Farsley Celtic secure cup victory in first game of season

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October 4, 2020

farsley-celtic-ground-improvements — Photo: Simon Cullingworth

Farsley Celtic got the new season off to a winning start with a 2-1 victory over Radcliffe in the Emirates FA Cup, writes Tom Ritchie.

A first-half double from Jimmy Spencer put Farsley in command before Kole Hall made it a nervous finish for the hosts, who ultimately hung onto their lead to progress.

Adam Lakeland was delighted to see his side come through the tie, as he said:

“It was a really tough game, I’ve never really been comfortable with an FA Cup game being the first game of the season, and I don’t think it’s great.
“They’re three or four competitive games into their season and that makes a difference, it doesn’t matter what level you’re at, how good your players are, that makes a difference. The longer the game went on, physically they were stronger than us, and we’re a fit side.
“In the end, it was a real slog for us, but credit to the players, massive credit to the players in fact, for seeing it through.”

It was the first competitive game either side had played behind closed doors, and whilst it may have taken some of the magic away, it didn’t show on the pitch.

And it took just eight minutes for Farsley to take the lead, Tom Allan crossing for Jimmy Spencer who brought it down with a superb first touch before lashing the ball inside the far post.

It then took some terrific last-ditch defending from the visitors to prevent Farsley from doubling their lead, as Joel Byrom directed Joe West’s cross towards the top corner before it was cleared off the line.

Just after the half-hour mark Radcliffe made their first real foray forward, and Steven Drench had to be alert to block a strike from Matthew Crothers that took an awkward bounce off the slick surface.

Despite the Boro growing into the game as the half progressed, it was Farsley who grabbed the second just before the interval. Spencer’s relentless harrying of the defence saw him win the ball off a dithering defender before he kept his cool to slot home.

Radcliffe started the second-half much brighter than they did the first, and should have pulled a goal back when Andrew Owens was left unmarked at the far post, but the frontman was unable to direct his header on target.

Luca Navarro then spurned a big chance as he missed a one-on-one opportunity, however, he soon put that right as he delivered an excellent cross for Kole Hall who tapped home less than 60 seconds after entering the game, to set up an intriguing final 30 minutes.

It was Farsley who had the next big opportunity and Cameron Belford had to make a terrific shot to keep his side in the game, producing a finger-tip save to deny Tyler Walton’s header from six-yards out.

In reality though, Radcliffe had created little going forward after they pulled a goal back and Farsley were able to see out the remaining minutes, with Danny Ellis in particular imperious at the back.

The draw for the next round will take place at 1 pm on Monday.

Line-ups

Farsley Celtic: Drench, Richards, West, Allan, Ellis ©, Clayton, Byrom (B. Atkinson 72), C. Atkinson, Spencer, Parkin (Walton 68), Hayhurst (Charles 88). Unused subs: Kelly, Syers.

Radcliffe: Belford, Obeng, Swaby-Neavin, Miller, Royal, Fikula (Hall 60), Navarro, Lenigan, Owens (Cole 66), Akpa-Akpro, Crothers © (McKnight 75).

Help Bramley Baths CEO lose three stone in three months – and support community pool

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October 2, 2020

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david wilford bramley baths — Thumbs up: Bramley Baths Chief Executive David Wilford. Photo: Bramley Baths

New Bramley Baths CEO David Wilford is looking to lose three stone in weight – and raise money to support community led Bramley Baths at the same time.

David, who joined the Baths in July, is combining his bid to lose three stone in three months with launching a crowdfunding appeal to help support the people-powered Baths during the unprecedented the COVID-19 pandemic.

bramley baths pool web — Photo: Bramley Baths

David, who is aiming to raise £2,000 for the Baths with his weight loss, said:

“I put on extra weight over lockdown and really want to get some of it shifted. Being around all these great people exercising has inspired me! Where better to help you lose weight than Bramley Baths, with its excellent fitness facilities such as the pool and the gym?

“I’m looking forward to doing putting in the lengths in the pool and some hard graft in the gym with the expert help of the staff here – and I would love your support, too, through sponsorship.”

David said people backing his weight loss bid was not only additional motivation for him but also a great way to help support the Baths during these unprecedented times. He added:

“These are challenging times for all businesses – but every penny really does count to help keep us afloat. We’re determined to rise to the challenge of maintaining our beautiful Grade II Listed building for future generations.”

To donate – and for more information – please click here.

Playgrounds re-open in Farsley and Calverley

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October 2, 2020

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After deep cleaning and safety measures being implemented, the playgrounds in Hainsworth Park and Farfield Rec in Farsley have now re-opened.

The playgrounds were closed by Leeds City Council in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The playground in Brookfield Recreation Ground in Calverley has also re-opened.

Leeds City Council say there is a rolling programme of sanitisation and deep cleaning of the remaining playgrounds, and these will be opened as soon as the programme allows.

Is a playground near you still closed? Let the WLD know by e-mailing news@westleedsdispatch.com.

Concern after controversial bus service in Rodley and Calverley is axed – UPDATED

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October 2, 2020

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rodley town street — Rodley Town Street. Photo: Google

A lifeline bus service through Calverley and Rodley has been withdrawn from bus operators First.

Angry commuters had previously criticised the number 35 Leeds to Greengates bus route, hitting out at its lack of reliability which had left passengers stranded and unable to get home on occasions.

The cancellation of the service, which will take place later this month, has been met with disappointment by passengers on social media. One said:

“Very few people using the 35 before lockdown due to poor timetabling with the 60, and ‘reliability’ improvements in the timetable mean it spent 20 mins sat in laybys on route. I was avoiding for some time and this is no surprise.”

Another added:

“We have appalling transport links considering we are between Bradford and Leeds. One bus every 30/40 minutes is dreadful.”

peter carlill calverley farsley labour — Concern: Cllr Peter Carlill

Calverley and Farsley councillor Peter Carlill (Lab) said the announcement was ‘deeply disappointing’ and said he would work with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to come up with a long-term solution. He added:

“Even before this announcement I was clear that there was a lack of bus provision in our area, and this further decrease in provision is a massive step backwards.
“Regular passengers will be aware that this route has not been running through our communities for several months due to reduced capacity on the network, but before that had many issues with lateness and reliability.
“This announcement is disappointing as I had many discussions in the past with First around the poor performance of this route, after which the reliability did improve. I did challenge them then that this route did not seem to be their top priority and wasn’t getting the investment it needed – a suspicion which I fear has now been proved correct.
“I had been working with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to try to plug the current gap, and the operators of the 60 Aireline have responded by introducing more double-deckers on their service to serve the extra passengers, which is welcome in the short term.
“The number of passengers on the route is obviously not at its usual level, but I will be seeking to work further with operators and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to come up with a long-term solution.”

WLD conducted a poll last May asking for people’s views on the reliability of the service, with more than 90 per cent of respondents criticising its reliability.

UPDATE:

A spokesperson for First said:

“The change is driven by the need to meet passenger demand across the network as we continue to adapt to the capacity limitations that keep our customers and staff safe.
“As we are now operating at practically 100% of pre-Covid mileage, we continue to do our best to balance resource and ensure we can carry the maximum number of passengers. Whilst the number of Bus Full incidents is very low, we are clearly keen to ensure customers are not left wherever possible. This has led to the reallocation of resource in a number of areas such as school duplicates and corridors with high passenger demand such as Headingley.
“The change reflects this ongoing response to allocate resource where it is most needed and takes into account relatively low passenger numbers on service 35 (majority of trips are single figures) as well as the fact the Leeds-Kirkstall corridor is well served by alternative services 33/ 34, 60, 508 and A1.
“We appreciate the 35 service (pre-Covid) served passengers beyond Kirkstall in Rodley & Calverley and we will continue to discuss such connectivity and the wider Leeds network opportunities with West Yorkshire Combined Authority in the best interests of our passengers and communities.”

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Popular Pudsey Produce and Craft Market features independent traders

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October 2, 2020

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Popular Pudsey Produce and Craft Market will be returning to Pudsey’s Market Place this weekend with a variety of local traders selling produce and craft.

The monthly market resumed in July following lockdown with a raft of social distancing measures in place. The indoor craft market in Pudsey House won’t be taking place due Government guidelines.

The event will run on Sunday, 4 October, from 9am-1pm.

The market is run by local volunteers. It was established in September 2018 with the aim of rejuvenating the market, attracting more stall holders to all market days and promoting the venue to more people.

‘Put put your arms around Armley’ and contribute to new community gallery

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October 1, 2020

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Love Arts – a Leeds arts and mental well-being organisation – is creating a community gallery for Armley all about caring arms and is looking for contributions from local people.

The project is open to people of all ages who live or work in Armley and all forms of artwork and creations around the theme of caring arms are welcome – painting, poetry, photography, textiles and more.

They are also looking for a ‘caring arms’ picture as a design for a number of small mosaics, which will then be created by local people with the support of Seagulls Paint.

Clancy Walker – a writer from Armley – is the ‘creative community connector’ working with Love Arts to co-ordinate the project. She said:

“We’re a caring, diverse and open community here in Armley, so we’re putting together a collection of creative work, all with the theme of ‘arms’. We want this to represent our connections and the importance of contact with others for our mental wellbeing – even if it’s virtual or distanced for a little while longer.
“We also know lots of people have missed hugs and hugging, so we thought artwork all about arms would be a great way to remind us that there is always someone there to help or support – you only have to look at the many supportive groups we have here to see that in action.”

The closing date for contributions is 27 October and the community gallery will then come to life in locations around Armley, including shop windows, lampposts and in the parks and green spaces of LS12.

Arms Around Armley is one of three new Love Arts Local projects funded by Leeds Community Foundation.

The others are being led by Sharon Burke, head of the James Burke Foundation, in Middleton, and by artist Sandy Holden in Cross Gates & Garforth. The aim is to encourage creative people with experience of mental health issues to make work in their local area. Love Arts has run an arts and well-being festival for many years and is now a year-round project.

Tom Bailey from Love Arts Leeds added:

“Bringing communities together is more important than ever for our mental well-being and we’re very pleased to be running three exciting and creative projects in Leeds this Autumn, and then bringing them together as part of our new online festival Love Arts: Bursting our Bubbles.
“We’re looking forward to receiving the entries for Arms Around Armley as we know people can be creative in many different ways. It could be a painting or a poem, some knitting or macramé knots, a short story or a sketching, a photograph or a frieze. There are no limits, your creation just has to be based on our theme of caring arms and the only limit from there is your imagination.”

To be part of the project, e-mail a photograph of your creation or mosaic design to Clancy Walker armley@loveartsleeds.co.uk by 27October 2020 or join the ‘Love Arts Armley’ Facebook group to find out more.

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Calverley: Police appeal after pensioners attacked by burglars

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October 1, 2020

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Police are appealing for witnesses after an elderly couple was attacked by three burglars armed with a crowbar at their home in Calverley.

The incident happened last night (Wednesday 30 September) at around 10pm in Clara Drive.

Three men entered the house, tied up a man and woman living there and then stole a safe containing jewellery and cash.

They threatened the two and the man was also hit during the incident.

Both victims – aged in their 70s – suffered minor injuries.

The three men officers want to speak to in connection with the incident were white, wearing dark clothing, gloves and face/head coverings.

They were armed with a crowbar and are believed to have left the scene in a vehicle.

Detective Inspector Vicky Vessey of Leeds District Crime Team, said:

“This was a particularly nasty burglary in which two people aged in their 70s have been the victim of a terrifying ordeal.
“Although thankfully no-one was seriously injured it was obviously a distressing incident for them both and thankfully this type of burglary – and the level of violence used – is rare in Leeds.
“I would appeal to anyone who witnessed the incident or has information about it to get in contact.”

Call police on 101 quoting crime reference 13200490970.

Comment: Council must be transparent and open over the sale of our buildings

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October 1, 2020

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pudsey town hall — Pudsey Town Hall. Photo: Chris Heaton

We recently reported that Leeds City Council was open to selling up to half its office buildings due to increasing numbers of its staff working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, writes John Baron.

In principle the move makes sense if the buildings are standing empty and unused. And it’s a way for a cash-strapped council facing hundreds of redundancies and a £118 million funding gap to raise much-needed finances.

What was concerning was the apparent lack of transparency in terms of which buildings are being put up for sale.

A council report discussed last week did not outline which buildings would be the first to be sold, but added a confidential list of sites was set to go to auction in October. The list was deemed confidential by the council as the authority argued it might compromise its financial affairs.

All well and good. But could this mean much-loved public buildings like Pudsey Town Hall will be sold essentially without public knowledge, apart from a listing at a property auction which the majority of the public wouldn’t see?

WLD understands Pudsey Town Hall isn’t on the list for October – but common sense tells you that the historically important building (which used to house the magistrates court and still has a beautiful old Pudsey Town Council chamber) is underused and could well be sold at some stage.

Hundreds of Pudsey folk attended an open day at the historic building earlier this year.

Equally, if the council in future starts to look at selling other buildings, such as leisure centres, this also needs to be done openly.

WLD will be monitoring the situation closely for all our buildings across West Leeds – but in the meantime we’re calling for the council to be open and consult the public on its much-loved buildings.

Could there be options for the public to take on the running of some buildings, similar to community led Bramley Baths in 2013?

The public mustn’t discover some of their crown jewels have been sold once private developers move in.

Please support independent community led journalism in West Leeds…

Letter to the Editor: Why £10,000 fines should be paid directly to local communities and not the treasury

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October 1, 2020

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Why as a nation should residents be disenfranchised by the national government? We live in pandemic times and a large number of those who do not follow the rules cause the spread of the virus, yet do we as citizens see payback for their harm?

In normal society situations they get charged by police and attend court. They can be fined up to £10,000 yet this appears to go into a pot in London that does not benefit the community the event harmed.

Yes, the person might get a community service order that means they have to cut an elderly resident’s grass for 120 hours but that does not really benefit a community?

Why not take said fines and bring them to the areas they caused the harm and injustice and actually benefit neighbourhoods that could actually do some amazing good with the many thousands of pounds in play?

I’m calling on all MPs to lobby the chancellor, prime minister and cabinet members to make this possible. Let’s make good out of the harm of COVID-19 and force those dedicating of their communities to be paying for a greater good.

Stuart Long
Burley

Virtual coffee morning brings Armley people together online

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October 1, 2020

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It may be more difficult to meet up in real life at the moment – but that won’t stop Armley residents taking part ion a new online coffee morning.

The aim of the event is to to enjoy a cuppa, chat and build community bonds.

The virtual coffee morning starts next Tuesday, 6 October, at 10am. It’s hoped the coffee morning will bring Armley residents together in a socially distanced way.

Police tackle nuisance bikers in Bramley and Kirkstall

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October 1, 2020

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Police have seized nuisance bikes and quad bikes from streets in Bramley and Kirkstall.

Officers saw a bike being ridden dangerously on a road in Bramley.

A police spokesperson said:

“The ride decided to pull up and run away thinking their feet were faster than the bikes. After a short foot / motorbike chase the rider was detained after running out of talent.”

Meanwhile, officers from South Neighbourhood Policing Team intercepted a quad when the rider stalled the bike. The rider was part of an illegal ‘ride out’ in the Kirkstall area. The quad was seized.

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Plans for parkrun to return in Armley and Bramley have been shelved

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September 30, 2020

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bramley parkrun 5 — Photo: Simon Cullingworth

Parkrun has announced that it will not be restarting its popular events in October as it had hoped.

Hundreds of people take part in weekly parkruns in Armley Park and Bramley Park with a 5km run, jog or walk over a measured course each Saturday morning.

Events were cancelled back in March as lockdown took effect, but outdoor sport, including running, has gradually been opening up over the summer. National organisers had been working on how to make events Covid secure and had hoped to restart by the end of October.

However, in a statement they confirmed that the Government’s announcement meant that plans were back on hold. Nick Pearson, parkrun’s Chief Executive Officer said:

“WE KNOW THAT MANY PEOPLE WILL BE DISAPPOINTED TO HEAR THIS NEWS, AND THAT IT IS LIKELY TO ADD FURTHER TO EXISTING ANXIETIES AND FRUSTRATIONS. PLEASE DO KNOW THAT WE WILL CONTINUE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO SUPPORT OUR PARKRUN FAMILY, AND WE REMAIN COMMITTED TO REOPENING PARKRUN EVENTS AS SOON AS CIRCUMSTANCES ALLOW AND LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS ARE COMFORTABLE.

Parkruns were supposed to reopen by the end of October but this will no longer be happening. Mr Pearson added:

“Whilst we reluctantly accept this reality, parkrun’s absence will come at a cost. As we head into winter and face the many associated seasonal health issues (both in terms of COVID-19 and other mental and physical illnesses), we believe parkrun has an incredibly important role to play in supporting public health. We also strongly believe that, as existing and emerging evidence suggests, and contrary to popular opinion, that there is little or nominal risk of COVID-19 transmission at outdoor physical activity events such as parkrun. Increasingly, we are seeing outbreaks traced to indoor work and social environments, yet to date there is little if any evidence of outbreaks directly resulting from participation in outdoor physical activity events.

“The health of our nation is facing its greatest challenge in decades, inequalities are increasing, and disadvantaged communities are suffering disproportionately. It is absolutely critical therefore that decisions to restrict activities, particularly where there is a demonstrable public health benefit, are based on robust evidence. And whilst caution should always be taken, where evidence is lacking it should be rapidly developed such that where risk is sufficiently low, activities can be supported to return.
“It is essential that, as we map out the coming weeks and months of our collective efforts to get back on our feet, we look beyond baseless assumptions and a culture of fear, and move toward evidence-based interventions. We must act now if we are to avoid irreparable damage to the health and happiness of our communities.”