Leeds Rhinos legend Jamie Jones-Buchanan, who lives in Bramley, has recorded a timely safety message for everyone as Coronavirus infection rates continue to rise in the city.
Mr Jones-Buchanan is encouraging everyone to stay safe and do their part to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Today’s COVID-19 infection rate in Leeds has risen to 87.2 per 100k and 8.2% of people tested were positive.
The landlord of an Armley pub has closed his establishment for a week – due to rising number of COVID-19 cases.
In a post on Facebook on Saturday, Graham Fisher said The Commercial would close in a bid to ‘protect everyone’. He said:
“Due to large number of confirmed Covid cases in our area we have taken the decision (not lightĺy) to close for seven days from tonight. We hope you all understand our decision to protect everyone…thank you all for your support.”
The move was welcomed by customers on social media. One said:
“Well done guys best decision glad the company backed you, if these Covid positives were just as mindful we would all be fine.”
Mr Fisher replied: “We all need to stick together, but too many not taking this seriously I’m afraid.”
Another punter added:
“Thank you both, a hard decision but the best one. Better than being shut down for 14 days. Hopefully see you both in seven days, stay safe.”
Leeds City Council revealed that today’s COVID-19 infection rate in Leeds has risen to 87.2 per 100,000 with 8.2% of people tested proving positive.
The decision in Armley comes after the landlords of The Thornhill pub in Calverley last week took the ‘moral’ decision to close their pub after a staff member tested positive for Coronavirus.
Sally and Jamie, who run The Thornhill, said:
“Thankfully they are showing only very mild symptoms and are otherwise well.
“We have spoken to Public Health England again and sought advice on where to go from here.
“Again they have said to us that there is no need to shut the pub and that only those having had close contact with the positive case need to self-isolate or seek a test should they show symptoms.
“Track and Trace have not been in contact with us and we have been told by Public Health England they may be unlikely to do so as they believe the social distancing measures we have in place to be sufficient in limiting the spread to customers.”
The pair said that after carrying out further risk asseSsments they felt the safest thing to do is remain closed “until the likelihood of another member of staff developing symptoms is reduced.”
They added: “For patrons visiting the pub between Wednesday 9//9/2020 and 13/9/2020 there is no need to take any official action.
“We have been advised that there is no need to self isolate or to seek a test unless you should develop symptoms or if Track and Trace in the meantime are in touch and instruct you to do so.
“We are aware of how worried you all must be, as are we, and we can only thank you for all the amazing support and messages of kindness we have received.
“These are very uncertain times and believe us we have not taken our decisions lightly.
“We would also like to take the opportunity to commend our staff on how quickly they have acted upon this, got tested or isolated. You are all a credit to our business and to our community.
“We long for the day COVID-19 is no longer a threat but until then stay safe.”
A former industrial site in Armley could be transformed into 54 self contained flats if outline plans are given the go ahead by Leeds City Council.
Developers Armley Ltd want to demolish the largely disused Cottage Laundry buildings off Edinburgh Grove and build self-contained studio, one and two bedroom flats aimed at the private rental market.
The proposals come after the developers withdrew controversial ‘co-housing’ plans for the site in February, which included 146 studio rooms, a shared workspace and a cafe bar and restaurant.
The buildings are now largely disused and in poor repair and the proposal is to
replace the existing buildings with a new building that will provide purpose-built living accommodation.
A design statement from ROH architects said the site was in a sustainable location and added:
“Due to the anticipated demographic of the residents, it is unlikely that there will be a substantial use of motor vehicles, but there will be an anticipated increase in bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
“Only 17 (30%) car parking spaces are being proposed on site, but in the unlikely event of overspill parking being needed from time to time, the Highways report has identified 720 available on street parking spaces in the locality, including approximately 17-20 kerbside spaces along the frontage of the site.”
Local residents and councillors objected to the previous proposals for the site on a number of grounds, including density and parking.
The plans can be viewed in full – and commented upon – here.
Leonora Cohen lead an interesting life, writes Mark Stevenson.
She was born in 1873 in Hunslet where her father died whilst she was young, leaving her mother to bring her and her two brothers up alone.
Seeing what her mother had to go through and how little say she had in her life (women had few rights in Victorian times) this eventually galvanised Leonora.
Leonora took part in violent demonstrations, damaged property, went to prison and even helped a convicted arsonist escape the country.
In 1913 Leonora protested against the Government by using an iron bar to smash a glass showcase containing insignia of the Order of Merit in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.
Leonora was arrested a second time and sent to Armley Gaol, where she went on hunger strike. She lived in various areas of Leeds – Hunslet, Woodhouse and Cross Green and Armley, if you count the time in prison.
It says a lot about Leonora and her cause that by 1924 she was appointed a Magistrate; she was one of the first women appointed to the bench and was a JP for 25 years.
In the 1928 Birthday Honours she was awarded the Order of the British Empire. Leonora’s husband Henry Cohen (died 1949) was supportive of her and they were married for the best part of 50 years. Leonora Cohen died 4th September 1978 (aged 105) Colwyn Bay, Conwy, Wales.
She kept a scrap book and in it was a painting of her as a child by her father Canova, who was a sculptor.
A socially distanced comedy special is coming to The Constitutional in Farsley – with the club’s owners promising table service and no anti-social behaviour!
Vikki Stone is best known for her original comedy songs, but is also an actress, musician and composer. She has appeared on many TV and radio shows, including: The John Bishop Show, This Morning, and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here….Now and others.
In 2011, Vikki won the Soho Theatre Stand-Up Award and her debut show the same year was nominated for Best New Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival, and her subsequent shows enjoyed sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Soho Theatre as well as on tour.
Multi-award winning comedian Tom Taylor has received high praise from audiences and critics alike.
In 2013 Tom reached the final of the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny? competition, the following year he was a finalist in the Hobgoblin Comedy Award and in 2015 he took home the award for Comedian of the Year at the inaugural Great Yorkshire Fringe. Most recently he picked up the Audience Favourite Award at the Musical Comedy Awards 2017 and reached the final of English Comedian of the Year 2018.
And Howard Walker was Comedy Cellar New Yorkshire Comedian of the Year 2015, a Beat the Frog Semi Finalist 2015 and Hilarity Bites Finalist 2016.
The Constitutional is based on Farsley Town Street, next to the Post Office.
The comedians are performing on Saturday, 26 September 2020 at 8pm.
Tickets can be booked here.
An online hub of riverside walks will celebrate project that will see Atlantic salmon return to the River Aire after an absence of over 150 years.
Volunteers and staff from The Aire Rivers Trust have used their spare time over the summer to research the history of their local river and have written a series of walks that are designed to highlight the River Aire’s wealth of history and wildlife.
The self-guided walks take you from haunted pubs by the river in Leeds to Victorian swimming galas in Kildwick.
Each walk is downloadable from the Developing the Natural Aire website (www.dnaire.org.uk) and is just one of the ways the group is encouraging new visitors to the river over the next two years.
Leeds Industrial Museum Armley Mills is hosting an exhibition until the end of October, focusing on the history of the River Aire as work continues on the weir to build a fish pass that will enable the iconic Atlantic salmon to once again spawn in the river.
Simon Watts, the Aire River Trust’s community engagement manager, said:
“The River Aire is a fantastic green and blue ribbon that binds our communities together. The towns and villages along the river have so much shared history. It has been a real joy writing and editing the walk. I’ve found fascinating stories I never knew about. I’d love to see people discovering their local stretch of river and then heading out to find new places.”
Developing the Natural Aire is a partnership project between the Aire Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Yorkshire Water and Craven Council.
It will see the completion of four fish passes in Leeds and Bradford in 2020 – Armley Mills, Kirkstall Abbey, Newlay Bridge and Saltaire – together with volunteer days, school visits and community events over the next two years.
There are eight self-guided walks at:
An 11-year-old boy is in serious condition in hospital following a collision on Stanningley Road on Saturday.
Police were called to reports of a collision between the driver of a Grey Audi and child riding a Red BMX bike at 5.45pm on Saturday afternoon on the lane heading away from Leeds city centre.
The child was injured and taken to hospital where he currently remains in a serious condition.
Police would like to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time or who witnessed the collision or may have dash cam footage.
Stanningley Road was closed in one direction for several hours on Saturday evening.
Anyone with information can contact the Roads Policing Unit via 101 or the ‘contact us’ options at www.westyorkshire.police.uk/contactus quoting log 1481 of 19 September.
Each week we publish a list of the latest planning applications related to council wards in West Leeds.
The following applications were published on the Leeds City Council website in the past seven days:
| Change of Use from residential dwelling (C3) to House in Multiple Occupation (C4), 1 Talbot Avenue, Burley, Leeds LS4 2PG. Two storey side extension, 19 Moor Grange Drive, West Park, LS16 5BW. |
Fresh measures to tackle indiscriminate parking on Kirkstall streets are set to be introduced following the introduction of an experimental social distancing scheme outside a primary school.
A street leading to Beecroft Primary School has been closed to traffic during the school run under council plans to extend the School Streets scheme to make streets safer for children to arrive at school.
It is also part of the climate emergency response to discourage driving to school and encourage children to walk, cycle or scoot and fits with a long-term campaign by Kirkstall Village Action Group for road closures or residents’ only parking on Sandford Road, which has struggled for many years with school parking.
Local residents have complained that the scheme, introduced earlier this month, has displaced parking onto Argie Avenue and the Gilberts.
The case has been taken up by Kirkstall’s three local councillors. Posting on Facebook, Cllr Fiona Venner said:
“We have been liaising with council officers to try to resolve this and they have been in regular communication with both schools.
“The following measures have been or will be put in place:
“1) Traffic wardens, police and council parking monitoring officers managing parking at school pick up and drop offs. This will continue for as long as it is needed. They will be particularly monitoring the Gilberts as we have told them that people seem to be moving around to avoid them. Some Beecroft parents have also volunteered to help manage parking. Parent volunteers have been part of the other School Streets Schemes across Leeds.
“2) Coning to prevent parking on parts of Argie Avenue. The coning will be expanded to crossing points where people have been parking.
“3) There is a ‘park and stride’ scheme at the Milford Sports Club where people can park and walk to the schools. The New Burley Club have agreed to be a second Park and Stride side, providing another parking option for parents. Both schools will promote these schemes to their families and will, also, continue to encourage parents not to drive to school if they live within walking distance.
4) Additional signage will be put up and, also, additional lines on the road to prevent parking.
“We will continue to monitor this situation to see if the measures above have the required impact on reducing congestion on Argie Avenue.”
Cllr Venner urged anyone with questions to contact her on fiona.venner@leeds.gov.uk.
As previously reported in May, Pudsey Primrose Hill Primary was one of six schools across Leeds to have the road leading to it closed off with cones and signs to make social distancing easier for parents taking their children to school.
Last month Beecroft Primary School and Hollybush Primary in Bramley were named as two West Leeds schools out of eight across the city who are taking part in the latest round of the scheme.
A West Leeds water safety campaigner is asking people to think before vandalising and de-facing important safety signs at Farnley Reservoir.
Daniel Riley has been campaigning since 2017 for increased safety measures around Farnley Reservoir after growing increasingly concerned about a lack of lifesaving equipment around the reservoir.
Mr Riley, of Armley, has hit out at what he says is the ‘mindless vandalism’ of recently intsalled safety signs warning people of the dangers of the the water. He said:
“Yorkshire Water installed ‘cold water kills’ signs at my request. The intention of these signs was and still is to help educate people on the dangers of open water.
“Many people think swimming in reservoirs like Farnley is safe. But it’s far from safe. It can lead to
“Reckless acts of vandalism to water safety signs will not be tolerated.”
Mr Riley said that vandalism was a criminal act which would be reported to the police and also warned that cleaning and replacing signs was expensive.
Work has started to transform a building to meet community needs in Armley, writes Andy Dalton.
The old ‘Mission Room’ in Mistress Lane is undergoing a major renovation.
The premises were acquired by Leeds City Mission in 2019. Work has begun in earnest after completing necessary planning permissions and undertaking a fundraising campaign.
Volunteers working alongside a builder have been ripping out the interior of the building in a complete remodelling exercise. When they have finished it will have a brand new multi-purpose hall, kitchen, office, interview room, shower, disabled toilets and storage facilities.
Leeds City Mission hope to run various activities and projects. There will be a particular emphasis on addressing local issues of poverty, marginalisation and promoting community cohesion.
Leeds City Mission is still in the early stages of the building project. Huge amounts of old wood, rubble and waste are being removed.
Wood partition walls have been erected and some electrical installation work has been completed. Trees and bushes around the perimeter of the building have been dug out.
Woodworm had been discovered in wall panelling, all of which has had to be taken away. To date several hundred hours of time have been given by 16 willing volunteers.
Leeds City Mission has been in continuous existence since in 1837. It has been searching for some time for a new base for its operations.
The availability of the Mission Room was brought to its attention in 2018. Readers of the West Leeds Dispatch will also recall that Leeds City Mission ran the Re-Store Charity Shop in Town Street from 2013-2018. It is a non-denominational Christian charity.
The premises were built in the inter-war period and were known as the Mission Room.
In the 1960s it became the home of the Armley Gospel Temperance Church and also offices for the Yorkshire Band of Hope Union.
In more recent times various ethnic minority churches have rented the premises for their activities. However the Yorkshire Band of Hope Union have now moved to Huddersfield.
The transfer to Leeds City Mission means that the building will continue to be used for Christian worship, social projects and community activities.
Does anyone know which organisation actually built the hall and operated it as a Mission Room in its early years? Contact Andy Dalton on admin@leedscitymission.org.uk or telephone 0113 345 3118.
Tucked away in the corner of St John’s Church Graveyard in Farsley is a gravestone belonging to the Crossley family of Rodley, writes Mark Stevenson.
Why would a Rodley family be buried in Farsley?
With a bit of digging I was able to find out that the H Crossley mentioned on the gravestone was Hainsworth Crossley who, in 1871, was living in the Bay Horse Yard in Farsley with his parents.
His father Henry was a shoemaker employing three men. Even though he was only 15 (born 1856) Hainsworth’s occupation was that of a clerk in an ironworks.
The MM on the gravestone is Hainsworth’s wife Maud Mary. In 1891 they were living at 11 Wesley Terrace in Rodley with their three daughters Margaret, seven, Edith, three, and one-year-old Maude.
In 1901 Hainsworth’s 27-year-old daughter (born 1885) Maud was training to be a teacher. She, along with her parents, was now living at 10 Chapel Street in Calverley.
In 1911 Margaret and Edith were now both teachers and still living at 10 Chapel Street with their parents and two brothers.
When I mentioned the Crossley gravestone earlier I failed to mention that it was four of the Crossley’s children who had all died within a year or so of being born that were buried there.
The gravestone also mentions a Henry, son of the above, whom I am assuming is Hainsworth and also of Mary H Benn of New Shildon.
Henry was conceived in 1885, born in 1886 and died in 1887. His mother was Mary Benn. Hainsworth and Mary Maude were married in 1882 losing Ethel, their first child in the same year. Was Henry the result of an affair between Hainsworth and Mary Benn? Or am I reading it wrong?
