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Police appeal for information to help trace man last seen in Kirkstall – UPDATED

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Andrew Mitchell missing person

UPDATE: Andrew Mitchell has been found. Police have thanked everyone who helped with their appeal.

ORIGINAL POST: West Yorkshire Police are appealing for information to help trace Andrew Mitchell who was last seen in Kirkstall, writes Keely Bannister.

Mr Mitchell, 54, was last seen at Kirkstall Health Clinic on Morris Lane on Monday, 19th August.

He is a white male who is of medium build and was wearing a black jacket, black baseball cap and a blue rucksack.

Anyone who has seen Andrew Mitchell or who has any information that could assist in tracing him is asked to call 999 quoting log number 1371 19/08/2019.

New Bosom Buddies make new friends in Armley

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bosom buddies bramley armley

National Breastfeeding Week may have been and gone but women can still access advice and support in West Leeds from the new Bosom Buddies Support group which has recently opened in Armley, writes Jo Fiddes.

Bosom Buddies run groups across the country and provide a friendly place where breastfeeding mums and their families can seek advice and support…or just drop in for a chat with other mums over tea and biscuits. 

Trained peer supporters offer a listening ear, share their own experiences, and signpost to appropriate professionals if there are specific problems.

Unfortunately, the Bramley Bosom Buddies group, which was founded in 2012 and until recently ran from St Peter’s Church, Hough Lane, has closed its doors due to funding issues.

Despite having successfully applied for several grants across the years, restrictions on how funding can be spent has meant that the cost of room hire has made the group unsustainable.

Monthly drop ins at The Venerable Bede Church on Stanningley Road are unaffected and will go ahead as usual.

Karen Godfrey, a trained peer supporter from Bramley said:

“We usually had between five and ten mums attending the Bramley Bosom Buddies group each week, so it’s a real shame funding costs have forced the group to close.

“However, it’s great to see that support for breastfeeding mums in West Leeds will now be offered in Armley, with the opening of the new group.”

The Armley Group will run on Thursdays, 9:30 -11:30am, at Armley Moor Children’s Centre, Chapel Lane.

Bosom Buddies also runs a group in Pudsey every Monday, 9:30-11am at the Café Lux Building, Wellbeing Centre, Robin Lane, Pudsey (contact Suzanne on 07956 077800).

You can also find information on the council website: Leeds City Council Breastfeeding Support

Calls for more tree planting across West Leeds

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bluebells farnley park
Bluebells under the trees in Farnley Park. Photo: Dave Dalton

Conservative councillors in Calverley & Farsley and Pudsey are calling for more tree planting to help battle climate change and stop greenbelt development, writes Keely Bannister.

The Leeds Conservative Group, led by Calverley & Farsley Councillor Andrew Carter, have called for Leeds City Council to start a massive tree-planting programme to help the city battle climate change and as an extra protection for the greenbelt.

Andrew Carter Calverley and Farsley
Cllr Andrew Carter

In a press release, Cllr Carter said that “tree-planting should be a key part of the city’s planning policy”. He added:

“Tree-planting should be a key part of the city’s planning policy. That means insisting to developers that new housing developments have boulevards of trees built into them wherever possible, using the Community Infrastructure Levy to create a green bank that can be used to plant new trees, and agreeing that 20 new trees will be planted in the city for every one tree that is lost.”

Cllr Carter added:

“Funding is available for the Northern Forest initiative but what’s needed now is the political will and staff resources to make it a reality. The Leeds Forestry Team must be properly resourced to cope with the mass-planting programme, and the Council needs to drive the agenda forward.”

Councillor Neil Buckley, the Leeds Conservative Group shadow spokesperson on climate change, touched on the science behind the call in the same press release as well as setting out the help tree planting could provide to the city’s greenbelt:

“Research shows the enormously beneficial impact that trees have on the environment, helping to prevent flooding, reduce CO2, and create a cleaner, greener world for future generations.

“Leeds has declared a climate emergency and whilst tree planting is not the only answer to this problem, it’s something that we can be doing right now at relatively low expense.

“We also want the Council to adopt our idea to create a new defence against unwanted Greenbelt development, negotiating with landowners around the East Leeds Orbital Road, for example, and other areas throughout the city be it north, south, east or west, to release land to ensure that where new developments are created near the Green Belt, they are bounded by woodland that will prevent any further encroachment.”

Another funding suggestion made by the Leeds Conservative Group is the introduction of a Tree Levy as part of the Community Infrastructure Levy specifically to fund “more tree planting and recruiting more staff and volunteers to help with the tree planting programme”.

Pudsey Councillor Simon Seary is supportive of the idea and has suggested to council officers that land along Stanningley bypass near Rycroft Gardens and Swinnow Gardens could be a suitable location for more trees to be planted to aid with carbon capture and to help reduce noise for residents.

The council responded to Cllr Seary that this site currently isn’t being looked at:

“There are no plans which I am aware of to plant trees at this site.

“However we will be looking into our tree planting scheme for this winter later this year and will keep this site in mind.

“This will depend on numbers or trees to plant/budgets. Plus we will be doing a lot of tree planting to mitigate all the tree felling we have undertaken due to projects over the city.”

The council are engaged in a planting programme that will see 30,000 trees added to the city as part of the White Rose Forest.

judith blake
Leeds City Council Leader Cllr Judith Blake

Labour-led Leeds City Council has called a climate emergency in the city – and has called on the Government to provide them with the funding and powers to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Cllr Judith Blake, leader of the council, admitted that Leeds cannot tackle climate change alone, but said the city has ‘the potential to make a big difference’ and ‘can lead by example’.

Cllr Blake said: “The evidence is telling us that we are around 12 years away from the cut-off point where the damage being done to our environment will become permanent and irreversible.” 

Cllr Blake said that while Leeds had many schemes which benefit the climate, they are not enough and that the city needs more funding and powers to achieve its goals. She added:

“We are bringing forward proposals for a conversation with everyone in the city on what practical measures are needed as part of an emergency plan. However, it is absolutely key that the Government then gives us the funding and powers to implement many of the radical actions needed. We remain concerned that the current Government isn’t taking this seriously enough and we will do everything we can with partners across the country to lobby for the powers and funding needed to make the difference.”

Over the coming days we will be publishing a series of articles looking into different aspects tree-planting in more detail. We hope to finish the series off with your views and suggestions of where trees should be planted in and around West Leeds. Comment below sharing your ideas or email us locations using news@westleedsdispatch.com.

Farsley Friendship Group offers fun and fulfillment

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Venue: St John's Church in Farsley

Are you looking for fun, friendship and fulfilment in retirement? writes Martin Heaton.

Join the Farsley Friendship Group on the third Tuesday of the month at St John’s Church Hall at 2.00pm.

The Farsley branch of Pudsey Friendship Group are holding their annual Macmillan coffee afternoon at St. Johns Church Hall, Farsley on Tuesday 20th August at 2pm.

Marylyn Whelan, one of the founder members, said:

“Please support this wonderful event – we are highly thought of by Macmillan for all our past efforts.”

The entrance fee will be £5 and includes tea / coffee and cake. £3 of the entrance fee will be donated to Macmillan, as well as other revenue raised on the day.

There will be cake stalls, games, Tombola etc and a chance to meet new friends.

The group is open to anyone over 50 and meets every third Tuesday of the month at St John’s Church Hall, when there are speakers or afternoon tea etc.

There are also outings, evening dining, pub lunches and strolls organised once a month as well as extra events organised throughout the year.

Public meeting discusses Tong and Fulneck Valley greenbelt development

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tong fulneck valley

Plans to develop parts of the green belt between West Leeds and Bradford will be discussed at a public meeting,

The Save Tong and Fulneck Valley campaign are holding the public meeting after Bradford Council launched a number of different consultations about future development for the city.

Julia McGoldrick, chair of Tong and Fulneck Valley Association, said more than 2,000 homes could be built on greenbelt land. She added:

“Despite our group’s previous comments they are still pushing forward with plans to destroy the Tong and Fulneck Valley, including plans to build 2,700 new houses, ‘industrial sites’ and a ill-conceived link road.

“This is despite revising their Core Strategy and significantly reducing their housing target for the whole district and claiming to be adopting a brownfield first policy.

“There are enough brownfield sites in Bradford to deliver the new housing target WITHOUT touching the protected Greenbelt of the Tong Valley.
“We need to make our voices heard and that means as many of us as possible responding to the consultation.”


The consultation – which can be found here – is open until 24th September 2019.

A public meeting will be held on Wednesday, 11th September to help people’s responses to the consultation. It will be held at Tong Village Hall from 7pm – 8.30pm.

As reported in July, Pudsey’s MP Stuart Andrew threw his weight behind campaigners aiming to stop a £64 million plan to introduce a new link road in south-east Bradford.

Mr Andrew has written to Bradford Council opposing the plan due to its impact on his constituency, the lack of consultation with Leeds City Council and the fact that investment has been approved before principal details have even been published.

The scheme, which could cost £64.2m, is aimed at reducing congestion, improving journey times between areas of Bradford and Leeds and providing the infrastructure to unlock land for new housing development – with potentially 2,500 new homes to be delivered off the back of the new road.

Conservative councillors in Pudsey and Calverley & Farsley wards  believe it could do irreparable damage to the greenbelt between Leeds and Bradford and could have far reaching impact on West Leeds if the road expands to also include connectivity to Leeds Bradford Airport, as is suggested in a West Yorkshire Combined Authority report.

Bradford Council say the link road scheme isn’t just about relieving traffic congestion, but about regenerating the area.

At a meeting in June, Cllr Alex Ross Shaw, Bradford Council’s head of transport, said:

“Looking at the objectives of the scheme. It’s not just about congestion.

“This isn’t moving traffic to another road. This is about a regeneration scheme. This is about bringing quality homes and places to live in these areas.

“It can lift communities as well as bringing quality places to live. I am pleased to see it come forward. We are fairly confident right now.”

Simon’s Snaps: Crowds flock to Bramley Festival 2019

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bramley carnival 2019
Photo: Simon Cullingworth

There was a great turnout for today’s Bramley Festival 2019, which was officially opened by long-serving Leeds Rhinos star Jamie Jones-Buchanan, who lives in Bramley.

Mr Jones-Buchanan paid tribute to his former schools, Raynville Primary and St Peter’s schools who helped him launch his career. He said:

“There’s nothing more powerful than community. It’s great events like Branley Festival that bring people together.”

The festival featured entertainment, a Bramley’s Got Talent contest, dozens of stalls ranging from Bramley Buffaloes, to Bramley Mermaids and the Barley Mow Supporters.

Here are some of the photos from today by Bramley photographer Simon Cullingworth:

Mark’s History: The last man to hang at Armley Prison?

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westleedslife
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armley prison
HMP Leeds. Photo: Mark Stevenson

I was looking for some info on Armley Prison when I came across a comment that said Charles Peace was the last man to be hung in Armley in 1879, writes Mark Stevenson.

Hanging: Armley Prison. Photo: Mark Stevenson

I was fairly certain that the last hanging was of Zsiga Pankotia in 1961.

It turns out the guy who left the comment was choosing his words carefully.

Apparently, after the hanging of Charles Peace, the gallows were moved from near the hospital to near the kitchen which meant they crossed the ward boundary that runs through the prison.

Photo: Mark Stevenson

They crossed from the Armley side to the Wortley side, so thereafter everyone was hung in Wortley but still in Armley prison.

I have not been able to find out if this is true or not but you can clearly see on the maps that the ward boundary does run through the prison.

Further on in the comments, it mentions that in the 1950’s the gallows were moved from one side of the kitchen to the other.

Does anyone know if the gallows were moved after Charles Peace’s hanging?

Photo: Mark Stevenson

Farsley Celtic leave it late to bounce back against Spennymoor

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Farsley Celtic returned to winning ways as Ben Atkinson struck late on to secure his side a 1-0 victory over Spennymoor Town, writes Thomas Ritchie.

The game was a scrappy affair for much of the 90 minutes, but the hosts had by far the better of the chances, and if not for Matt Gould in the Spennymoor goal the deadlock would have been broken much earlier.

Farsley Celtic Manager Adam Lakeland was delighted with his side’s response to Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat against Southport. He said:

“I thought that we were excellent and felt that we deserved it (the win).

“I criticised the players to some extent midweek after the first-half performance, because I know we’re a lot better than what we displayed on Tuesday night, and ultimately it was just about them putting in a performance.

“If you’re solid and you keep clean sheets, we’ve got players within the team who are always capable of creating a chance and thankfully we did that, and in the end I think we thoroughly deserved it.”

Both sides struggled to create any openings in the first 25 minutes, but it was the Celt Army who had the first real chance as Dave Syers turned Jordan Richards’ low cross goalward forcing Matt Gould into a save from point-blank range.

Farsley continued to have the better of the play and could well have taken the lead through Jimmy Spencer. Tyler Walton played a clever ball through to Spencer who beat the offside trap and attempted to round Gould, only to lose control just as he was about to pull the trigger.

Farsley came close again with half-time drawing nearer as the ball pinged around the box from Will Hayhurst’s corner, before Danny Ellis’ searing volley from 15-yards out produced a stunning save from Matt Gould.

Just after the hour mark Spennymoor had their first effort of the game on target when substitute Dan Ward crossed for Ben McKenna, however the former Bradford Park Avenue man headed straight at Elliot Wynne.

Gould was his side’s saviour once again just moments later. Jimmy Spencer linked up well with Ben Atkinson with the latter’s low strike parried by Gould, before the Spennymoor shot-stopper reacted quickly to superbly save Nathan Cartman’s follow-up.

With 20 minutes remaining the visitors had arguably their best chance of the game as Dan Ward’s ball dropped to Glen Taylor in space in the box, but his strike was straight at Elliot Wynne who saved comfortably.

The decisive moment of the game came with just two minutes of normal time remaining, Will Hayhurst whipping in an excellent cross from the left to Ben Atkinson who found space in the box and guided his header into the top corner.

Jimmy Spencer could have added a second almost immediately as he broke in behind the Moors’ defence and latched onto Wynne’s long ball only for Gould to race quickly off his line and make the save, however Ben Atkinson’s effort was enough to earn the Celt Army all three points.

Farsley Celtic: Wynne, Richards, Hayhurst, Higgins, Ellis (Parkin 69), Allan, B. Atkinson, C. Atkinson, Spencer (Walker 90), Syers (Cartman 61), Walton. Unused subs: Trenerry, Baldwin.

Spennymoor Town: Gould, Magnay, Brogan, Chandler, Buddle, Curtis, McKenna (Anderson 75), Henry, Taylor, Roberts (Ward 59), Johnson. Unused subs: Williams, J. Atkinson, Boyes.

Attendance: 424

Join West Leeds Dispatch for our latest community quiz!

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These guys were quiz winners last time around! Photo: Simon Cullingworth

Do you see yourself as a quiz-night king or queen? Here’s your chance to join other members of the community for some fun at our third West Leeds Dispatch Community Quiz Night.

Join us for our latest fun, friendly and relaxed quiz at the Abbey Inn, off Pollard Lane, LS13, on Wednesday, August 21st at 8pm.

Quiz night fun as Jim Corah clebrates at The Abbey Inn. Photo: Simon Cullingworth

There will be prizes! And food!

Entry is just £1 per person. All monies raised will help us to continue to fund community journalism in West Leeds.

Anne and Noel Akers. Photo: Simon Cullingworth

West Leeds planning applications: August 17 2019

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Each week we bring you details of the latest planning applications from across West Leeds.

Armley Ward

Bramley & Stanningley Ward

Calverley & Farsley Ward

Farnley & Wortley Ward

Kirkstall Ward

Pudsey Ward

Bramley RLFC Legends: Chris Bowman

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westleedslife
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chris bowman bramley rlfc

Continuing our series looking at legends of Bramley Rugby League club, Paul Abraham this week looks at Chris Bowman’s contribution to The Villagers …

Having signed from the Otley Rugby Union club, “Big Chris” soon became a Bramley fan favourite, with his block-busting runs and tries which usually had two or three would-be tacklers still trying to stop him as he crashed over the whitewash.

Chris made his debut on April 29th 1979 in a 7-13 defeat at New Hunslet.

His next three matches brought four tries in an early indication with what was to follow in forthcoming seasons. His tries were scored in a 13-27 defeat at York and two during a 43-8 home drubbing of Huyton and finally in a 33-21 home defeat of Oldham. His season total was four tries in five games.

After starting the 1979/80 season with three defeats, two-try Chris inspired Bramley to a 19-6 victory home victory against Batley. 

October brought tries in three successive matches, against Rochdale (14-10), Halifax (11-11) and Oldham (9-22) and after not scoring in a home defeat to Barrow, Chris scored his first hat-trick in the black and amber in an 11-15 defeat at Dewsbury. 

By now playing at prop or second row Chris continued to smash through defences on a regular basis and ended the season as top try-scorer with 15 tries in 28 matches including scoring in both league victories against Keighley. 

The following season Chris had to share the top of the try-scoring chart with centre Steve Nicholson, both scoring 11. 

Highlight on a personal front was an amazing long-range try in a 25-26 defeat at Castleford in the quarter-final of the Yorkshire cup and a brace of tries in the home victory against Huyton and scoring Bramley’s only try against first division high-flyers Warrington in the Rugby League Challenge cup.

The 1981/82 season was disappointing for Bramley fans who had very little to cheer, but would always expect something to happen when the ball was passed to Chris. 

Another 11 tries placed him back at the top of the club’s try-scoring list with highlights being a brace of tries in victories at Blackpool (26-22) and in the 16-11 home victory against Cardiff Blue Dragons.

In what turned out to be a nail-biting season as Bramley just missed out on promotion, Chris had a spectacular first half of the season, including a hat-trick in the 20-15 victory at Dewsbury. This was part of a 14 tries in a 12-game purple patch as Chris scored in five and four consecutive matches.

This included braces against Blackpool (32-11) and York (22-13). 

His 15 tries in 19 appearances placed him again at the top of the try-scoring list, but left Bramley supporters frustrated as it looked certain that he would create a new Bramley tries in a season record during the amazing first half of the season. 

The 1983/84 season saw the club almost go out of existence with Bramley not playing any fixtures from the 12-6 home victory against Kent Invicta on October the 16th until the return fixture in Kent on December 18th. Bramley lost 11-15 but were back in action. 

Chris scored three tries in 12 appearances plus 7 as substitute appearances, these being in a 32-4 away win at Keighley, a 6-28 home defeat at the hands of Huddersfield and in a 28-22 thriller at York.

The first match of the 1984/85 season saw Chris score in a 25-17 home victory against Batley, but then had to wait until March before crossing the whitewash again, this time in a 24-34 loss at Huddersfield. 

A try in the return fixture with Huddersfield in a 20-11 revenge victory was followed by 2 tries in the 20-all draw at Tattersfield Doncaster.

The 1985/86 season will be remembered as the “Peter Lister” season as he broke the tries in a season when he crossed for an amazing 34 tries.

But Chris had his best season in terms of appearances and tries as he scored 13 tries, including a hat-trick in the 46-20 home victory against Mansfield Marksmen in 22 appearances. 

Other highlights include being a try-scorer in the 20-20 draw at Odsal against Bradford Northern in the Rugby League Challenge Cup and being a scorer in the sensational 38-14 victory at high-flying Whitehaven.

Another five tries in 17 appearances during the 1986/87 campaign where highlights were scoring four tries in four league victories, these being at home to Runcorn Highfield (20-6) and Swinton (14-13) and away at Keighley (18-12) and Blackpool (22-18). 

Despite only starting nine games plus for as a playing substitute Chris still managed to go over the line for six tires during the 1987/88 campaign,

This included scoring in successive games at Mansfield Marksmen (16-8) and in the following home defeat (6-14) by Whitehaven. This would turn out to be Chris’s final Bramley try as the following season saw him make just three substitute appearances. 

His last appearance in the first team Bramley shirt was when he came on to replace prop Steve Durham in the last match of the 1988/89 season, a match played at McClaren Field which saw Bramley defeat York 23-20 and was just three days short of the tenth anniversary of his debut.

Chris Bowman’s Bramley career record;

Season     Appearances     Substitute Apps     Tries

78/79           5                                                          4

79/80         28                                                        15

80/81         21                          2                            11

81/82         32                          2                            11

82/83         19                          3                            15

83/84         12                          7                              3

84/85         14                          6                              5

85/86         22                                                         13

86/87         17                                                           5

87/88           9                           4                              6

88/89                                        3                              0

Totals       179                        27                            88

Bramley Career Tries

Peter Lister     140

Jack Austin        92

Chris Bowman  88

Wortley High School housing plans rubber-stamped by council planners

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wortley high school site
wortley high school site

A plan to build 59 houses on the former Wortley High School site have finally been approved by planning officers, writes Keely Bannister.

The decision comes after members of the South and West plans panel approved the plans in principle and deferred the decision to officers following their committee meeting on 30th May.

Councillors on the panel did raise some issues about the development – which one of them described as “boring” – which have been addressed where feasible in the officer report granting full planning permission. 

There are a number of conditions that must be met by the developer, Keepmoat, before any works can start, during construction and before any house can be occupied. 

As highlighted in The Dispatch’s coverage of the development of the site, the plans have proved controversial with letters of objection from residents living on the site entrance road, Swallow Crescent, saying the “narrow street” couldn’t cope with the “humongous” amount of traffic the development will create. 

The full plans can be viewed here.

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