gov.uk about supporting people from Andrew Scopes 07860 400 645 andrew.scopes@leeds.gov.uk outside Leeds than Leeds residents and council tax payers. Hunslet & Riverside ward It’s time to spread modern mass transit to Belle Isle, Middleton, Includes the city centre, Beeston Hill and Hunslet. The three councillors are: Alwoodley, Shadwell, Lawnswood, Mohammed Iqbal 0113 226 8796 mohammed.iqbal@leeds.gov.uk etc. Elizabeth Nash 0113 275 8594 elizabeth.nash@leeds.gov.uk David Spencer
Your Leeds City Councillors
Paul Wray
07528 512 649 paul.wray@leeds.gov.uk
Middleton Park ward Includes Belle Isle and Middleton. The three councillors are:
Judith Blake Kim Groves Paul Truswell
0113 378 9000 judith.blake@leeds.gov.uk 07891 741 832 kim.groves@leeds.gov.uk 0113 378 8811 paul.truswell@leeds.gov.uk
Stourton inland port Could this initiative be taken a few steps further by utilising the canal network and the navigable parts of the River Aire to facilitate transport of non time sensitive
materials from the Hull/Goole area to Manchester and Liverpool. Goods such as aggregates and containers would be ideal for such transportation. They could be unloaded directly into barges from ships at Hull or Goole and transported via these barges to Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester without the need to double handle them at the ports. The new Stourton Inland Port would, or could, become and essential part of this transshipment as it can easily be linked to the Container Base that already exists at Stourton. This could take more vehicles off the roads and save money. Also barges could be linked together in something resembling water trains, i.e. many cargo barges being connected to and towed by one powered barge which would incorporate living quarters so that two or three groups of bargees could live on it and work in shifts whilst it traveled between the ports thus allowing the canal train to travel 24 hours a day. It may take a little longer than it currently does to make the same journeys by trucks but that would easily be outweighed by the savings in pollution, fuel costs, congestion (especially at the ports whilst the trucks wait their turn to unload) and some time would be saved by the barges being able to work non stop unlike the trucks which have to stop every 4 hours for a break and can only work for 12 hours maximum before having to stop for the statutory sleep break. Stephen Clayforth I have never understood why the river has not been used to bring containers up from Goole and Hull. We could take transport off the road and move lots of containers at a time up for distribution. And there is plenty of land in south Leeds for development. Fred Hirst Great news. It will be worth dredging if they are allowed to start using it. Bringing useful life back to the area. Linda Anne Meikle
Middleton Park Bonfire A bit like a very muddy Glastonbury walking back up the hill pity those in trainers. Muriel Rogers
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Top Tweets Keep up to date, up to the minute, by following South Leeds Life’s Twitter feed: @SouthLeedsLife. Twitter is the 140 character ‘micro blogging’ site. It’s free and you can sign up at twitter.com. It’s a great place to find the very latest news. Here are some of our favourite recent tweets: @pbcommzone Great visit to Holbeck to learn about their Neighbourhood Plan as part of the Locality Convention in Leeds #Locality19 interesting info to help us in our final phase of developing our @abramwardplan (the other side of the Leeds Liverpool canal) @KidzKlubLeeds We want to thank @BBCCiN for their support of our work in #middleton through funding this year. It helps make our work with children there possible #ChildrenInNeed2019 #southleeds
@DefendLeeds1Bus View from the 10 near Bridgewater Place heading towards Leeds just before 5pm. It’s almost all cars and moving slowly! We need more buses not less. @CEO_HunsletClub Saturday morning football with your mates, does it get any better than this đ&#x;’šđ&#x;’›#hunsletclub
If you call kids fighting and setting fireworks off in the crowd a success, then yeah it was a huge success. It was terrifying. Linday Webster Mindless youths causing mayhem and spoiling things for others again. Also far too many people, too much pushing and shoving. Yes the fireworks were good but I will stay at home next year, it’s not worth the hassle. Jane Fella
Join the debate Comment online; by email: info@southleedslife.com; or post to: 224 Cross Flatts Grove, Leeds, LS11 7BW. Letters may be edited for publication.
@WestwardCare Saying goodbye to our Outstanding General Manager at Pennington Court, Angela. She will be missed but we wish her all the best and look forward to welcoming Biddy to the team. @ZeroWasteLeeds Needing wrapping paper for your Christmas presents? @scrapleeds have lots of endof-line rolls and scraps from suppliers in stock that would otherwise have gone to waste #ZeroWasteChristmas đ&#x;Ž…đ&#x;Ž
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Photo: Andy Leatham
F
or one week, a gentleman has sat on scaffold at the end of the street where I live. He has worked both day and night to painstakingly create a piece of, house sized, artwork (est. 30 feet high and 20 feet wide). The work shows the Leeds United football badge, along with the founding year (1919) and this year (2019), which commemorates the centenary of the football club. Photographers are, today (2 November), taking photographs of football fans standing in front of the artwork as they make their way to the Leeds United v QPR match. I must admit that my sense of pride in the area where I live has been given a boost on seeing this. Perhaps Holbeck hasn’t totally been forgotten.
Comment 15
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Brightening up Holbeck
by Paul Hindmarch
December 2019 | South Leeds Life
This work has brightened a dull street end that has, unfortunately, become a haven for drug/alcohol use. In my personal opinion, it has transformed where I live. I am starting to sense pride returning to others that live local to this wall of art. But, why only one wall? What if there was some kind of artwork on walls throughout different areas, depicting what the area is renowned for and showcasing the amazing artistic talent that people from Leeds have. I am yet to confirm the name of the gentleman that produced the artwork. I would have liked to have shaken his hand and congratulated him. For now, all I can say is thank you and, in the words from a Charles Dickens novel, Please sir! I want some more.
Get involved with South Leeds Life You don’t need to be an expert, we can help get to grips with the job. You just need a bit of time and commitment. Does this sound like you? Get in touch and let’s have a chat about how you can join our team Ring 07894 583966 Email: info@southleedslife.com
Living with disability I
by Christine Smart
nternational Day of Persons with Disabilities falls on Tuesday 3 December. this is a day to help everyone become more compassionate and understanding of the challenges faced by people with disabilities. I asked some South Leeds residents about their own experiences and those of their children, as well as sharing my own family experiences to help spread the awareness. Elisia’s Story I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in my 30s. MS is a condition where your immune system, whose job it is to find infection, mistakes myelin for a foreign body and attacks it. This damages the myelin whose job it is to protect the nerve fibres in the central nervous system which helps messages move clearly between the brain and body. Damage is caused to the nerves that over time become permanent disability. Symptoms can include loss of balance and dizziness, stiffness or spasms, extreme fatigue, pain vision issues and memory.
disability has inspired me to try new things and push out of my comfort zone. Last year myself and my children went abroad for the first time, I wouldn’t have done this before my diagnosis but these things wake you up in a way that you have to start living. Christine’s Story I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in my early 20s. I woke up one day and couldn’t bend any of my fingers and they had a blue tinge to them. Another day my knee ballooned and I couldn’t walk. I had no warning and there was no obvious cause. Eventually I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis by a specialist. My immune system attacks the joint tissue causing it to inflame, which in turn splinters and wears away the joint bones through the pressure caused by the swelling. I’ve had toe joints removed, have deformities in my left leg, my wrist tissue has worn away completely. It can also attack organs including the heart, lungs and eyesight too. Usually other illnesses will join the party, so I also have Raynaurd’s, Osteoarthritis,
Elisia lives with Multiple Sclerosis There is currently no cure for MS, but treatments are around whose job it is to slow the damage down. Everything changed for me when I was diagnosed. It doesn’t just effect you physically, but also mentally. It’s also know as an invisible illness because you can’t always tell by looking at someone that they have it. I’m more mindful nowadays that time is precious and that rest is extremely important, even though others my age don’t have to consider these things. My children are my absolute passion and my
Osetpina, Asthma, Endometriosis, and Cachexia (muscle wasting). My treatment presently, as I am allergic to anti- inflammtory druga, are tramadol and methotrexate which is a chemo drug. When I got my diagnosis I was scared. From being an extremely able, sporty type to then being told my bone age was that of a 90 year old women and I’m technically frail was a shock. It didn’t match my early 20’s dreams or aspirations and my life became about feeling well and reducing pain.
Christine lives with Rheumatoid Arthritis (amongst other conditions) The mum guilt was real. I couldn’t push my daughter’s pram or hold her to feed as it was too painful. My kids never got into sports as I never got to pass on my passion for football because I didn’t have the energy for it. It creates a functional depression because you have this determination to do the simplest things and you feel defeated when you repeatedly can’t do them. It did however create independent, caring and empathetic children who I’m very proud of. I know my disability can cause confusion as sometimes I’ll use an aid, sometimes I’m fine. I completed an obstacle course twice so surely I can’t be
that bad? Well a little secret us with chronic conditions have is we strive to act well. Sure, I’m supposed to use a crutch all the time, but if I don’t need it I want to present like an able late 30s woman. I run on a lot of pain meds too which I rely on to function at all. Some days it will hit me and I’ll have to give in, or I can’t get dressed alone. It also comes in flares so some days I’ll be just dealing with the osteo and muscle wasting, other days the rheumatoid arthritis will kick in and I’ll be stuck in bed. Don’t presume I’m faking because you saw me on a good day. Because that good day takes a lot of effort.
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
16 Art Life
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Designed in Park Life: being writer in Tibet, created residence at Middleton Park in Holbeck I
by Richard Smyth
t’s a complicated place, this. I like complicated places – and the fortunate thing is, it turns out that all places are complicated, if you look at them closely enough. Looking closely was what I was here to do: to look closely, and to share what I saw.
pointed out the site of the old Middleton manor, and the tumbledown remains – only recently discovered – of the household’s ice-house; we walked along mountain-biking tracks, beneath the b-movie screams of jays in the woodland canopy, up the fungus-rich fairway of the grown-over golf course; from
Millions of grains of sand make up the sacred artwork
B
uddhist monks visiting the UK from The Dalai Lama’s monastery in South India spent three days creating a beautiful Mandala at the Jamyang Buddhist Centre in Holbeck. The traditional design was first drawn and then the monks filled in the pattern with millions of grains of coloured
sand to complete the Mandela. On Sunday 17 November there was a closing ceremony where the Mandala was swept up, signifying the transitory nature of material life. Following a procession to the River Aire the blessed sand was dispersed into the water and the world.
A calendar to celebrate Holbeck lives
True North: Russell Bisset, Elissa Newman and Hilary Benn at the launch
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orthern Monk Brewery have teamed up with Holbeck Together once again to create a photographic calendar celebrating people’s lives in Holbeck The calendar, which comprises a series of portraits taken by Mark Newton, was launched at a exhibition at the Northern Monk Refectory at Marshall’s Mill in Holbeck. Brewery owner Russell Bisset spoke about his pride in being based in Holbeck and desire to
contribute to the community. Alongside the portraits were photographs taken by members of the public that showed off other aspects of Holbeck. You can buy the calendar, price £7, from Holbeck Together’s office on Domestic Street or at the online shop via northernmonk.com All proceeds from the sale of calendars go to supporting Holbeck Together’s work in the community.
Writer in residence Richard Smyth in Middleton Park More than once I had to explain that I wasn’t literally the ‘writer in residence’ here in the park. I mean, you could live here, I suppose, given a sound set of girl-guide survival skills (which I don’t have) and the ability to subsist indefinitely on an unvarying diet of café toasties (which I definitely do have), but the important point is that I didn’t. What I did do, as Middleton’s Writer in Residence, was spend a lot of time walking around the park, a lot of time reading about the park, and a lot of time thinking about the park. I did a bit of writing about the park, too; I hope to do a lot more. I was appointed to the Residency through the Northern Short Story Festival. I write a lot of short stories (and sometimes people even publish them); I write a lot about history, too, and a lot about nature (in the Yorkshire countryside, which I love, and in the Yorkshire very-much-notcountryside, where I live). This was essentially my ideal gig. Jim Jackson, one of the volunteer Friends of Middleton Park who do so much to keep this place alive in underprivileged (overlooked, underfunded) south Leeds, initiated me into Middleton’s history in the course of an early-autumn walk. He showed me the old coalpits among the oak trees, the still-running colliery railway, the grassy unmined clearings where the pit-ponies used to graze; he
journey in the usual sense of the word but if ‘scenic’ can mean ‘there’s always something to look at’ (and I say it can) then it’s as scenic as anywhere else, if not more so. It’s not a route that you’d expect to drop you at the edge of an ancient woodland chiming with crisp nuthatch calls, but that’s what it does. I always take the first path into the park, close to the water tower (is it only me that can’t look at a water tower without a feeling of mystified reverence, thinking what mighty civilisation built this thing?). As Writer in Residence, I was given – along with the title, robes of office and legal right to drive my sheep up Middleton High Street any time I wanted – the very pleasant task of leading a group of enthusiastic writers around the park, talking about history, nature, writing, and whatever else happened to enter my head. I gave a minilecture on robin song; I failed to identify a wide range of fungi; I enthused about the inner machinery of trees; I went off on one about biofuels and Drax; l resorted again and again to Jim Jackson’s endless fund of local knowledge (rather wishing that he was available to download as an app); I read a bit from Keith Waterhouse’s memoir City Lights, a foundational text in any serious sort of South Leedsology; I went on (and on) about leafmould and magpies and long-tailed tits and squirrels. We saw a kingfisher: it shot out into the air over the lake, and hovered for a while, like a skylark, a good twenty feet above the water. Afterwards, in the café, we ordered in sandwiches and mugs of tea and worked through some exercises in creative writing. I hoped the
the top of the park – an eminence known as ‘Nick’s View’ – we looked south-east, miles to the south-east, seeing far beyond Leeds, to a horizon marked by the monumental power stations at Eggborough, Ferrybridge, and Drax. I left the park that day with my imagination humming. A complicated place, like I said. Centuries of history – millennia, if you think about the age of the ancient forest, and, more than that, the age of the stone and coal beneath, the eons that formed and shaped this region’s ever-shifting geology – are butted up here against 21st-century phenomena (bike tracks, signboards, wifi coverage, discarded dog-poo baggies, a kid who says he’s on Climate Strike fishing by the pond, a brand-new playground, and – what’s this? – a writer in residence, of all things, trudging through the drizzle in a leaky anorak, making notes about toadstool varieties and local brick manufacturing). You get here – or anyway, I got here, eventually – by bus from Leeds, taking your chances with a grab-bag of commuter routes serving Belle Isle, Hunslet, Beeston, Middleton itself, and a few out-of-town shopping precincts. Jim from Friends of Middleton Park (right) points It’s not a scenic something out to our writing day in Middleton Park
group would find the park as marvellously, richly, complicatedly inspiring as I did (and do); I hoped for varying perspectives, layered depth of focus, a fertile creative mulch of ideas and impressions and influences – and my goodness, I was not disappointed. We worked from maps of the park, some old, some new, some zoomed-in, some broad-focus. Just to see, I said, what it triggers; what comes out. So we had murder fiction kicking off in the ‘ouija woods’; we had kids rabbiting, forest burials, meditations on the mineworks beneath the leafmould; we had the widescreen birds’ eye view of a spaceman plummeting to earth; we had Kandinsky outlines and the flutters of Isadora Duncan scarves in the contours of the coalfields. I’m going to write more about Middleton Park (I’m still the Writer in Residence, so it’s either that or be ritually defrocked by the park elders) but I’m not sure I’ll come up with anything as good as the work the group conjured that afternoon, amid the stop-start racket of the café’s malfunctioning radio – conjured from the trees, the mud, the milky-white afternoon light, the stories from Middleton’s history, the autumn birdsong, who knows what else. These writers – they wouldn’t all call themselves writers, but that’s what they all were – looked, and thought, and wrote, and made something magical. I didn’t have much to do with it, really. I might have helped a bit with the looking. Really I just offered a way in – they, and the park, did the rest. This article first appeared on the Northern Short Story Festival website at: bigbookend.co.uk/nssf
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Art Life 17
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Interview: Silvia Liebig choice of different kinds of food. For ince 2015 East Street Arts example Polish Royal have been the architects of Cheesecake and a a special kind of housing Vietnamese burger called Bao. I was project in Beeston. Artist’s House 45 has seen a encouraged to create number of artists pass through a lot of strange ideas it over the years; some of you because of not may remember the monthly knowing what they ‘Trajectory of the Everyday’ were for instance the column by Lloyd and Wilson “Mira Sport” (hot from the pages of South Leeds water boiler) in my bathroom. Life. At the beginning, Over time, the artists that have engaged with the house as a person coming and its concept, as a space in from abroad, there a certain which they can both live and was work, have found different ways distance between in which to engage with the myself and the new Finally Found Grain Bread by Silvia Liebig various communities within environment based necessarily natural, but I made on the different languages and the experience, talking about South Leeds. rituals, the the process of how an idea or a The most recent incumbent everyday from social piece of art develops to create has been Silvia Liebig, an artist detachment networks and geographical and assist communication – from Dortmund, Germany. Now back home in Germany orientation. the first step to becoming That sharpens the senses. interested. Often the problems after a two-month residency here, I interviewed Silvia about There was also a lot of things that have to be solved are the her time spent at Artist House that I recognised, and there is same no matter whether they something funny about that. It have to do with an art project or 45 and her project: BD: “So, how did you enjoy doesn’t matter if things are everyday life. your time in South Leeds, what good or bad – these And the beer of course! It is helped me like an artist friend of mine stands out in particular for you peculiarities develop an emotional bond (Sabine Held) said: “Beer is about your time spent here?” SL: In fact I suffer a bit of with the environment. some kind of cultural glue”. BD: “In terms of your Come over to Dortmund, Bruce homesickness about Leeds, and Beeston in particular. hometown of Dortmund and and have some pints with me! Yesterday I went to an opening South Leeds would you say But Leeds is far more at the “Kunstverein” (Art there are any things in beautiful than Dortmund Association) in Dortmund and particular that connect the two because it has these great there was an artist whose regions?” Victorian buildings. But here it SL: Well, for example, the rains lots more ... accent I immediately identified rough but as something familiar – it somewhat BD: “So, in terms of Artistic turned out, that he originally straightforward way of dealing practice, you have spent a lot of came from this region in with each other and also a kind time putting pen to paper in the England. I was literally hanging of instinctive mistrust in form of drawings and portraits authorities. on every one of his words. in particular? Can you talk A lot of people in Dortmund about some of the places and I got to know the kindness of the people in this area. I really (which is in the Ruhr Valley) or people that you have met in the loved the fact, that people say their ancestors (coming from area that have made their way “Goodbye and Thank you” to Poland, Italy, Turkey …) worked into these drawings?” the bus driver. I was dismayed as coalminers or steelworkers, SL: It hasn’t only been a thing to see that the plastic rubbish similar to Yorkshire. They are of pen and paper but also of in this area is enormous proud, they don’t want to have sound, because I did a lot of because the adolescents do charity, they want to have interviews too. For me it is like not know how to channel their opportunities, chances, aims. a rush to get to know the world quite understandable They want to sit at the same through another person’s aggressions into productive table and be involved in the “filter”. process of developing ideas channels. To get an idea of how other I experienced the different about changing their situation. people "work". How they explain Dealing with art is not the world and organise it for sorts of beer and the rich themselves. But you have to have time for that and the will to listen. So, at the very beginning I was just strolling around, chatting about things with people I met by chance: in the bakery, the supermarket, on the bus or in the park. One day I met Mickey Mouse (not their real name, because I Moon Over Beeston by Silvia Liebig
S
December 2019 | South Leeds Life
by Bruce Davies
Join the cast for Slung Low’s own film S
offered everybody the chance to remain anonymous) in the Laundrette. He explained the manual of the washing machine to me, we talked about jobs, while drying we started talking about past and future and “what holds the world together inside it.” And after several visits MM allowed me to transform him into a character for my project. The same happened with some people at the Roland Road Working Men’s Club. They taught me how to play bingo and told me a lot about the history of the club. And then at some point suddenly everything is connected and becomes more than the sum of its parts, and then you know what you have to work out. In my case it will be a so called “comictravelguideinterviewpaintbook”. BD: Now that you are back in Dortmund, how do you view the time that you spent in Leeds and do you see yourself returning to South Leeds should the opportunity arise? SL: I would love to, because all these drawings, the interviews and sounds, the gourmet discoveries, the artist challenges, the map, the philosophical excursions – all of the materials that have been collected or developed with the help of the communities around Beeston, Holbeck and the city of Leeds have to become more than a collection of loose papers. I am thinking about creating a book out of it, but to do this it needs a bit of a distance and another intense working period. It would be amazing to see, how this “Book” could become a starting point for artists or other creative people; and there are still so many paths to follow … so keep your fingers cross and let’s see! A longer version of this interview is available online at southleedslife.com/silvialiebig
lung Low are making a People’s Theatre short film – and they want you to be in it! Holbeck’s acclaimed theatre company Slung Lung are looking for 100 people from Leeds and the surrounding areas to appear in an exciting new short film written by the award-winning playwright James Phillips (Flood, Hull UK City of Culture 2017) The Good Book is set in Holbeck in the near future when the country has been divided by political extremism and is bubbling on the edge of civil war.
Slung Low said: “The opportunity to make one of our large scale pieces in Leeds is really exciting. The combination of citizen performers and professional artists has been at the heart of all our major work throughout the country and the chance, with Leeds 2023, to build this project here, in our home city, is thrilling. If you tell a story with the people of a place, set in that place something potentially brilliant happens and we’re looking forward to welcoming the people of Leeds to make The Good Book with
The Community Chorus in Camelot at Sheffield Theatres Photo: Mark Douet The short film will feature a cast of over 100 people from Leeds and a handful of invited performers from outside the city. The film will be designed by Olivier Award-Winning designer David Farley and television, film and theatre composer Heather Fenoughty will also be involved. Filming in Leeds will take place over two weekends 25 & 26 January and 1 & 2 February 2020. Rehearsals will be on the weekend of 18 & 19 January and a couple of evenings during the week of 13 January. No previous acting experience is necessary, but you must be over 18. The company are looking for people who can commit their time, be on time and work hard. The rehearsal and filming schedule will be short and fast, but the experience and the opportunity promises to be a rewarding one. Alan Lane, Artistic Director of
us.” The short film will be made by award-winning film-maker Brett Chapman. Earlier this year Brett worked with the Leeds Theatre company on a short film about their move to their new home the Holbeck in South Leeds. The short film – Standing in the Rain – Slung Low & The Holbeck featured this month in the Yorkshire Short Film Competition at the Leeds International Film Festival. Founded in 2000, Slung Low is an award-winning theatre company specialising in making epic productions in non-theatre spaces, often with large community performance companies at their heart. The company are based at The Holbeck club, Jenkinson Lawn, LS11 9QX. For further information visit www.slunglow.org/shortfilm, call (0113) 226 0808 or visit The Holbeck.
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
18 South Leeds Lives
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Obituary: Dennis Hartley (1936-2019) D
ennis Hartley, who played for Hunslet in the classic 1965 Challenge Cup Final against Wigan and was a member of the club’s Hall of Fame, passed away on Wednesday 12 November at the age of 83. Hartley, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s several years ago, died at Colton Lodge care home, Leeds, with his family by his bedside. The open side prop, as gentle and mild-mannered off the field as he was ferocious on it, signed for Hunslet from Doncaster, for whom he had played from the 1956-7 season, in January 1961, and went on to make 205 appearances for the Parksiders. His last appearance in a final with Hunslet was in the shock defeat at the hands of the recently-reformed Bradford Northern in the 1965-66 Yorkshire Cup decider. Dennis Hartley transferred to Castleford for £4,750 in
Remembering St Peter’s church T
Dennis Hartley September 1966. He had earned two Great Britain caps while with Hunslet and went on to make nine more appearances for his country while at Wheldon Road, making a huge impact as a late call-up when the Lions won the Ashes, in Australia, in 1970. Great Britain have yet to repeat a series triumph over the Kangaroos. In addition to collecting a runners-up medal at Wembley in 1965 he was in the side that
beat Division One side Hull KR in the 1962-63 Yorkshire Cup Final, landing a drop-goal in the 12-2 victory at Headingley, Leeds; he also helped Hunslet top Division Two that season. He also won winners’ medals at Wembley in 1969 and 1970 when Castleford accounted for, respectively, Salford and Wigan. On retirement he nurtured a host of future stars as a key member of Castleford’s coaching team.
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by Abbie Randall
he history of a place is important not only to an individual who has lived in that location their whole lives but also people who come into the community. It’s also important for the place itself to retain its heritage. This is where the blessing of the internet comes into its own as well as the voices of long lived residents in the area. While visiting St Peter’s Court to report on their 40th birthday celebrations I had the privilege of meeting up with Barbara who is a resident of St Peter’s Court and has lived in the area a long time. Barbara spent time with me talking about the history of St Peter’s Church which used to stand on the land where the supported living home is now sited. I could see the joy in Barbara’s eyes as she fondly talked about her family. Life centred around the old Church and all religious aspects of life happened there from weddings and christenings to funerals. The Church was their home and Barbara became an important part of the workings of the church eventually taking up tasks in the background alongside her late husband who served as Church Warden for many years. There also used to be a school sited on the land alongside the Church. Barbara recalls that her mother attended this school for a short period of time in approximately 1901. The extensive communal hall was shaped as a cross with a stage inside and separate spaces which housed many activities. Groups such as a football and cricket team for the local men were open for all men not just Church going folk. During the Second World War the communal space was taken over and used as a base for the Home Guard. Barbara mentioned that at this time the groups such as Scouts, Guides and other clubs that met in the space were suspended to make way for the Home Guard. Barbara also showed me the boundary walls that still surround the site. The dark stone is original from when St Peter’s Church stood there and there are still small filled gaps or ends of metal from where the metal railings were removed during the war. They
Barbara shows the photo of her husband with the Lord Mayor in church were melted down to make and the local area. One munitions to help the war photograph which features the effort, the same as many Lord Mayor of the time and her churches and parks across the husband and uncle, but not country. Barbara. Typically for the time, St Peter’s Church was she wasn’t included in the consecrated on 2 July 1868 picture although she had the and stood on the site of the important responsibility of supported living home until the preparing food for everyone mid 1970s. A new church was that was gathered, possibly built on Hunslet Hall Road, over 200 people. which still stands today, She may not have been although it is no longer owned visible all of the time, but her by the Church of England. work and also that of her late Barbara recounted that they husband kept the Church were there at the final service working like a well-oiled held in honour of the Church in machine, along with may 2012 as the Hunslet Hall Road others who are unnamed in this site eventually closed. Looking article . through the service sheet Barbara rather poignantly Barbara had an important part commented that now living at to play in the service reading St Peter’s Court feels right as out prayers to the gathered things have come full circle, congregation. she has lived her life alongside A war memorial stands in the St Peter’s Church and is now gardens of St Peter’s Court home on the site where the old which commemorates the men Church stood. of Hunslet who didn’t return from the 19141918 war. This memorial fell into disrepair once the Church was demolished, but then in 2006 the memorial was rightly renovated and re-dedicated and still stands today. In the short time I spent with Barbara I learnt she has had a rich history within St Peter’s Church The original St Peter’s Church on Dewsbury Road
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December 2019 | South Leeds Life
What’s On 19
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Junk Xmas tree competition Santa Specials will light up Lantern Festival are ready to roll T
he popular Christmas Lantern Festival is back in Cross Flatts Park, Beeston, for its 7th year. Join hundreds of people from across South Leeds for an evening of music, carols, arts and craft, animal petting, hot food and drink, thousands of lights and lanterns - and bags of community spirit. The free event is on Friday 13 December, 5-7pm. The event will centre around the Watsonian Pavilion at the top end of the park (off Beeston
Road). Special features this year include: a 'Junk Christmas Tree' challenge; and an orienteering trail around the park. Prizes will be on offer! The Junk Christmas Tree Competition is an opportunity for families, individuals, friends, community groups, faith groups, children's groups, youth groups (in fact anyone and everyone) to create/build/put together a Christmas tree made entirely of junk. The trees will then form part of the
festival with a small forest of junk trees displayed for all to see and admire. The trees must be selfstanding, no more than 6ft in height and must be battery lit (the lights do not need to be junk) and must be in the park by 5:45pm on the day of the festival. There will be prizes and the trees will be judged on the evening and the winners announced at the end of the festival. The festival is led by the
The Lantern festival in Cross Flatts Park
Santa and his elves are waiting to greet you at Middleton Railway
W A tree made of plastic bottles Salvation Army South Leeds Initiative, with fantastic support from the Church in LS11, Slung Low, local schools, South Leeds Lakers, SLATE, and others. The organisers would like to thank the Leeds City Council Inner South Community Committee for their generous sponsorship. If you can help on the day, organisers are looking for volunteers at any time between 9am-9pm on the day to help set and clear down.
Festive times at Slung Low S
by Sally Proctor
o here we are steaming into December which means that it’s almost a year since we moved into the Holbeck. What a difference a year makes! It has been so wonderful to be welcomed into this space and to be able to share it with others. As a way of celebrating we will be hosting our Christmas Fayre in the Holbeck on Saturday 14 December from 12–4pm. This one promises to be our biggest yet with over 40 different stalls. Let’s come together for a mug a mug of mulled wine or a hot chocolate, tasty treats and gifts for your stockings. The Holbeck’s very own choir will perform and then lead us through a singalong with some of our favourite carols and they’ll be a choice of Pay What You Decide hot food with a roast hog or vegan
casserole, storytelling, performances, live music and more! It really will be a lovely afternoon and we’d love to see you there. You could even host your own stall as there’s still one or two left – to book one you just need to contact James on blakey@slunglow.org. To continue with the festive theme we shall also be throwing an unparalleled Boxing Day quiz here at The Holbeck from 7pm so do join us to test your knowledge and sample our soon-to-be famous exotic cheese board and have a great time with friends old and new. We have a couple of performances coming up with the fabulous comic stand-up and theatre maker, Amy Vreeke bringing The Year My Vagina Tried to Kill Me on 1 December from 5-6pm. Through bluntly delivered jokes, captivating
Slung Low’s Christmas Fayre at The Holbeck
storytelling and a little help from the Gilmour Girls, Amy explores the taboos that surround women’s health and gives us an insight into a life with a chronic illness. And if you want to escape the political frenzy or would like something to do after you’ve cast that vote then we have a wonderful family show on here at The Holbeck on 12 December from 7-8pm. Called HO HO HO, it’s an alternative Christmas Show for those who might still be looking for their Christmas spirit. As usual both of these shows are you Pay What You Decide after watching. Finally if you have a short story about Holbeck that you would like to enter into our competition Once Upon a Time in Holbeck then you still have few weeks to do so, either pop them in to us or email them over to holbecktales@slunglow.org We will be open on the following days over the Christmas period. Christmas Eve 7:30–11pm, Boxing Day 12– 11pm, the 27th 7:30pm– 12:30am, the 28th 7:30– 11pm, the 29th 11:30am– 11pm and we have a late license for New Year’s Eve so we’ll be open 7:30pm–1am meaning you can see in the New Year here. If you haven’t been before we’re on Jenkinson Lawn just opposite the Holbeck Moor. Everyone’s welcome and we’d love to see you here soon.
hat could be more exciting for children at this time of year than a ride on a steam train and a present from Santa? Middleton Railway’s ever popular Santa Specials start running on Saturday 30 November. Trains run each Saturday and Sunday through December and on Tuesday 24 December. Every child under 12 will receive a present from Santa during the journey, adults will get a warm drink and a mince pie at Moor Road station. Prices are £10 for adults,
£13 for children aged 3-12 and £9 for children under 3, whilst babes in arms not requiring a present travel free. All tickets are £1 cheaper if you book in advance, except for Christmas Eve which must be bought in advance. Full terms and conditions are set out on the Middleton Railway website: www.middletonrailway.org.uk You can book your tickets online here: middleton.vticket.co.uk or in person at the Moor Road station on Saturday and Sunday 10am-4pm.
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
20 What’s On
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What’s On Your guide to events and activities across South Leeds in December Please check that regular events are not affected by school holidays, 20 December - 6 January Full contact details can be found in our online What’s On guide at www.southleedslife.com/events Every Monday GTT: Digital Access Holbeck 9am-12pm St Luke’s Church, Malvern Road, Beeston Hill Women & Girls’ Drop In 9:30am-12pm Asha Neighbourhood Project 43 Stratford Street, Beeston Hobbies2gether craft group 9:30-11:30am St George’s Centre Middleton Lychee Red – Chinese Elders Gp 10am-12pm Parocial Hall, North Lingwell Road, Middleton Julie’s Ancestry Group 10am & 1pm BITMO’s GATE Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Road Crafts 10-11:30am Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Avenue Breastfeeding Support 10:30am-12pm Hamara Centre, Tempest Road, Beeston SLLAH Drop In Coffee morning 10:30am-12pm Assissi Place, Belinda Street, Hunslet Walk and Talk 11am-12pm BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle SLLAH Mixed Exercise 11:30am-12:30pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Bumps & Buggy Fit 11:30am-12:30pm Skate Park, Holbeck Moor MEA Lunch Club 11:30am-1pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave SLLAH Lunch Club 11:45am-1pm Cottingley Community Centre Luncheon Club 12:30pm Trinity Network, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle Bowling 12:30-4pm Cross Flatts Park Women’s Wellbeing Group 1-3pm Middleton Family Centre, 256-262 Sissons Road Learning Disability Advice 1-3pm Connect In The North, Office 42, Sugar Mill Business Park, Oakhurst Road, Beeston Dance 2-3pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Avenue Men’s Boxercise 2:15-3:15pm Hamara Centre, Tempest Road, Beeston Blossom Kinship Group 4-5:30pm Middleton Parochial Hall, North Lingwell Road Connected 4-5:30pm Middleton Family
Centre, 256-262 Sissons Road DAZL Cheerdance Team (6-12yrs) 4:30-6pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton DAZL Urban Cheer (13-16yrs) 4:30-6pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Chocolate, Chat and Chill 5:30-7:30pm Laurel Bank Day Centre, Middleton Park Avenue DAZL Contemporary (7-12yrs) 6-7pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton DAZL Youth Company (13-19yrs) 6-8pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Super Circuit 6pm Involve Learning Centre, off Church Street, Hunslet, LS10 2QE Kickboxing 6-8:30pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Hunslet Warriors Juniors 6-7pm Warrior Park, The Oval South Leeds Spartans Girls Rugby 6-7pm Corinthians RUFC, Ring Road Middleton, by Leisure Centre DAZL DanceFit (women 16+) 6-7pm Middleton Community Centre, Acre Road South Leeds Sisters running 6.15pm South Leeds Stadium Coffee & Craft Middleton 6.15-8:30pm St Cross Church, Acre Road, Middleton St Matthew’s Youth Club 6:30-8:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Beginners Meditation Class 6:30pm Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Ingram Road, Holbeck Yoga 6:30-7:30pm; 7:30-8:30pm St Anthony’s Church Hall, Old Lane, Beeston Girls Group 7-9pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle DanceFit 7pm Middleton Parochial Hall Middle Tones Singing Group 7-9pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Adult Jazz & Tap Dance 7-8pm Cottingley Community Centre Zumba 7-8pm Hamara Centre, Tempest Road, Beeston
Every Tuesday Mums & Tots 9-11am Manorfield Hall, Newhall Road, Belle Isle
Full details of every event including map and contact details are available at www.southleedslife.com/events
Tots, Tea and Toast 9:30-11:15am St Luke’s Church, Malvern Road, Beeston Heart to Heart Breakfast 9:30am Asha Neighbourhood Project, 43 Stratford Street SLLAH Breakfast Buddies 9:30-11:30am St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Gentle Exercise 9:45am Trinity Network, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle Holbeck Together’s Tea & Toast 10am-12pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Muslim Pensioners Group 10am-12pm Vale Circles Centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Baking 10-11am Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Breastfeeding Support 10am-12pm Middleton Family Centre, 252-262 Sissons Road Women’s Friendship Group 10am-12pm Hunslet Methodist Church, Telford Terrace, Balm Rd SLLAH Mixed Exercise 10-11am St Anthony's church hall, Old Lane, Beeston Community Coffee Morning 10-11:30am Beeston Library Knit & Natter 10:30am-12pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre Storytime 10:30-11:30am Hunslet Community Hub, Waterloo Street Tai Chi (gentle exercise) 11:30am-12:30pm Hunslet Community Hub, Waterloo Street SLLAH Chair Based Exercise 11.30am-12:30pm Cottingley Community Centre MEA Lunch Club 11:30am-1pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave SLLAH Lunch Club 12pm Arthington Court, Hunslet Holbeck Together Community Lunch 12-1:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Lunch Club 12:30pm Salvation Army, Hunslet Hall Road, Beeston Luncheon Club 12:30pm Trinity Network, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle Bowling 12:30-4pm Cross Flatts Park Beginners Meditation Class 12:30-1pm Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Ingram Road, Holbeck Bumps & Buggy Fit 1:30-2:30pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre, off Town Street Stay & Play 1:30-3pm Building Blocks Nursery, Maud Avenue, Beeston Craft Group 1:30pm Trinity Network, Oakley View, Beeston SLLAH Line Dancing 1:30-2:30pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston SLLAH Social Afternoon 1:30-3pm Arthington Ct, Hunslet Holbeck Together Afternoon Social 1:45-3pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Line Dancing
2-3:30pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Teen Spirit Boys Group 4-6pm Middleton Family Centre, 256-262 Sissons Road Kidz Klub Beeston 4-7:30pm Beeston Hill United Free Church, Malvern Road Rainbows, Brownies, Guides 4:30-9:15pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Girls Group 4:30-6:30pm Hamara Centre, Tempest Road, Beeston DAZL Streetdance (6+yrs) 4:30-5:30pm Watsonian Pavilion, Cross Flatts Park, Beeston Your Space Journaling Group 5-7pm The Happy Yak Café at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Ingram Road, Holbeck DAZL Streetdance (Learning Disability 13+yrs) 5-6:30pm Middleton Community Centre, Acre Road, Middleton Inside Out wellbeing group 6-8pm Middleton Parochial Hall, North Lingwell Road Women’s Fitness Boot Camp 6-7pm Leeds Urban Bike Park, Ring Road, Middleton, LS10 3TN Hunslet Rainbows, Brownies and Guides 6:15-8:45pm Hunslet St Mary’s Primary School, Church Street Coffee and Craft Middleton 6:15-8:30pm St Cross Church, Acre Road, Middleton Hunslet Nelson Rounders Team 6:30pm Hunslet Nelson Cricket Club, Gipsy Lane, Beeston DAZL DanceFit (women 16+) 6:30-7:30pm Middleton Community Centre, Acre Road Craft & Social Evening 6:30pm Woodhouse Hill Community Centre, Hunslet Carr Free Football Sessions 6:30-7:30pm 8-12 year olds 7:30-8:30pm 13-16 year olds Holbeck Community Centre, Elland Road, LS11 0AB Fitness Boot Camp 6:45-7:45 Middleton Park Visitor Centre, off Town Street South Leeds Lakers running 7pm from Beeston Co-op
Every Wednesday Bacon Butty Breakfast and Wednesday Weigh In 9-11am Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Welfare Rights Advice Surgery 9am-12pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Messy Time 9:15-11am Middleton Play & Learning Centre, Throstle Lane Parents and Toddlers 9:15-11:15am Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Get Fit Where You Sit 9:15-10:15 Lane End Primary School, Beeston Road City Tots 9:30-11am City Evangelical Church, Cemetery Road Pop Up Council Services 9:30am-12:30pm Cottingley Towers Open Doors Tea & Toast
9:30-11:30am St Andrew's Methodist Church, Old Lane, Beeston Chair mobility 10-10:45am Trinity Network, Belle Isle, Nesfield church hall Breaklfast Club & Foodbank 10am-12pm Hunslet Methodist Church, Telford Terrace Rags to Riches Sewing Group 10am-12pm Tenants Hall Ent. Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Women’s Walking Group 10-11am BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Shopping Trip to Morrisons 10am-1pm Holbeck Together, Domestic Street Holbeck Together Coffee Morning 10am-12pm Ingram Court, Holbeck Money Advice 10:15am-3pm St George’s Centre, Middleton Walk &Talk Walking Group 11am-1pm MEA Social Centre, Middleton Park Avenue Free Zumba 12-12:45pm Middleton Leisure Centre 2 course Community Lunch 12:15-3pm Ingram Court, Holbeck Grandparents’ Support Group 12:30-2:30pm Tenants Hall Ent. Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Luncheon Club 12:30pm Trinity Network, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle Hatha Yoga 12:30-1:15pm Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Ingram Road, Holbeck Ladies Group 1-3pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck At Home In Holbeck 2-3pm Ingram Road Primary School Parnaby Pals Memory Cafe 2-4pm Parnaby Tavern, Middleton Road, Hunslet Carr Walk and Talk 2-3pm meet outside Greggs, Middleton Park Circus Knit and Crochet Group 3-5pm Costa Coffee, Crown Point Retail Park Aerobics and Dance 3:30-4:30pm Cottingley Primary Academy DAZL Dance class (6-12yrs) 4:45-5:45pm Watsonian Pavilion Cross Flatts Park, Beeston DAZL Dance class 5-6pm Cottingley Community Centre 1st Beeston Beaver Scouts 6-7:30pm St Andrews Community Centre, Cardinal Road, Beeston Hunslet Warriors Juniors 6-7pm Warrior Park, The Oval South Leeds Spartans Girls Rugby 6-7pm Corinthians RUFC, Ring Road Middleton, by Leisure Centre City Kids (R-Y6) 6-7:15pm City Evangelical Church, Cemetery Road HITT Training Class 6-7pm Belle Isle Family Centre Chocolate, Chat and Chill 6-8pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Cottingley Youth Club 6:30-8:30pm Cottingley Community Centre DanceFit 6:30pm Middleton Parochial Hall, Town Street Zumba 7-8pm Hamara Centre, Tempest Road, Beeston Middleton Mavericks running 7pm South Leeds Stadium Free Walking Football 7-8pm Middleton Leisure Centre Youth Group
Facebook: facebook.com/southleedslife 7-9pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle Martial Arts 7-9pm Beeston Juniors, Cardinal Square Clubbercise 7:30-8:30pm St John & St Barnabas Church Hall, Belle Isle Camera Club 8pm upstairs at St George’s Centre, Middleton
Every Thursday Mums & Tots 9-11am Manorfield Hall, Newhall Road, Belle Isle Stay & Play 9-11am St Anthony’s Church Hall, Old Lane, Beeston Table Tennis 9:45-11:15am St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Holbeck Together Community Cafe 10-11:30am St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Ping Pong 10-11:30am Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Little Explorers Baby Group 10-11:30am Middleton Play & Learning Centre, Throstle Lane Community Craft Cafe 10am-12pm Church of the Nazarene, Hunslet Hall Road Middleton Park Estate Volunteers 10am-3pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre New Lives Group 10-11:30am Cottingley Children’s Centre Storytime (under 5s) 10:15-10:45am St George’s Community Hub, Middleton SLLAH Yoga 10:15-11:15am St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Craft Group 10:30am Trinity Network, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle Storytime (under 5s) 11-11:30am Dewsbury Road Community Hub, Beeston Dru Yoga 11am-12pm Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Ingram Road, Holbeck Holbeck Together Line Dancing 11:30am-12:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck MEA Lunch Club 11:30am-1pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave SLLAH Lunch Club 12-1:30pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Luncheon Club 12:30pm Trinity Network, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle Beginners Meditation Class 12:30-1pm Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Ingram Road, Holbeck Bumps & Buggy Fit 1-2pm Watsonian Pavilion, Cross Flatts Park, Beeston New Lives Group 1-2:30pm Two Willows Children’s Centre, Cardinal Square Muslim Ladies Group 1-3pm Vale Circles Centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Green Gym 1-4pm Lady Pit Lane Allotments, Linden Avenue, Beeston Breathe Easy gentle exercise 1:30pm Hunslet Methodist Church Telford Terrace, off Balm Road BAFF Dancercize 1:30-2:30pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street SLLAH Social Afternoon 1:30-3pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Fun and Games afternoon 1:30-2:30pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave
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Holbeck Together Craft Group 1:30-3:30pm Cleveleys Court, Holbeck Vale Circles Autism Hub 2-7pm Vale Circles Centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Men’s Circuit Training 2:15-3:15pm Hamara Centre, Tempest Road, Beeston Kidz Klub Middleton 4-7:30pm Middleton Primary School, Middleton Park Avenue Kidz Klub Holbeck 4-7:30pm The Holbeck club, Jenkinson Lawn DAZL Hip-Hop (6-12yrs) 4:30-6pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle Footbal sessions 5-8pm Old Cockburn Sports Hall, Primrose Lane, Beeston Community Choir 5pm Cockburn School, Gipsy Lane Mini & Junior Rugby 6-7pm Leeds Corinthians, Ring Road, Middleton South Leeds Lakers Juniors running club (8-14) 6-7pm Cockburn School, Gipsy Lane, Beeston DAZL Hip-Hop (13+yrs) 6-8pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle General Fitness 6-7pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Hunslet Nelson Rounders Team 6:30pm Hunslet Nelson Cricket Club, Gipsy Lane, Beeston Discovering Buddhism 6.30-8pm Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Ingram Road, Holbeck Ballet Burn 7-8pm South Leeds Conservative Club, Wooler Street, Beeston Bingo 7pm St matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Youth Group 7-8:30pm Middleton Community Centre, Acre Road Yoga class 7:30-8:30pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street
11:30 Parochial Hall, North Lingwell Road, Middleton MEA Lunch Club 11:30am-1pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave SLLAH Luncheon Club 12-1:30pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Holbeck Together 2 course Community lunch 12-1:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Luncheon Club 12:30pm Trinity Network, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle Bowling 12:30-4pm Cross Flatts Park Krok Po Kroku (Polish Group) 12:30-2:30pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton SLLAH Ballroom Dancing 1-2:30pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston The GATE Men’s Group 1-3pm BITMO’s GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Road Holbeck Together Walking Football 1:30-3pm Holbeck Elderly Aid, Domestic Street Holbeck Together Afternoon Social 1:30-3pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Gentle Chair Exercise Class 1.45-2.45pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Rhymetime 2pm Beeston Library, Town St Family Boxercise (from 11 Oct) 5-6pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Girls Football 6-7pm Beeston Juniors, Cardinal Square Church Lads’ & Girls Brigade 6-8pm St John & St Barnabas Church, Belle Isle Road Friday Night Project 6-9pm Middleton Leisure Centre 5th Middleton Brownies 6-7:30pm United Reformed Church, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle 1st Beeston Cub Scouts 6:15-7:45pm St Andrews Community Centre, Cardinal Road Youth Group 7-9pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle 5th Middleton Guides 7:30-9pm United Reformed Church, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle 1st Beeston Scouts 8-9:30pm St Andrews Community Centre, Cardinal Road, Beeston
Every Friday Tea & Toast 9am Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Charity Shop, Tea & Toast 9am-12pm Beeston Hill United Free Church, Malvern Road Welfare Rights Advice Surgery 9am-12pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Toast and Games morning 9:30-11:30am Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Breastfeeding Support Group 9:45-11:15am Mothercare cafe, Crown Point Retail Park SLLAH Stretch and Tone 9:45-10:30 St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Under 5s Storytime 10-11am Dewsbury Road Library Holbeck Together Tea & Toast Breakfast 10am-12pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Holbeck Together Shopping Trip to Morrisons 10am-1pm Holbeck Elderly Aid, Domestic Street Cuppa, Toast and Online help 10-11:30am Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Middleton Minstrels Women’s Choir 10:30am-12:30pm Tenant Hall, Acre Close, Middleton Dancing In Time 10:30am-12pm St John & St Barnabas Church, Belle Isle Road Breathe Easy gentle exercise
Every Saturday Breakfast Club 8:30-11am Vale Circles Centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Cross Flatts parkrun 9am Watsonian Pavilion, Cross Flatts Park, Beeston Middleton Woods parkrun 9am Leeds Urban Bike Park, Ring Road, Middleton Breakfast Club 9-11am Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Police Contact Point 9:30-11:30am St George’s Centre, Middleton DAZL Urban Cheer (7-13yrs) 9:30-11am South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle DAZL Tinies (3-5yrs) 9:30-11am South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle Zumba 10-11am Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Middleton Railway Santa Specials 10am-4pm Moor Road, Hunslet Hunslet Nelson Rounders Team
December 2019 | South Leeds Life
What’s On 21 10am Hunslet Nelson Cricket Club, Gipsy Lane, Beeston Kidz ‘n’ Co 10:30am-12:30pm Cottingley Community Centre Yoga 11:30am-12:30pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town street Bingo Afternoon 12:30-3:30pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Tennis For Free 2-3:30pm Cross Flatts Park
Every Sunday Cross Flatts junior parkrun 9am top of Cross Flatts Park Street Cricket 10am-1pm Old Cockburn Sports Hall, Primrose Lane, Beeston Saturday 30 November Christmas Fair 10am-2pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Christmas Fair 10am-1pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Stained Glass Workshop 10am-1pm; 2-5pm Skelton Grange Environment Centre Family Art Workshop 11am-3pm The Tetley, Hunslet Rd Christmas Fayre 11am-2pm Watsonian Pavilion, Cross Flatts Park, Beeston Defend The No 1 Bus Campaign 2:30pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Sunday 1 December Festive Wreath Making 11:30am-1:30pm The Tetley, Hunslet Rd The Year My Vagina Tried To Kill Me 5-6pm Slung Low at The Holbeck, Jenkinson Lawn, Holbeck Holbeck Christmas Lights 5:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Monday 2 December Mostly Men 10am-12pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Nature visits for Families and Childminders 10am-1pm Skelton Grange Environment Centre, Stourton Holbeck Together Carers Group 12:30-2:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Writers’ Club 1-2:30pm Hunslet Community Hub, Waterloo Road Middleton Christmas Lights 3:30pm Middleton Park Circus Tuesday 3 December Belle Isle Christmas Lights 3:30pm Belle Isle Circus Friends of Stank Hall 7:30pm The Broadway pub, Dewsbury Road, Beeston Wednesday 4 December Hunslet Rugby Memories 12-2pm The Prospect pub, Moor Road, Hunslet Pot-a-Tea Dementia Café 1:30-3:30pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Code Club 3:30-4:30pm Hunslet Community Hub, Waterloo Road Hunslet Tenants & Residents 6:30pm Church of the Nazarene, Lupton Street, Hunslet Thursday 5 December Litterpick & Clean up 10am Church Street, Hunslet Toy Library 11:15am-12:15pm St George’s Centre, Middleton Hunslet Carr Residents Assoc 6:30pm Community Centre, Woodhouse Hill Avenue
Beeston Community Forum 7:30pm Old White Hart, Town Street, Beeston Friday 6 December Holbeck Together Xmas Lunch 12-2pm Elland Road Saturday 7 December South Leeds Community Orchestra 10am-12pm St Cross Church, Acre Road, Middleton Volunteer Rangers 10am-12pm Holbeck Cemetery, Beeston Road Coffee Morning 10am-12pm St Andrew’s Comm Centre, Cardinal Road, Beeston Coffee Morning 10am-12pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Holbeck Christmas Market 11am-3pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Sunday 8 December Free Community Meal 1-3pm Church of the Nazarene, Hunslet Hall Road, Beeston Sunday Lunch Club 1-3pm Vale Circles Centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Christmas Crafts and Carols 1-4pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre, off Town Street Leeds Dads Christmas Party 2-4pm The Holbeck club, Jenkinson Lawn, Holbeck Monday 9 December Tea, Cake and Conversation 12:30-2:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Code Club 3:30-4:30pm Hunslet Community Hub, Waterloo Road Tuesday 10 December Police Drop In 10am-12pm Hunslet Community Hub, Waterloo Street Holbeck Together Xmas Lunch 12-2:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Learn My Way – computer skills 12:30-1:30pm Hunslet Community Hub, Waterloo Street Leeds Aphasia Cafe 1-3pm BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Camera Club 3-4:30pm Dewsbury Road Community Hub, Beeston Beeston Local History Group 8pm Beeston Parish Centre (small hall), Town Street Wednesday 11 December SLLAH Kurling 10:30-11:30am St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston SLLAH Generation 55 12-2:30pm The Broadway pub, Dewsbury Road, Beeston Bereavement Support Group 1-2pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Photography Club 3:30-4:30pm Hunslet Community Hub, Waterloo Road Lego Club 3:30-4:30pm Beeston Library, Town Street Thursday 12 December Hunslet Gardening Group 10am Church Street, Hunslet Holly Bazaar Christmas Fair 3:15pm St Francis Primary School, Lady Pit Lane, Beeston Ho Ho Ho 7pm Slung Low at The Holbeck, Jenkinson Lawn, Holbeck Friday 13 December Ruth Gorse Christmas Carols 10am-12pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck South Leeds Lantern Festival 5-7pm Watsonian Pavilion, Cross Flatts Park, Beeston Saturday 14 December
Publicise your event with South Leeds Life’s free listings Call 07894 583966 Email: info@southleedslife.com South Leeds Hikers Yorks Dales 7am Transport provided Ramblers Meet 9am Beeston Parish Centre Family Art Workshop 11am-3pm The Tetley, Hunslet Rd Slung Low Chistmas Fayre 12-4pm The Holbeck club, Jenkinson Lawn, Holbeck Sunday 15 December Sunday Lunch Club 1-3pm Vale Circles Centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Leeds Dads meetup 2-4pm The Holbeck club, Jenkinson Lawn, Holbeck Monday 16 December Holbeck Together Morley Shop or Swim 9am-12pm Transport frm Holbeck SLLAH Generation 55 12:30-2:30pm Whistlestop pub, Town Street, Beeston Wellness Space Afternoon 1-3pm Ingram Gardens Community Centre, Holbeck Tuesday 17 December Holbeck Together Xmas Party 12:30-3pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck The Writers Club 1-2:30pm Beeston Library, Town Street Wednesday 18 December Code Club 3:30-4:30pm Dewsbury Road Community Hub, Beeston After Work Wednesdays Open Mic 6-11pm Sheaf Street Cafeteria, off Crown Point Road, Hunslet Thursday 19 December Computer Skills 10am-6pm Dewsbury Road Community Hub, Beeston Coffee Morning 10am-12pm Parochial Hall, North
Lingwell Road, Middleton Toy Library 11:15am-12:15pm St George’s Centre Community Hub, Middleton St Luke’s Tenants & Residents 6pm St Luke’s Primary School, Beeston Road Leeds Film Club 6pm Cineworld, White Rose Shopping Centre Saturday 21 December Young Archaeologists Club 10am-12pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre, off Town Street South Leeds Community Orchestra 10am-12pm St Cross Church, Acre Road, Middleton Sunday 22 December Sunday Lunch 12-2pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Sunday Lunch Club 1-3pm Vale Circles Centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Carol Singing 6pm St Mary’s Church, Town Street, Beeston Tuesday 24 December Middleton Railway Santa Specials 10am-4pm Moor Road, Hunslet Thursday 26 December Boxing Day Quiz 7pm Slung Low at The Holbeck, Jenkinson Lawn, Holbeck Wednesday 1 January Middleton Woods parkrun 9am Leeds Urban Bike Park, Ring Road, Middleton Middleton Railway 12am-3pm Moor Road, Hunslet Sunday 5 January Hunslet RLFC v Bradford Bulls 3pm South Leeds Stadium, Middleton Grove
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
22 What’s On IN BRIEF Indoor Christmas Craft Market Dewsbury Road Community Hub is hosting a Christmas Community Market from Monday 2 to Friday 6 December, 12-4pm each day. This is a great chance to support local start up businesses whilst buying presents, or treating yourself.
Hunslet Carr heritage calendar Hunslet Carr Residents Association have produced another calendar with photos of the area in days gone by. The calendar costs just £3 and will be available at the Christmas Lights switch on on Thursday 28 November, at HCRA’s monthly meeting on Thursday 5 December, 6:30pm at Woodhouse Hill Community Centre and then at Hunslet Carr Vision Centre and The Gold Trader in the Penny Hill Centre.
Defend The No 1 Bus The campaign to reinstate a through bus route from Beeston to Headingley and beyond is holding a public meeting on Saturday 30 November, 2:30pm at Beeston Parish Centre. A representative from FirstBus Leeds will be present as well as Councillors.
Open Mic nights at Sheaf Street The Sheaf Street Cafeteria just across Crown Point Road from The Tetley has started an Open Mic Night on the third Wednesday of the month. The next After Work Wednesdays night is on 18 December, 6-11pm.
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Fairs, Carols and more... T
here are plenty of festive activities coming up over the next month. Here is a flavour of the ones we know about. There are three Christmas Fairs on Saturday 30 November. St Mary’s Beeston and Middleton Elderly Aid’s fairs both start at 10am whilst the Bridge Cafe in Cross Flatts Park has a fair starting at 11am. The Holbeck Christmas Market will be held at St Matthew’s Community Centre on Saturday 7 December, 11am-3pm. It’s alway a good place find presents and Santa will on hand in his grotto as usual. The Friends of Middleton Park host their annual Crafts & Carols at the Visitor Centre on Sunday 8 December, 1-4pm. This is a chance to make that rustic table centrepiece, sing some favourite carols accompanied by tea and home made cakes. If you’ve got pre-school children, why not check out the Leeds Dads Christmas Party,
also on Sunday 8 December, 24pm at The Holbeck. As well as Dads and kids, Mums and Grandparents are welcome at the party. St Francis of Assisi Primary School in Beeston Hill are setting their sights on a new improved playground and outdoor space – with the children, parents, staff and other local supporters aiming to raise £10,000 over the course of this school year. The fundraising campaign is being led by the voluntary Parents Teacher Association (PTA), and their next event is a ‘Holly Bazaar’ Christmas Fair on Thursday 12 December, 3.15pm-5pm. If you are looking to clear your head there is a ramble and a hike on Saturday 14 December. St Mary’s Ramblers meet at Beeston Parish Centre at 9am. If you feel stronger the South Leeds Hiking Group are heading for Cautley Spout, Yarlside and Green Bell, near Sedburgh in ther Yorkshire Dales. The minibus leaves at 7am.
Find your bargains at Holbeck Christmas Market
Christmas bin collections and top festive recycling tips A
s usual there will be some changes to bin collections over festive period. Please see full details below. The Council announced last month that more plastics and packaging can be recycled in your green bin. Type 5 plastic, so long as it’s not black or brown, and tetrapak drinks cartons can now go in the recycling. They have also come up with
some top tips to help you reduce the amount of waste going to the incinerator this Christmas: 1 Wrapping paper – as long as there’s no glitter and it’s definitely paper it can go in your green bin! You can do the scrunch test to check it’s not plastic - paper stays scrunched, plastic bounces back. 2 Plastic sweet tubs – be a recycling hero and make sure to recycle your heroes tub
(celebrations/ roses/ quality street also acceptable) 3 Christmas pudding pots – the little pots that pre-made Christmas puddings come in can now be recycled! (As long as the pot isn’t black plastic) 4 Batteries – don’t put them in either bin! Save them up and drop them at a battery bank for recycling. They have them in supermarkets, libraries, schools and you can check where your nearest is at recyclenow.com 5 Gifts! – If you’ve been given something you’re not keen on, make sure to re-gift it or donate it. St Luke’s Cares are a small charity dedicated to supporting communities in South Leeds.
Donate items at their charity shops in Middleton and Hunslet, or you can leave donations for them in our orange reuse container at Middleton Recycling Centre.
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Sporting Life 23
Email: info@southleedslife.com
South Leeds Golf Club closes G
olfers in South Leeds have been left without a local course to play on after South Leeds Golf Club was forced into administration in November. Membership had been in decline for some years and utilities costs kept mounting, but the final straw was the
repeated vandalism suffered by the course on Gipsy Lane, Beeston. Quad bike riders repeatedly tore up the fairwats and greens. With the club relying more and more on pay and play customers, people were reluctant to come to South
December 2019 | South Leeds Life
Leeds as some holes might be unplayable. The closure follows the closure of the Council’s Middleton Park Golf Course in October 2014. Again the Council cited declining numbers of players for the closure. Much of the land has now been turned into
the Leeds Urban Bike Hub. It’s not clear whether the Administrators will be able to find a buyer for the club so that golf can continue to be played as it has for the last 113 years.
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South Leeds Life | December 2019
24 Sporting Life
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Fans back plans for Hunslet’s financial future A
by Jeremy Morton
packed meeting of Hunslet RLFC fans at South Leeds Stadium on 4 November has backed plans for the club to move towards a new ownership structure. Hunslet has been run as a supporters-owned club since 2012, but a number of Board members have decided to stand down including Chairman Neil Hampshire. With Rugby League facing an uncertain financial future, the Board decided to invite expressions of interest from potential investors. Three parties came forward. A consortium looking to take over the club completely soon dropped out, but two separate businessmen interested in working with the supporters trust were introduced to the meeting. Damian Irvine has been around Rugby League all his life. He explained that virtually all clubs in his native Australia are community owned and he was a champion for the approach. Jason Peterkin, who owns 247 Blinds, has a family connection to the club he supported as a boy. Both men support some type of hybrid ownership model relying heavily on the supporters trust, but standing in to underwrite issues such as the current budget deficit of £30,000. They will also bring their commercial expertise to the board. The meeting agreed to both Damian and Jason being coopted onto the Board for a 12 week period to undertake a review of the clubs finances and structure. Detailed plans for the club going forward will be brought back to a meeting of fans set for Thursday 30 January 2020. Irvine commented on his appointment: “It’s extremely refreshing to see a proactive and positive approach from the
New signing Dom Brambani
long standing club directors at Hunslet in identifying and acknowledging the impending financial pressures on RFL clubs in coming years, and seeking help and expressions of interest for new models and investment.” “Other clubs have also experienced major change at boardroom level in recent months due to the need to change and ultimately alter their clubs course and destiny in a very challenging financial landscape for the sport. “Hunslet have taken a measured and mature approach to exploring all options and we will know in 12 weeks time what the club can afford and what the best model of ownership is in future. Preserving majority supporter ownership is the priority and aim of our involvement and majority ownership of the club is not option for us on that basis “ “Increased membership is vital for the club and cannot be stressed enough, with the ultimate success, future and control of club dependent on it.” The club has a healthy increase in members since the meeting and has introduced a greater range of membership packages to suit every pocket. Details of 2020 membership packages and season tickets are available on the club website hunsletrlfc.com Meanwhile Coach Gary Thornton has named his first signings for the 2020 season with experienced halfback Dom Brambani joing from Batley. Thornton commented: “Dom’s decision making, his kicking game and his defence will all be huge assets for us but it’s his ability to manage a game-plan that will give us the biggest benefit.” Hunslet’s first preseason match will see Bradford Bulls visit South Leeds Stadium on Sunday 6 January.
Corinthians on the charge
Middleton-based Leeds Corinthians RUFC have made a great start to the season winning 9 out the first 10 matches. You can follow their progress as South Leeds Life now carries match reports online at southleedslife.com. Leeds Corinthians also run youth teams and are now recruiting players of all abilities in School Years 1-9. Training sessions, which are free, take place on Thursdays 6:30-7:30pm with matches played on Sunday mornings. Leeds Corinthians are based next to Middleton Leisure Centre (LS10 4AX). Call Andrew Cassar on 07803 922400 for more information.
Beeston’s Mince Pie Duathlon G
by Richard Sadler
O TRI returned to Cross Flatts Park for a fourth time in November for a festive South Leeds Mince Pie Duathlon. Organised by Active Leeds with support from the South Leeds Lakers and Morley Triathlon Club, the event continues to provide people with the opportunity to give a new sport a try. A stroke of luck allowed the event to take advantage of a break in the recent wet weather with participants able to enjoy mild conditions for what was for many, their first experience in multi-sport activity. 30 people came to the park to take on the challenge, competing in either the open race or the Leeds Girls Can female-only race. The duathlon format requiring participants to complete a run, followed by a cycle and then a final run before being able to enjoy some well-earned mince pies at the finish! With the café open to provide spectators with warm drinks and breakfast, the race brief was held to give those taking part an overview of the course and the chance to ask any final questions. With warm-ups carried out, racing got underway. The run sections all taking place at the flatter, top
Participants gather for the briefing before the run and cycle event in Cross Flatts Park end of the park with the cycle making use of the bottom end of the park. A nice long descent on the bike towards Dewsbury Road was a highlight for many but the ascent back towards the Watsonion Pavillion wasn’t greeted with as much cheer! The open race was won by Neil, setting an impressive time with Stephanie hot on his
heels. Anya took the crown in the Leeds Girls Can race. The most positive thing was to see everyone finishing with a smile on their face. Well, once they had got their breath back anyway! Along with the mince pies, participants were rewarded with their very own GO TRI t-shirt. Many people took the opportunity to show
these off in a post-race photo at the finish line. The duathlon took place after a very well attended junior parkrun. With busy playgrounds and many dog walkers also using the space, Cross Flatts Park is an excellent place in the community to be physically active in. GO TRI will be returning in 2020.