Kirkstall Road creative hub Open Source Arts is continuing the online Art SOUP grant scheme to help artists and organisations out of the lockdown period.
Open Source Arts is hosting a livestream event that will give an artist or arts organisation a funding grant to conduct a project during the Covid period, in collaboration with Hyde Park food waste charity; Rainbow Junktion.
Building on the success of their previous Art SOUP Online event, Open Source Arts are continuing to use the SOUP model to provide local grassroots artists with the opportunity to realise their projects.
Six artists will be able to pitch their ideas to a voting audience in an online livestream.
The individual or group that receives the most votes will then walk away with a pot of money that the audience have created from buying a ticket or donating online.
Jacob Justice, Events Programmer at Open Source Arts said:
“Now that we’re taking the first steps towards emerging from lockdown, we want to make sure our connection to the creative community is as strong as ever.
“The event is people-powered so by buying a ticket, you are actively investing in the local arts scene!”
The SOUP event will take place online on the 6 August at 7pm, and attendants will be given recipe cards for delicious homemade soup ideas, entertainment and a chance to vote. More information as well as an application to apply can be found on the Open Source website.
Open Source Arts empowers creative, practical action towards healthier, more resilient citizens, neighbourhoods and sustainable futures.
It works with communities to make better places to live and with emergent creative professionals to support them in developing new work.
Based in an urban warehouse space opposite the ITV Studios on Kirkstall Road, it hosts a range of regular open skills training throughout the week including circus, dance, yoga, and theatre.
Improvements to Bramley bus interchange and better walking and cycling links in Pudsey have been approved as part of a £7.4 million package of city-wide transport improvements.
Members of Leeds council’s executive board have this week given the green light to seven projects across Leeds to upgrade existing facilities, improve waiting facilities and travel information as well as encourage walking and cycling links from public transport hubs.
The schemes were unanimously approved, with Pudsey’s councillors being asked to be kept fully briefed on the progress of the town’s project.
The Bramley scheme, which will cost about £440,000, aims to increase public transport usage and manage bus movements more effectively.
The proposed upgrades include an improved waiting environment and better travel information. Stand D will be relocated to a new road to be built through the grass island off Town Street, with two crossings will be added to create safe passage to the new bus stop.
New Pudsey Station. Photo: Ian Kirk, used under Creative Commons licence
The £600,000 Pudsey scheme includes proposals to make walking and cycling links between Pudsey Town Centre and New Pudsey Station more accessible and desirable.
Work is due to start this summer, for completion by summer 2021.
West Leeds bus users are being encouraged to comment on proposals to improve the information passengers use to plan journeys and use the bus system around the city.
New proposals included colour-coded maps, bus shelters, signs and other on-street infrastructure that link to bus lines across Leeds.
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority hope that these improvements will make it easier to plan and take bus journeys by creating a user-friendly and accessible navigation system.
The latest proposals are available here, where people can also express their views. The survey will close at midnight on Friday 31 July 2020.
Cllr Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said:
“We hope this new way of helping passengers navigate the bus network will attract people back to public transport as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and drive up bus usage over the longer term.
“These proposals will create a user-friendly and accessible system that has been developed so that it can be rolled out firstly in Leeds and then across West Yorkshire.”
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, it is not possible to hold any public drop-in sessions for this engagement. But if anyone would like to discuss proposals further before submitting feedback, the project team can be contacted at yourvoice@westyorks-ca.gov.uk or on 0113 245 7676. This contact should also be used if the information is required in an alternative format, such as braille.
This work is part of the Connecting Leeds transforming travel programme, which is investing £270 million in the transport network in the city.
A few years ago I was on the number 16 bus on my way to town and as it was almost empty I was on the back seat, moving from one side to the other to try get some pics from a higher viewpoint, writes Mark Stevenson.
I knew the bus would be passing the Gasometer on Wellington Road, just off the Armley Gyratory.
I managed to get a pic of sorts but what I hadn’t realised was that a young mum with her young child had got on and her child was looking at me and wondering what I was up to.
She guessed correctly what I was doing and explained to her little one that sometimes the Gasometer would go up and down depending on how full it was. She seemed rather pleased with herself when I said I didn’t know that.
Moving on a few years to last week the Gasometer got my interest again when a friend mentioned that it was to be demolished.
They too seemed pleased I did not know about it. Normally I would say yes I know, I read it in the WLD.
So putting these two bits of info together I took myself off to get some pics of the Gas Holder before it is gone for good.
From at least the 1840’s Gasometers started to appear in this part of Wortley, what is now the Armley Gyratory. There were as many as six at one point. The Gasometer that is standing today is not all that old and has been around for about 50 years or so.
Back in the 1840’s the land it stands on was called New Wortley Square which, if you were living there at the time, had a view of a Gasometer 50 metres or so just down the road.
By the 1880’s its name had changed to Duce Square. In 1911 at 18 Duce Square, New Wortley lived Walter and Agnes Stock with their eight-year-old daughter Alice. Walter and Agnes had been married for four years.
At 12 Duce Square lived Annie Carter Lingwood she was a fish and chip fryer.
At number 1 Duce Square lived Hannah Hamilton, aged 63 and a widow. At number 2 Duce Square lived Catherine Thackray, aged 72 and a widow, and at number 5 lived Emma Hooley, aged 70, also widowed.
You would never have guessed that for the best part of a 100 years people were born, died and lived their lives on the site of this old Gasometer before it was built?
As swimming pools slowly begin to re-open, would you like to try something new in the water? writes Emma Sykes.
Bramley Mermaids are a fun and sociable group of women who meet weekly at Bramley Baths to exercise in the water using vintage-style, synchronised swimming techniques.
They are holding a “Meet the Mermaids” online event open to anyone interested in finding out more about their classes. Club members will talk about what happens in the pool, and how they’ve been practising during lockdown.
There will be an opportunity to ask questions about the classes and a chance to have a go at some dry land moves allowing you to ‘dip your toe’ in the water from the comfort of your own home.
This event will be held over Zoom at 8pm on Tuesday 28th July and you can choose just to watch, or have a go as well.
Everyone is welcome, although under 12s should be accompanied by an adult and under 16s should have parental permission. When restrictions are lifted, classes at Bramley Baths are open to women and girls aged 12+, whilst kids sessions run during certain school holidays.
Bramley Rugby League buff Paul Abraham continues his occasional look back at the history of the much-loved club that folded following the 1999 season. Today, he looks at some late 19th century newspaper headlines…
Leeds Times Saturday 6th June 1896
The Bramley club held it 17th annual meeting on Friday, Mr C. Akeroyd presiding. There was a large attendance. The balance sheet showed that the total receipts for the past year amounted to £269 19s 1d, and the expenditure £267 16s 1d.
The club had played 30 matches, of which 17 had been won, 10 lost and 3 drawn. They had scored 177 points to their opponents 124 points. Both the report and balance sheet were unanimously adopted. Mr Johnson Varley moved:
“That the Bramley Football Club resign its membership with the English and Rugby Football Unions from this date, and join the Northern Football Union, and that all liabilities and assets belonging to the late Bramley F.C. be taken over by the newly-formed Northern Union Club.”
The Committee, he said, were unanimous in their decision. Mr Bolton seconded and the resolution was carried with only one dissident.
Leeds Times Saturday 20th May 1882
The Bramley football club held its annual dinner on Monday evening at the Barley Mow Inn, Bramley. The report stated that 29 first and 28 second team matches had been arranged for during the past season, of which the first team had won 15, lost 9, drawn 3 and 2 had not been played. The second team had won 10, lost 4, drawn 4 and 10 had not been played.
The Barley Mow in Bramley
Leeds Times Saturday 28th May 1887
The Rev S.W.Cope, president, took the chair at a large attendance of members of the Bramley Football club, who assembled on Monday night to transact the annual business.
The annual report showed that the first team had been in the field 24 times, winning 9, losing 8 and making a draw of it in 7 instances. The second team out of 14 matches, won 6, lost 7 and drew 1. The accounts left a balance in hand of £67 2s 7d.
Network Rail is urging parents to warn their children about the dangers of trespassing on the railway as shocking CCTV footage shows three teenagers risking their lives by accessing tracks via a level crossing in Pudsey.
The incident occurred in May at Ducketts level crossing at the bottom of Daleside Road, in Pudsey, during lockdown.
Around 127 passenger and freight trains travel through this crossing each day at speeds of up to 60mph. They cannot stop quickly or swerve out of the way and you can never anticipate when the next one is due.
Network Rail dealt with 22 incidents at Ducketts level crossing in the last 12 months, including four children running in front of a train and a woman taking her daily exercise along the track.
This reckless behaviour delayed train services, some of which were being used by key workers to get to and from their jobs.
Ducketts level crossing is a private user-worked crossing, meaning that anyone who is using the crossing’s vehicle gates without the correct permission, or anyone who walks outside of the clearly marked pedestrian access, is trespassing illegally and could face fines of up to £1,000.
Network Rail will be writing to those living near the crossing to remind them of how to use the level crossing safely.
Dawn Sweeting, Community Safety Manager for Network Rail, said:
“Trespassing is extremely dangerous, and the CCTV footage from Ducketts level crossing is shocking and incredibly worrying to watch. It’s never safe to hang around on the railway.
“It’s vital that we make young people aware of the dangers and the devastating consequences that trespassing can have by educating them, and by setting an example.
“We typically see a rise in trespass incidents during the school holidays, so please have a discussion with your children before it’s too late – as everyone loses when you step on the track.”
Network Rail, along with British Transport Police, runs a hard-hitting safety campaign, You Vs Train, which highlights the devastating consequences that trespassing on the railway can have.
Pudsey MP Stuart Andrew has today welcomed a long-awaited £589m kick-start for improvements to rail services in the north of England.
Most of the money will go on electrifying the line between Manchester and Leeds, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
A new Northern Transport Acceleration Council, chaired by the Minister for the Northern Powerhouse with support from the Minister for Regional Growth, will comprise of political leaders from all parts of the North, allowing them direct access to Ministers to make sure they prioritise and accelerate projects that will deliver change for communities and businesses.
The Council’s primary focus will be driving forward the regional and local transport projects the North needs.
This first stage of the upgrade will include some electrification, as well doubling the key congested section of the route from two to four tracks.
Conservative MP Mr Andrew said:
“Having campaigned hard during my time as a Member of Parliament for better transport infrastructure and funding in the North, I am delighted by this announcement and it is very much welcome news.
“I was very pleased to stand on a manifesto that put the North at the forefront of the agenda, as it has been long overdue, and I am encouraged by the steps being taken that show that the COVID-19 pandemic has not impacted this ambition and that we can indeed build back better as we recover from this virus.”
‘Late, cancelled and overcrowded trains”
MP Rachel Reeves at Kirkstall Forge Station
Bu Leeds West Labour MP Rachel Reeves said the Government had announced the package ‘many times before’. She said:
“Commuters at Bramley, Burley Park, Headingley and Kirkstall Forge have had to put up for too long with late, cancelled and overcrowded trains.
“It’s not good enough and holds back our economy as well as affecting people’s everyday lives.
“The £589m ‘kick-start’ for Transpennine rail announced today is welcome news but it’s also been announced many times before. What we need in Leeds and across the north of England is for government to actually deliver the better train services that have long been promised.”
Young climate change activists have sent an open letter pleading with Leeds City Council not to approve £150m plans to revamp Leeds Bradford Airport, writes Richard Beecham.
In an open letter sent to senior council decision-makers, Leeds YouthStrike4Climate has claimed the plans, which could see the number of flights at the facility increase, could disproportionately affect both disadvantaged areas and schoolchildren.
The airport responded by claiming its plans would actually benefit the poorest areas of Leeds, as the replacement terminal would bring an economic boost to the city.
Plans submitted earlier this year by Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) claimed a ‘state of the art’ terminal would include three main floors with improved vehicle access. It would also be closer to a proposed parkway rail station, announced by Leeds City Council last year.
How the new terminal could look …
But campaigners and LBA at odds over the environmental impact of the plans, as the campaigners claim extra flights would undoubtedly have a huge impact on Co2 levels, while the airport claims the proposed facility would be more environmentally friendly than its current one.
The open letter warns airport expansion would make it impossible for Leeds City Council to keep its promise to make the city carbon neutral by 2030.
A statement from the climate strikers said:
“There are 36 schools under the flight-path and more noise from increased flights would risk further disrupting pupils’ education following the Covid-19 crisis.”
Campaigner Annwen Thurlow added:
“Our house is already on fire – we cannot let this expansion add more fuel. The council has a responsibility to protect our health and wellbeing.”
Leeds YS4C activist Robbie Strathdee said:
“The flight-path cuts right across the city, so expansion would do damage to some of Leeds’ most disadvantaged communities.
“The climate crisis is intrinsically an issue of racial and social justice, with disadvantaged communities already suffering its impacts most severely in Leeds and beyond. We mustn’t heap injustice upon injustice through expansion.
“A green recovery for Leeds could look like whatever we want and need as a city – but it cannot look like an expanded airport.”
‘Economic boost to our region’
A response to the statement on behalf of LBA stated while it understood the concerns expressed by Leeds YouthStrike4Climate, the development would create an ‘economic boost to our region’, as well as hundreds of construction jobs, from right across Leeds, Bradford and Yorkshire.
It added any approval of the LBA application would not impact upon Leeds City Council’s ability to meet its climate emergency commitments, adding the aviation industry has made its own commitment to become net zero by 2050.
A spokesperson for Leeds Bradford Airport said:
“We value feedback from our communities on our proposals for a replacement terminal.
“While we can appreciate that people will be concerned about noise and emissions, we have made very clear provisions in our proposals around how we will mitigate risk and we encourage individuals to review the reports from leading experts on the portal.
“We also continue to work with the wider aviation industry on our own sustainable targets, which are regulated at an international level and are not part of Leeds City Council’s climate emergency commitments.”
The airport also claimed it had reduced its emissions by 45 percent in the last five years, and expected to see an increase in aircraft arrivals and departures from 30,000 to 46,000 per annum as part of the proposal.
LBA previously stated it hoped for work to start on construction of the site by the end of this year, and for the new terminal to be up and running by 2023.
The application adds the current terminal is ‘dated’ and ‘inefficient’ and that the airport could lose passengers to nearby Manchester Airport unless the improvements are approved.
A decision on whether to grant permission for the new building is expected to be made later this year.
These include turning the late 18th century mill buildings into 30 dwellings and building 82 new homes – a total of 112 properties off Stonebridge Lane.
AT RISK: Historic Stonebridge Mills
As lockdown restrictions ease, the company is starting to move forward with the proposals, this week applying to Leeds City Council to tweak some of the plans.
The amendments include a sub-station being moved to building at base of chimney; additional car parking space provided to parking court adjacent to plots 92 – 95; Changes to rear elevation on plots 1 – 11; and changes from buff brick to reconstituted stone in some areas. Check out the planning application here.
And an application to discharge a raft of planning conditions – including managing biodiversity on the site, site access arrangements and bat mitigation methods, among others – has also been submitted to the council.
Volunteers in Bramley Baptist Churchyard. Photo: Ian Johnston
The first regular Bramley Baptist War Graves clean up session after lockdown was held yesterday.
The volunteers meet fortnightly to help keep the grass in check around the war graves.
Strimming around the war graves in Bramley. Photo: Ian Johnston
Member Ian Johnstone said:
“We have been very lucky having Joe and Gina looking after the flatter war graves and grass paths during their exercise periods during lockdown. This afternoon Peter and Pete tackled some of the war graves in the jungle of long grass and got quite a few done.
“There will be a lot more strimming and raking to do in the coming months.”
A litter pick of the graveyard was also carried out.
