Veterans, politicians and members of the public have commemorated those who lost their lives in conflict as the UK marks Remembrance Sunday.
At 11am, a two-minute silence was held across the country.
Photographer Simon Cullingworth was at Bramley War Memorial to capture proceedings.
Farsley Celtic drew 1-1 with Gloucester City yesterday.
The teams held a minute’s silence before the game to remember the fallen ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
Dave Syers opened the scoring in the first minute for The Celts, with Gloucester equalising later in the half in a scrappy game which the home side will feel they should have won. The result leaves The Celts in sixth place.
Photographer Simon Cullingworth was on hand to capture the action at The Citadel.
West Leeds will remember its war dead at services across the area this weekend.
Here’s our guide as to where you can pay your respects in West Leeds …
Sunday’s service at Bramley War Memorial starts at 10.30am with an act of Remembrance at 11am.
The Act of Remembrance at Farsley Cenotaph will also take place on Sunday the 10th November 2019.
The short service will start at 1pm. All are very welcome to attend.
Join St Mary’s Church on Sunday morning to remember those who gave their lives for their country.
The service will start at the new war memorial outside the Co-op at 11am and then we will process back to church to finish the service. Or you can follow from the comfort of church. Tea & coffee served after the service.
A Remembrance Sunday Service will be held at St Stephen’s Church at 9.30am, with a Remembrance Service at Kirkstall War Memorial at 2.30pm.
A Remembrance Day service will be held at Pudsey Cenotaph , including the laying of wreaths and a two-minute silence, at 10.50pm.
Remembrance Day services with Wortley and Farnley Parish as follows; 10am at Wortley St John’s and 11am at Farnley Cenotaph in Lawns Lane. All welcome.
Inspired by recent centenary Poppy displays – a group of talented crafters from Pudsey have clubbed together to produce their own stunning woollen Remembrance tribute, writes Damon Sugden.
Starting just over a year ago the “Knit and Natter” group have been meeting regularly in the Royal Hotel, Pudsey to work on their crochet and knitted poppy display and socialise at the same time.
Their work is now on display, in time for Remembrance Sunday, around Pudsey along with the lamppost poppies supplied by the Royal British Legion and a separate display at St Andrew’s Methodist Church.
Visitors to Pudsey Cenotaph this Sunday (and for the Armistice service on Monday 11th) will be greeted by an amazing display of knitted poppies adorning the railings of Greenside School and the 147 Sports Bar balcony.
Further stunning poppy displays by the group can be found at the Royal Hotel in Station Street, Pudsey Bowling Club memorial, Mahoney & Ward on Robin Lane and the gateway of Pudsey Cemetery.
Additional poppies have been added to the lectern legs of the Pudsey Cenotaph “missing names” memorial. More than 13,145 poppies have been crafted for the displays for their tremendous Remembrance tribute both to the fallen, their families and everyone from Pudsey who served.
Marlene Harwood, a Knit and Natter founding member, commented on Facebook:
“Proud to have been part of Pudsey poppy group they look amazing now they are displayed.”
Alice Leng added:
“I feel so proud to have played a small part in this beautiful display, all the knitters and crocheters and crafter’s deserve a huge pat on the back. As the main organiser Lisa you are a marvel in all you do, Pudsey can be so proud of you in all you do for us. THANKS x”
Paul Bentley posted on the Pudsey Born And Bred Facebook page:
“Greeted with a Fantastic sight as I walked passed Greenside school in Pudsey as a group of volunteers were covering the railings with hundreds of hand knitted poppies,, Top Job EXCELLENT well done you lot 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏”
West Leeds Dispatch caught up with group founder Lisa Farrar to ask her about the stunning work that the display so proudly showcases:
> (WLD) “What prompted you all to band together for this amazing project?”
> (Lisa Farrar) “I first saw the amazing display on an Otley church and thought Pudsey should have something similar for our fallen soldiers.
“So I posted on Pudsey Born and Bred to see if there was any knitters out there who would like to contribute creating a display for Pudsey. Lots of ladies were interested and then we got together to start the project.”
> (WLD) “I know there were lots of initial ideas about the display and possibly having it in one place – are you pleased with how the display now looks across the final sites?”
> (Lisa) “Because it was on Otley church straight away I thought it would look lovely on Pudsey Parish Church as it’s a fantastic church. But unfortunately it wasn’t to be. So we decided on alternative sites which was Greenside School and 147 Sports bar, who were more than happy to display them.
“We were then asked by The Royal for a display, Mahoney & Ward and Pudsey Chapel and Cemetery. So we created displays for these additional sites. Including the large poppy for Pudsey Bowling club.”
Lisa would like to offer thanks on behalf of everyone from the group:
“I’d like to thank the Royal Hotel for letting Knit and Natter use their facilities over the past year.
“I’d also like to thank any knitters and crocheters, who have contributed to creating the display. I couldn’t have done any of the displays without them!
“Also like to thank C S Locks and Keys for supplying wool, storing poppies and donating £200 to The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.”
Last year Lisa was a West Leeds Dispatch Good Egg award winner for her selfless work in tidying the streets of Pudsey.
Pudsey Poppy Display are planning more exciting projects and can now be found at: Pudsey Community Craft Group.
Upper & Lower Wortley Cemetery has 19 casualties from WW1, writes Mark Stevenson.
Seventeen I was able to find headstones, the only address I could find was that of W H Sigsworth, husband of Emily Sigsworth, of 17, Victoria Road, Kirkstall Lane, Kirkstall.
A week or so ago I thought it might be a good idea to take a photo of all the World War One graves in West Leeds.
It soon became clear I would need to narrow it down to get it done in the time I had.
The numbers I use are from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and to make it more manageable I only took a photo of graves with a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone.
Some WW1 war graves have private headstones which meant I would have had to look at all the graves in West Leeds, which I did not have time for but I’m sure I will get around to.
Check out my coverage of Pudsey Cemetery, St Thomas in Stanningley, St Wilfrid’s in Calverley, Kirkstall St Stephen’s, Farsley Baptists, New Wortley Cemetery and Hill Top in Armley.
Housing Leeds is inviting Armley reisdents to attend a consultation event proposals for 13 new local authority homes on the site at Heights Lane.
The scheme is at a pre-planning stage, and the consultation will provide residents with more information about the proposals and the chance to ask questions and discuss any concerns.
The plans will be available to see at the event.
The consultation will be held on Tuesday 19th November 2019 from 2.30pm – 6.30pm. The Leeds City Council HUGO bus will be parked at the top of Heights Lane (near the entrance to College Lawns).
A formal planning application will be submitted next year.
It’s been a little over a week since the starting gun was fired in the race to win the 2019 general election on 12 December 2019, writes John Baron.
Labour’s Jane Aitchison is bidding to replace Tory Stuart Andrew in the uber-marginal Pudsey constituency, where Mr Andrew had a narrow 331 majority as MP in 2017.
This is the kind of seat Labour need to win, if they’re going to have a successful election.
But both Labour and the Tories have already suffered blows in their campaign.
Ms Aitchison was in Farsley’s Sunny Bank Mills this morning to speak to the BBC’s Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 5 Live, alongside Mr Andrew and Liberal Democrat candidate Ian Dowling.
She was questioned whether Labour Coventry South candidate, Zarah Sultana, should be allowed to stand after social media posts were unearthed where she said she would “celebrate” the deaths of Tony Blair and Israeli PM Benjamin Nentanayu.
Ms Aitchison said:
“People say things that are very, very passionate, and they say things that are wrong, but I don’t think that what she’s saying there is necessarily worse than looking down on the people of Grenfell who died in a fire which is what we’ve experienced.”
She admitted the comments were “not good”. When pushed by Ms Barnett on whether Ms Sultana should be allowed to stand, Ms Aitchison remained silent for 12 seconds before answering:
“I think I’d like to talk to her and see what she was really trying to say and if she is apologising, if she’s apologising then, I think that would be okay.
“People do celebrate death sometimes. It’s not good. Is it? Is it really good to celebrate that? It’s not. But people do sometimes because they feel strongly about whatever that person represented.”
Asked whether she was defending celebrating the death of former Prime Minister Mr Blair, Ms Aitchison said: “No, I’m not, what I’m saying is that people for instance, they celebrated the death of Hitler.”
Have a listen to the exchange here and make your own mind up:
12.5 seconds. The longest pause in my career. Context: in marginal constituency of Pudsey for @bbc5live interviewing 3 candidates. I ask Labour’s Jane Aitchison if Zarah Sultana should be a fellow candidate after a post saying she’d celebrate the deaths of Blair & Netanyahu https://t.co/c0pLIzwnBZ
— Emma Barnett (@Emmabarnett) November 7, 2019
Ms Aitchison has since apologised for any offence. But both the right leaning Yorkshire Post and Daily Express and the normally left leaning New Statesman have both picked up on the story.
Pudsey’s Conservatives have got their own problems.
Back in July, long-standing Pudsey Conservative Association chairman Jason Aldiss resigned from the party, saying Boris Johnson ‘is not fit to be Party Leader and UK Prime Minister’.
But last week Mr Aldiss urged residents to vote Labour in the general election to stop Brexit.
As a life long Conservative I shall be voting Labour in an attempt to unseat my Tory Brexiteer MP. What irony given I have held most senior positions in the Conservative Party of the last 25 years……. https://t.co/5zNHA922cv
— Jason Aldiss (@JasonAldiss) October 31, 2019
In the Yorkshire Post, Dr Aldiss described Mr Johnson – and “acolytes” like the PM’s chief of staff Dominic Cummings – as “insurgents, chancers and double-dealers” rather than “true Conservatives”.
Urging people to vote tactically, he warned that Brexit – for them – is “about personal advancement and, for some of their number, the misguided pursuit of ideological purity. It will all go horribly wrong”.
Dr Aldiss, who opposes Brexit, had been a member of the Conservatives since 1995, but criticised Mr Johnson, highlighting what he described as the new Prime Minister’s “band of power-hungry saboteurs”.
“The hardline Brexiteers in Conservative ranks, hellbent on a no-deal departure, claim to be patriots. I see nothing patriotic about willingly risking untold damage to our economy, to jobs and to our global standing for decades to come. “
It’s not been a good week for either of the big two parties. Both will be hoping for better fortunes moving forward in this marginal constituency.
The result is too close to call as voters prepare to go to the polls in a few weeks.
Check out more about Pudsey Constituency results over the years here.
New Wortley Cemetery has 43 casualties from WW1, writes Mark Stevenson.
I was able to find headstones for 34, the only address I could find was that of G Robinson husband of M. E. Winterburn (formerly Robinson), of 22, Campbell St., New Wortley or possibly Pudsey.
A week or so ago I thought it might be a good idea to take a photo of all the World War One graves in West Leeds.
It soon became clear I would need to narrow it down to get it done in the time I had.
The numbers I use are from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and to make it more manageable I only took a photo of graves with a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone.
Some WW1 war graves have private headstones which meant I would have had to look at all the graves in West Leeds which I did not have time for but I’m sure I will get around to.
Check out my coverage of Pudsey Cemetery, St Thomas in Stanningley, St Wilfrid’s in Calverley, Kirkstall St Stephen’s, Farsley Baptists and Hill Top in Armley.
Final touches are being made to the big Farsley Christmas Lights switch-on on Wednesday 27 November.
Town Street will be closed through Farsley from Frances Street to The Cenotaph from 6pm until 8pm
There will be a Christmas Market in Sunny Bank Mills car park, along with Santa’s Grotto and Debbie Austin’s facepaints.
A funfair will be in the Charles Street car park. In Andrew Square there will be entertainment before the light switch on and fireworks, then Farsley Village Singers will continue to entertain you until 7.45pm
The parade and floats will come down Town Street from the Library at 6.30pm led by The Leeds Pipe Band with the school children and finally The Rotary Club of Calverley Sleigh.
Many shops will be open late including the new Candied Peel Cake Co and Sabroso Street Mexican restaurant. Look out for the best seasonally decorated windows!
Collection boxes on the night will go towards funding this event. Next year’s display is dependent on your donations. Each year the small band of organisers needs to raise a minimum of £3,000.
Further details of what is happening will be posted here.
UPDATE: Flood warnings and flood alerts are no longer in place.
ORIGINAL POST: Two flood warnings are currently in place for west Leeds, where ‘flooding is expected’ and ‘immediate action is required’, according to the Environment Agency.
Rivers and becks around Farnley Reservoir have been placed on alert, with properties on Pudsey Road – from the Corn Mill Lodge Hotel through to Butt Lane – being told they at risk of flooding.
Beck flowing into Farnley balancing reservoir. pic.twitter.com/Uq7meOrZjf
— Samantha Stewart (@pampam256) November 7, 2019
The same warning has been issued for Tyersal and Pudsey Beck and Environment Agency teams will continue to monitor the situation overnight. They say:
“Further rainfall is forecast over the next 24 hours and we expect river levels to remain high until 9am on Friday.”
Flood alerts pose a slightly less serious threat. these are in place for:
and
Check out details of river levels at Kirkstall Abbey here.
A flood alert is where flooding is possible but there is no immediate danger of flooding.
UPDATE: Philip Kirkby has been found safe and well. Police have thanksed everyone for their help.
ORIGINAL POST: Police are urgently appealing for information to trace a man who has gone missing from home in Pudsey.
Philip Kirby, aged 59, was reported missing from his home at 6.52am this morning (7 October). Police have serious concerns for his welfare
He is driving a dark grey/black Mercedes CLS with the registration JJ51PKJ.
Enquiries have shown the vehicle on the A65 at Addingham heading towards Skipton at about 5.30am this morning and it is believed he may be in the North Yorkshire area.
He is described as white, 5ft 8ins to 5ft 9ins tall, medium build, with grey hair and a grey beard.
Detective Inspector Al Burns, of Leeds District CID, said:
“The circumstances in which he has gone missing give us serious concerns for his welfare and we urgently need to find him and check that he is okay.
“We would like to hear from anyone who has seen him or his car at any point this morning or who has any information that could assist in tracing him. We are particularly keen on any sightings of him in North Yorkshire where he appears to have travelled to.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Leeds District CID via 101 quoting log number 190 of November 7.
In what has to be one of the most overgrown graveyards I have been in Farsley Baptist Burial Ground has five casualties from WW1, writes Mark Stevenson.
I am not sure who was responsible but all of the Commonwealth War Graves are always clear. (Editor’s note: it’s the excellent Friends of Farsley Rehoboth group who have only recently started to buy, reclaim and maintain this historic burial ground in Farsley and provide access to all).
I was able to find all five headstones, three of which have addresses.
F W Ford husband of Lillian Busfield (formerly Ford), of 2, Nether Street Farsley. E Lee son of Harry and Sarah Matilda Lee, of 31, Eggleston St., Rodley. M W Lee husband of Casilla Lee, of 16, Bryan Street Farsley. Arthur Hainsworth Wade son of Frank and Mary Christiana Wade, of Lindfield, New South Wales.
A week or so ago I thought it might be a good idea to take a photo of all the World War One graves in West Leeds.
It soon became clear I would need to narrow it down to get it done in the time I had.
The numbers I use are from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and to make it more manageable I only took a photo of graves with a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone.
Some WW1 war graves have private headstones which meant I would have had to look at all the graves in West Leeds which I did not have time for but I’m sure I will get around to.
Check out my coverage of Pudsey Cemetery, St Thomas in Stanningley, St Wilfrid’s in Calverley, Kirkstall St Stephen’s and Hill Top in Armley.
