Some Fell Among Thorns

Picture of stained glass window at Mill Hill Chapel Leeds.

This stained glass window is a window at Mill Hill Chapel in Leeds city centre.

"Some fell among thorns" is taken from Mark 4:7 of the King James version of the bible. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

Rifleman Sheldon Steel

© Crown Copyright/MOD 2011

A Leeds lad Sheldon Lee Jordan Steel was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday 27 November 2011. Sheldon was 20 years old and had joined the army in November 2009.

Sheldon Steel was serving as a member of 5th Battalion The Rifles (5 RIFLES) when on a foot patrol he was caught in blast from an improvised explosive device (IED). Sheldon was airlifted to the field hospital at Camp Bastion where he was declared killed in action.

He leaves behind his mother Victoria, sisters Cody and Carys, and brother Kameron.

Rifleman Steel's family paid him the following tribute:

"Sheldon was loving, caring and affectionate with his family and we all heard from him regularly. He loved being in the Army from when he was in the Army Cadets to joining 5 RIFLES. He was very fit and ran a marathon in June this year. He won prizes for his soldiering both in training and in a regimental competition. He had a good sense of humour and frequently joked with us all"

"He was a big lad - all 6 foot 4 inches of him - with a big heart. His nanas had to stand on the wall outside the house to kiss him 'goodbye'. Words cannot explain how much he will be missed by us all. We have already received a lot of support from family, friends and work colleagues and we really appreciate this."

Lieutenant Colonel Tom Copinger-Symes, Commanding Officer of 5 RIFLES, Combined Force Nahr-e Saraj (South), said:

"Rifleman Sheldon Steel was the essence of a 'Delta Dog', as the members of D Company, 5 RIFLES, are known. As a club within a club, the Delta Dogs have a particularly special identity in our battalion and Rifleman Steel was immensely proud of that identity. And so he should have been, because he was, and will remain until next year, the 'Top Dog' - which is to say the winner of D Company's annual competition to find their best Rifleman.

"Rifleman Steel won this accolade in the last few weeks before deploying to Helmand in an arduous and hard-fought contest that fully stretched the Riflemen's mental and physical capacities. As a result he was afforded the honour of sitting at the centre of the top table at the formal 'Dog's Dinner' - a full-on regimental dinner for all members of the company, surrounded with regimental silver from the Officers' and *Serjeants' Messes and entertained by the battalion's buglers. None of us will ever forget his humble and self-effacing delight that night, mingled with a touch of embarrassment, at finding himself at the centre of such attention.

Rifleman Tony Glancy, 14 Platoon, D Company, 5 RIFLES, said:

"He had true grit and determination. He was a friend, a man and a soldier. I will always remember him."

Sheldon may have died far from Leeds and home, but he died doing something he loved surrounded by his mates. Stand Easy Rifleman, Cede Nullis.

I was going to mention 5 Rifles in a different post, but this one sadly came along.

* The spelling of sergeant with a 'j' is a military tradition peculiar, in the British Army, to The Rifles.

Victoria Gardens On a Wet Day

This picture taken on a wet and blustery day this last weekend shows a view across Victoria Gardens in Leeds city centre.

The tall building with the clock is Leeds Town Hall.

Rain Stopped Play

Picture of chess board Victoria Gardens Leeds.

Normally on most days there are people playing chess on the two chessboards outside the Central Library here in Leeds city centre.

When I took this photo two days back it was very blustery and the rain had just stopped. I have never played chess here but I think the extra large pieces are put out daily.

In the above picture Leeds Town Hall is on the the left and the building on the right is the central library.

Rainy Leeds

Picture of Leeds in the rain.

I think the above photo is perhaps the first one here on the Leeds Daily Photo to show Leeds in the rain.

Yes it does rain here in Leeds, but unless I have a brolly with me I do not want to get my camera wet.

Yesterday it was nice bright and sunny when I traveled into the city centre. I had nipped into the central library to check my email, then when I was about to leave realised it was raining quite heavily. I walked through the cafe between the library and the city art gallery for a look at the Northern Art Prize show. I had been invited to the preview but could not make it, so I mooched around looking at the art for a while.

Finding myself just inside the entrance the the Leeds City Art Gallery, it was still raining but I took a few shots through the oblong window. The view above is from the art gallery looking across Victorian Gardens towards Leeds Town Hall and Oxford Place. Normally throughout the year there are people playing chess on the boards built into the pavement outside the library, but not yesterday.

Occupy Leeds - Poster

I saw this poster at the Occupy Leeds camp in City Square here in the city of Leeds, Yorkshire. Thought provoking perhaps, but I have no idea what the big ideas are.

Occupy Leeds - 2

Picture of tents at Occupy Leeds.

This is the current view of City Square just across from the Queen hotel, with the Occupy Leeds encampment.

The tall fencing around the Leeds city Christmas tree would be there regardless of the Occupy Leeds campers. I sometimes think Elf n Safety has gone completely out of control in this country.

Whilst it is not exactly Cairo's Tahrir Square, I guess you have to start somewhere.

Whilst I was there the other day a couple of police officers were politely asking for the protesters personal details, just in case some unspecified happening should take place. I would think the real reason was to log those personal details onto the The Police National Computer (PNC), I could well be wrong but with the current police obsession with activists seen by them as being "dangerous". Anyone who doubts this should read this article in the Guardian about an officer who was undercover in Greenpeace, that well known threat to peace and democratic society.

Whilst I have no doubts that there are real and present threats to our peaceful existence, I have serious doubts that it may come from people camped out in City Square Leeds. The last known serious threat to our peace here in Leeds came from a school teaching assistant and Islamist murderer Mohammad Sidique Khan and his associates who lived in the Beeston area of the city and no doubt that confused the analysts at Langley. "Beeston, where the hell in Pakistan is Beeston?, closely followed by OK so its a suburb of Leeds, where the hell is that!"

Occupy Leeds

Picture of Occupy Leeds.

Not to be left behind in World affairs, where we have had Occupy Wall Street and Occupy London, we now have Occupy Leeds.

OK I will be the first to admit it does not have the same ring to it, especially for those who are thinking right but where is Leeds! Leeds is the capital city of Yorkshire, or at least it would be if we had one. Still not sure? I guess around the World we are perhaps best known as being home to the Bronte sisters, although that was almost 200 years ago. More recently I suppose there is Barbara Taylor Bradford best selling author of A Woman of Substance. I must point out that these claims to Worldwide fame are for Yorkshire rather than Leeds.

I missed Billy Bragg, the protest singer, who sang here a few days back to lend support. I always had a soft spot for Billy and its a pity I missed him. I suspect he has a few regrets along with many others who voted for the Lib Dems at the last election.

I would like to give more info about Occupy Leeds but everyone I spoke to was just visiting to lend support.

Sycamore Leaf in Autumn

Picture of Sycamore Leaf in Autumn.

This post about this leaf should perhaps be called sycamore leaf and tree identification 101.

I walk through bits of the countryside and along stretches of canal towpath quite frequently and I see a lot of trees. Quite a few of the trees I see are pretty easy to name Oak, Beech, Horse Chestnut and quite a few others.

The Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) a member of the Maple family is a tree that I have to think about except when I see the seeds, these are the winged keys or ‘helicopters’ of my youth. I think it is a shame that quite a few people think of Sycamore trees as weeds, though I struggle to think of a 20-35m tree as a weed.

From mid summer onwards the Sycamore leaves often show signs of a disease, tar spot this can easily be seen in the above photo. Tar Spot is a fungus and is quite common in Sycamore trees, it does not cause any lasting damage to mature trees.

I took the photo of the this Sycamore leaf with the leaf resting on a canal lock balance beam, this is most likely Oak.

Sebastian John Musician

Picture of Sebastian John Leeds musician.

It is almost 2 years since I last wrote about Leeds based musician Sebastian John.

I had not seen Sebastian in quite some time, but I saw him playing in Leeds city centre on Saturday and I went over the say hi and to ask how things are. Here in Leeds it was a bright and sunny day but cool so I was not surprised to see that Sebastian was wearing fingerless gloves.

Sebastian has a new website and business cards too! I thought the cards were very nice and I must add also that the Sebastian John website looks great.

Marian Lapish WRAF

Picture of CWGC headstone Marian Lapish WRAF at St Marks church Leeds.

Whilst exploring the churchyard of St Marks church in Woodhouse Leeds looking for a family grave for someone who had reading this blog I noticed the grave of someone else.

Marian Lapish was a member of the fledgling Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) and died 3 November 1918 whilst serving with No. 2 Aeroplane Repair Depot at RAF Norton (now Gleadless), Sheffield. Marian was the daughter of John and Laura Lapish, of 81, St. Mark's Rd the road the church is on here in Leeds.

I have no real idea how Marian died at the age of 20 here in Yorkshire, however I think that is is quite possible that the 1918 flu pandemic may have been the cause. Around 250,000 people died here in the UK during the 30 months that the "Spanish" flu was around and most victims were healthy young adults.

Written on the standard CWGC headstone are the words: BLEST ARE THE PURE IN HEART. These words were chosen by her family, I would like to think that they were of some small comfort, it cannot have been easy burying their daughter at such an age.

The WRAF was founded in 1918 and disbanded in 1920 only to re founded as the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in 1939 before becoming the WRAF once more in 1949.

In 1994 the WRAF merged with the Royal Air Force and women can apply for and indeed do the majority of jobs available. Today Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Stewart (Executive Officer) flies as Red 9 in the Red Arrows, The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team. Kirsty is the first woman to fly with the Red Arrows and flew combat missions in her Tornado over Iraq, something that would have surprised the early members of the WRAF like Marian who could perhaps serve as drivers or mechanics.

Leeds Magistrates Court

Picture of Leeds Magistrates Court building.

The above photo is of Picture of Leeds Magistrates Court building which is located on Oxford Row just across from the Oxford Place Methodist Church and Centre.

I would like to able to tell you more about the Leeds Magistrates Court, but I have never been inside the building and know very little about it.

Arthur Louis Aaron - Statue detail

Picture of Arthur Louis Aaron DFM VC detail of statue, Leeds.

I first wrote about Arthur Aaron back shortly after I started the Leeds Daily Photo.

I thought it was about time I revisited this interesting statue to Arthur Aaron DFM VC, a son of Leeds.

One small thing, since I first posted about Arthur Aaron I have met the sculptor who created the statue that stands on the roundabout at the bottom of Eastgate opposite the Police station. Barnsley artist Graham Ibbeson is perhaps best known for the statue of Eric Morcambe, in the seaside town of the same name. Graham Ibbeson also created the statue of famous Yorkshire cricketer Fred Trueman that stands at the canal basin of the town of Skipton in N Yorkshire.

The above picture shows only a small detail of the statue in memory of this 'old boy' of Roundhay School, Leeds.

Parade Remembrance Leeds

Picture of parade on Remembrance Sunday Leeds.

The above picture is another photo from the Remembrance Sunday here in Leeds from two years back.

I could not make the service and parade here in Leeds at the cenotaph this last weekend.

This photo shows a Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1) drilling the soldiers on parade in Victoria gardens adjacent to the cenotaph on the Headrow, Leeds. A warrant officer is the highest non-commissioned rank in the British Army, holding the Queen's (or King's) warrant, which is signed by the Secretary of State for Defence. In an infantry battalion the only WO1 would be the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM). a WO1 wears the royal coat of arms on the lower sleeve.

Also in the picture is another Warrant Officer (wearing a crown on his lower sleeve on the left of the photo), but this is a Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) this rank is one step below WO1 and is signified by the crown.

Remembrance Sunday Leeds

Picture of veterans marching on Remembrance Sunday in Leeds city centre.

I missed Remembrance Sunday in Leeds city centre this weekend. I lieu of this I am using the above photo showing part of the parade from Remembrance Sunday two years ago.

In theory I could be marching along with these veterans down the Headrow towards Leeds cenotaph in Victoria gardens, but its not really my thing. This picture shows the veterans just outside The Light.

Wheelbarrow Outside Queens Hotel

Some days back I was returning to Leeds train station and noticed a Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal van parked outside the Queens hotel.

The thing that really got my attention was the wheelbarrow just along from the rear doors of the van. I had not seen one of these small remotely controlled tracked vehicles since my service in N Ireland many years ago.

The policeman minding the entrance to the hotel was being very coy as to why it was there.

For the uninitiated the wheelbarrow was developed the enable the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operator to examine an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) from a safe distance.

Sadly perhaps the best known EOD operator of recent years is Olaf Schmid GC, I say sadly because I for one will never forget that last photo of him in Afgahanistan, he died with 24 hours left before flying home to be with his wife and young son.

Remembrance Day 2011

I missed the two minute silence in Leeds city centre, being on a train at the time. Later in the day I paused at the Leeds Cenotaph at Victoria Gardens on the Headrow and read the names and comments on the small crosses.

Today the MOD have named the UK soldier killed on Wednesday in Afghanistan. Private Matthew Thornton, from 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (4 YORKS) was a Territorial Army soldier. Matthew deployed to Afghanistan with Support Company, 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (1 YORKS) in October 2011 and died two days ago when an IED exploded.

His battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Ian Crowley, said: “He was a fine soldier and an even finer man. 4 Yorks is a family and we have lost one of our own. He was a true Yorkshire warrior.”

Matthew from Barnsley in S Yorkshire was the 385th death of a member of the British forces in Afghanistan to date, that is in the current conflict.

The First Anglo-Afghan War (also known as Auckland's Folly) was fought between 1839 - 1842 and was by any standards a disaster and perhaps the worst defeat inflicted on the British army by native forces ever. Only one British officer from the army, Assistant Surgeon William Brydon, survived the retreat and reached Jalalabad. I suspect many people even in our MOD do not know or have forgotten this story from our history. Sadly we were to repeat this error with two more Anglo - Afghan wars the last being in 1919, until now!

Hunslet Unitarian Church

Hunslet Unitarian Church is long gone, demolished in the 1960's but the other day when I visited the Mill Hill Unitarian chapel I noticed something that remained.

On the wall at Mill Hill chapel there is a wood and brass memorial that was once inside the Hunslet Unitarian church. The words on the memorial read:

IN HONOUR
OF THE MEMBERS & SCHOLARS
OF THIS CHURCH WHO SERVED
IN THE WAR FOR JUSTICE & FREEDOM
1914 to 1918.
AND TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED THEREIN

Joseph Duxbury Harry Pringle
Alfred Jackson Ernest Atkinson Tate
Earnest Alfred Hicks Albert Webb
George Kettlewell William Wallis

PEACE TO ALL SOULS

Underneath this small memorial to the Great War is affixed
a small notice...
"Removed from Hunslet Unitarian Church
after the closing service October 2nd 1966"

Without dates it is quite difficult to get accurate information about the above Leeds men. However I am pretty certain about George Kettlewell, son of Tom and Emma Kettlewell, of 50A, Tong Rd., New Wortley, Leeds. George was a rifleman in the 2nd/7th Bn. West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) and died aged 19 on the 12 May 1917. George Kettlewell like many men of the Great War has no known grave and is named on the Arras Memorial along with nearly 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918 who like George have no known grave.

The 2/7th Leeds Rifles arrived in France at Le Havre in January 1917 and between Arras, Cambrai and the Somme by the summer of 1918 it had suffered such casualties is was dissolved.

Butturcup Flowers

Picture of Buttercup wildflowers in a Leeds churchyard.

Spring seems so far off on these damp and dull days, at least thats what we have mostly had of late here in my little bit of Yorkshire here in and around Leeds.

I too this photo of a couple of buttercup flowers in the churchyard of saint Marks church in Woodhouse back in the Spring or perhaps early Summer.

Poppy Appeal

Picture of paper remembrance poppy.

Walking around Leeds city centre a few days back I struggled to find someone wearing a remembrance poppy. I was looking out for a younger person, someone for whom perhaps the war is beyond the memory of a living relative.

So I have improvised by using my own poppy, pinned to my jacket. Though this is the replacement I picked up this afternoon after the earlier one fell apart from the pin and is perhaps lying somewhere in the city centre.

There is a story in the Daily Mail today online about younger celebrities wearing bling versions of the poppy. The old geezer part of me is rather saddened by this, but the more pragmatic part of me thinks perhaps this will encourage younger people to wear their poppies with pride.

The idea of the paper remembrance poppy first started in the US in 1920 but today and since 1921 the poppy has been used by the Royal British Legion to raise money. This providing financial, social and emotional support to those who have served or who are currently serving in the British Armed Forces, and their dependents. They are sold on the streets by volunteers in the weeks before Remembrance Day.

The poppy has no fixed price and nor should it. The price that many of our men and women have paid and indeed continue to pay is beyond mere coinage.

Is It Nothing To You?

Picture of the war memorial in the grounds of Mill Hill chapel Leeds.

This war memorial in the grounds of Mill Hill chapel at City Square in Leeds has 32 names on the brass plaque. At the bottom of the stone of the memorial are carved the words.. Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by? Sadly today I think it mostly is not given a second glance. As I write this I have a poppy pinned to my jacket for the poppy appeal.

The names on this 1914 - 1918 WW1 memorial cenotaph are as follows:

MAJ H BROWN DSO, MC, CROIX DE GUERRE YORKS REGT
MAJ A J H CLIFFE WEST YORKS REGT
MAJ FA LUPTON WEST YORKS REGT
CAPT M LUPTON WEST YORKS REGT
CAPT C R LUPTON DSC RAF
CAPT D P HIRSCH VC YORKS REGT
CAPT J K IRELAND ROYAL FUSILIERS
LIEUT L M LUPTON ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY
LIEUT S F JACKSON WEST YORKS REGT
LIEUT E SKELTON ROYAL FLYING CORPS
SEC LIEUT L A D DAVID YORKS REGT
SEC LIEUT G HALL MIDDLESEX REGIMENT
ADJ & SEC LIEUT H HESS MIDDLESEX REGIMENT
SEC LIEUT B RICHARDSON WEST YORKS REGT
SERGT W CONYERS WEST YORKS REGT
GNR R BRINDLEY ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY
PTE E DODGSON WEST YORKS REGT
PTE I FISHBURN WEST YORKS REGT
PTE C FLOWER ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY
PTE G FORD WEST YORKS REGT
PTE G E GILDERDALE WEST YORKS REGT
PTE A GREAVES RAMC
PTE W H KITSON WEST YORKS REGT
PTE F A POTTS ROYAL WARWICKS REGT
PTE SEN J NATH WEST YORKS REGT
PTE E STOCKWELL WEST YORKS REGT
PTE B P VICKERS ROYAL LANCS REGT
PTE H WALKER SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
PTE J P YATES CANADIAN HIGHLANDERS

after the above names there are added names for WW2 1939 - 1945

FLT LIEUT P H BARRAN RAF
FLT LIEUT P A DALTON RAF
C/O D P HIRSCH GREEN HOWARDS

A few small details of a few of the above men who died for their King, country and comrades..

Hirsch, David Philip, V.C. Captain. 4th Yorkshire Regiment. Date of Death: 23-4-1917. Age: 20. Cemetery-Memorial: Arras Memorial. Panel Bay 5. (Son of Harry and Edith Hirsch, Weetwood Grove, Leeds). He had been a member of the Leeds university OTC.

Barran, Philip Henry Flt Lt BR 609 Sqn was patrolling of Portland Bill in his spitfire and was shot down by an ME109, although wounded he baled out but died later on 11 Jul 1940 at the age of 31. He was the son of Philip Austyn Barran and Dorothy Currer Barran, of Chapel Allerton, Leeds. He is buried at Leeds (Lawnswood) Cemetery.

Lupton, Charles Roger Capt RAF D.S.C. and Bar 205 Sqn. Killed in collision with French aeroplane when returning from a raid on the 9th May 1918. Age 19 years. Son of Charles Lupton D.L. O.B.E. and Katharine Lupton of Carr Head Roundhay Leeds.

I chose the above 3 men for a little detail not because they were officers or pilots but because I found information about them easily. Also in their own way they represent the 3 services, Army, Navy and the RAF. Charles Lupton was in the RNAS prior to the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) to form the RAF on 1 April 1918.

Uncertain Wildflower

I am not sure about the identity of this wildflower, I took the photo in the spring last year. I had thought it was called vipers bugloss until I looked it up before writing this, now I am not so sure.

Any ideas?

Angel Inn - Revisited

Picture of the Angel Inn Leeds city centre.

I walked through one of the ginnels in Leeds city centre a few days back, this one was Angel Inn Yard and stopped to get a photo of the Angel Inn.

In the 1860's Briggate which Angel Inn Yard is off had 24 Inns and Taverns, also 3 beerhouses along its length. Although this pub or Inn dates back to before the 1860's the Angel Inn is not included on this list because it was and is just off Briggate. The Victorians must have done some serious drinking with 27 licensed premises along this one street, today most of these places have long gone.

Captain Samuel Walker

Picture of memorial to Captain Samuel Walker of Leeds.

This memorial to a soldier of the peninsular war is unusual because oddly there is another memorial to him in another church here in Leeds. Captain Samuel Walker - 3rd Foot Guards - killed at Talavera - 28 July 1809 was the son of William Walker, of Leeds.

The 3rd Foot Guards is better known today as the Scots Guards and in 1809 the regiment made the journey to the Iberian Peninsula and in late July under Wellington they fought Napoleon and his army at a place called Talavera. The battle of Talavera (July 27–28 1809) was bloody and Samuel Walker was just one of many casualties.

The memorial on a wall inside Mill Hill Unitarian Chapel reads...

Sacred to the memory of Captain Samuel Walker of the 3rd Regiment of Guards who, after 13 years service with that Regiment, in IRELAND, HOLLAND, EGYPT, GERMANY, DENMARK & PORTUGAL fell in the battle of Talavera in SPAIN on the 28th of July 1809, aged 34 years.
He was the fourth son of William Walker Esqr of Killingbeck near Leeds and grandson of the late Revd. Thomas walker, many years pastor of this congregation.

Mill Hill chapel was rebuilt in 1848 so I suspect that they saved and moved this memorial to the new church.

Capt Samuel Walker has 3 memorials that I know of, the one above in mill Hill, Leeds also there is another one in Leeds Parish church, lastly he is named on the Guards Officers Memorial at the Royal Military Chapel, Wellington Barracks.

I took the photo in this way to use better lens and still get the detail I wanted in the picture. Normally I would have moved further back, but there is a wall there. Also the memorial is some way up the wall so using my wider angle lens would have caused some distortion. This way I got good definition of the plaque on the memorial with the loss of a bit of a cannon and some of a sword.

I am now past 1,000 posts on this blog but find this is the first post from Mill Hill Chapel in Leeds city centre. I had thought I had already done something from this interesting and historical chapel in the heart of Leeds. I will remedy that omission shortly.

25th Leeds International Film Festival

Leeds International Film Festival poster at Leeds town hall.

A few days back I watched some scaffolders working on the front of Leeds town hall. Today I walked near the town hall and saw the reason for their efforts, a giant poster for the 25th Leeds International Film Festival.

The opening Gala screening of BAFTA and Oscar-winning director Andrea Arnold’s bold new adaptation of Wuthering Heights is tomorrow with the festival running from 3-20 November.

Chris Fell, Director of Leeds International Film Festival said:
“I’m delighted that the 25th Leeds International Film Festival will open with one of the most talked-about British films of the year, and one with strong associations with the Yorkshire region. Andrea Arnold’s raw interpretation of Wuthering Heights is a powerful experience and like none that has come before. The Opening Gala night at Leeds is our most high-profile event and we wanted to give this outstanding film the headline attention it deserves.”

The closing Gala film is Shame, directed by Steve McQueen and starring Michael Fassbender, which will close the Film Festival's Official Selection on Friday 18th November.

The Leeds International Film Festival is the largest regional film festival here in the UK, showcasing the very best new cinema from around the world.

The Golden Owl Competition, part of the Official Selection at Leeds, exists to promote outstanding new work by emerging directors whose films in the line-up have not yet secured UK distribution. One of my favourite films Croupier from 1988 starring Clive Owen struggled to get distribution but eventually went on to critical success and 98% rating on rotten tomatoes so I support the idea behind the Golden Owl competition.

Autumn Leaves

Picture of Autumn leaves.

I took this photo of some Autumn leaves this time last year.