Horsforth

I meant to post this picture of the name Horsforth on the back of a public bench in the small town of Horsforth.

It looks as if someone has perhaps used a marker pen on some of the letters.

Candle

Picture of a candle in the church of St Peter at Rawdon, Leeds.

Whilst I was in the church of St Peter in Rawdon here in Leeds a few days back I took the above photo of a candle.

Spring Flowers Leeds Cemetery

Picture of daffodils in Upper Wortley cemetery, Leeds.

So far I had not yet seen any daffodils in flower this year till I visited Upper and Lower Wortley Cemetery here in Leeds.

I worked for many years not far from this cemetery but only noticed it a couple of days back on taking a different journey into the city.

Church Bear

Picture of a Teddy bear in a church at Rawdon, Leeds.

I was in the church of St Peter at Rawdon a few days back.

Whilst looking at the interior of the church especially the stained glass windows I spotted a Teddy bear in a small chair. I temporarily moved the bear to a pew to catch the sunlight for the above photo.

If I recall correctly the chair was for Peter bear.

Liberty Building - Leeds University

Picture of Liberty Building home of the Law School at the University of Leeds.

Yesterday in the early evening I was on the campus of the University of Leeds heading for the Business School Western lecture theatre for The genius of Michael Faraday by Sir John Meurig Thomas FRS FREng.

The Stoner Colloquia

The School of Physics & Astronomy hosts talks from prestigious guest speakers approximately 4 times a year. Yesterday I attended a talk by Sir John Meurig Thomas about the life and work of Michael Faraday the eminent scientist or natural philosopher. I knew very little about Faraday until yesterday, Sir John lived up to his reputation as an educator and I just wish I had caught his Royal Institution Christmas Lecture in 1987.

I was a little early so I explored the recent new buildings at this end of the campus. The light was beginning to go when I took the above photo of the Liberty Building home of the School of Law. I recommend the hot chocolate in the vending machine on the ground floor.

Adjacent to the Liberty Building and just across the way is the Michael Marks Building which houses the Marks & Spencer archives.

Hello Puppy

Picture of a guide dog puppy in Leeds.

This puppy is about to leave home and start out on a whole new life.

Poppy is friendly, smart and has a beautiful coat and now at 13 months she is ready to begin her training proper as a guide dog.

I by chance met another puppy walker with her trainee guide dog puppy some months back but did not have my camera with me. This afternoon I saw another guide dog puppy waiting at a bus stop with a puppy walker so I went over to say hello.

Poppy this beautiful chocolate lab was her second puppy and in a few days Poppy will leave and another puppy will arrive to spend around a year with this lady learning to become socialized. I only spent a few minutes chatting about Poppy and her life before the bus arrived and they went off.

This lady whose name I did not get is a volunteer who gives up her time and takes a puppy into her home knowing that one day she will have to give it up. I know that this must be pretty hard even if you do get another, it is I think a really nice thing to do.

Church Banner

Picture of banner at the church of St Michael and All Angels Headingley

This is another church banner at the church of Saint Michael and All Angels in Headingley, Leeds.

I posted earlier about the Mothers Union Banner at St Michaels, this banner shows various with Saint Michael. The banner shows representations in embroidery of eight angels surrounding St Michael in the centre. The top two angels are Cherubim And Seraphim, the other six angels I have not heard of and cannot work out their names.

The cloth banner is I think a mixture of embroidery and also what looks to me to be collage. I have no idea how old this banner is, it is showing signs of distress with some of the angels losing a little of their detail especially noticeable on their faces. I would hazard a guess that this banner may well have been made by members of the Mothers Union, but it could perhaps pre date that period.

The photo of the banner is a little off centre, there is a large brass lectern right in front of the banner, so I took the photo from a slight angle.

Mothers Union Banner

Picture of the Mother Union banner at the church of St Michael and All Angels Headingley, Leeds.

A few days back I visited the Church of St Michael and All Angels in Headingley, Leeds.

St Michaels church is one that I had walked by quite a few times over the years but I had never seen the inside. Like most churches in our towns and cities St Michaels is locked for much of the week.

Since last year when I visited a couple of Leeds churches for the Treasures Revealed Festival I have of late been far more proactive and have started on a personal minor pilgrimage to visit every church in and around Leeds this year.

The thing I love about our churches is that each of them regardless of age or style has things of beauty inside them. Many of the churches here in Leeds have wonderful stained glass windows.

The photo above is something that can perhaps be seen in many churches across the UK, but each of them is unique, specific to a particular church. It is a Mothers Union Banner embroidered in white, green and gold thread on blue cloth. Sadly the Mothers Union at St Michaels, which had existed for 100 years, recently came to an end.

The Mothers Union was started in Old Alresford near Winchester by Mary Sumner (31 December 1828 – 9 August 1921) whose husband George was Rector of the village church. The idea of the Mothers Union was to get the women of the parish together, from all classes, for mutual support.

Today the Mothers Union is a Christian charity seeking to support families across the globe. These days membership is no longer restricted to women and mothers with fathers and grandparent involved.

This year the Treasures Revealed in Leeds Festival 2012 runs from 28/4/12 to 7/5/12.

Leeds Parish Church Recital

Picture of organ stops at Leeds parish church.

By chance last Friday lunchtime I caught an organ recital at Leeds Parish Church.

I had actually called into the church for a coffee in the cafe and discovered that every Friday luchtime there is a free recital (there is a retiring collection).

The Leeds parish Church lunchtime recital programme is here.

Former St Andrews Yeadon

Picture of the former church of St Andrew at Yeadon, Leeds.

The above photo shows a view of the former church of St Andrew on Haw lane Yeadon.

St Andrews was built in 1891 in the Arts and Crafts perpendicular style by the architects Thomas and Francis Healey of Bradford. The church was built with money raised by public subscription at a cost of £3,500.

The church has an unusual bell tower adjacent to the main entrance. Unusually for a church built at this period there are only two stained glass windows, one of which is a memorial to the soldiers and sailors who died in the Great War 1914-1918. I will post a photo of this I think beautifully done war memorial window sometime soon.

Today this fine old building is listed as Grade II and is the New Life Community Church.

Death Row Geese

Picture of Canada geese at Yeadon Tarn, Leeds in West Yorkshire

These two Canada Geese look quite happy swimming adjacent to the waters edge on Yeadon tarn this afternoon.

Back in September last year officials at Leeds/Bradford airport decided that the flock of Canada geese at the tarn posed a hazard to aircraft. Early one morning at around 5am officials from FERA cordoned off the lake and took out the geese. When I say they took them out I do not mean they took them to McDonald's for an early breakfast I mean rather that they shot them.

Having just looked at the FERA website I see that there is a Canada goose just taking to the air in a photo, presumably they felt the after photo (after their bird management expertise) was just too graphic.

Apparently the cull or killing, to be less ambiguous, at the end of last summer may not be the last of the matter because local newspapers have reported another cull of these large waterfowl is a possibility.

St Josephs Pudsey

This is the Catholic church of St Joseph in Pudsey.

The present church was designed by Dewsbury architect Charles Fox and was opened on 17 September 1934.

St Josephs Church can be found at Mount Pleasant Road, Pudsey, LS28 7AZ

Scout Hut

Picture of a scout hut in Pudsey near Leeds.

Walking through Pudsey near Leeds a few days back I spotted this building that from the sign is used as a scout hut. Another sign says it is also the home of the Hazel Bell School of Dance.

Many years back I was a scout and collected all the usual badges for some slight proficiency in various skills probably including first aid and sailing. The first aid mostly seemed to consist of bandages, very handy that skill.

Tiddler

Picture of stickleback fish.

Wandering though a public park in Pudsey the other day I discovered a new to me at least visitor centre.

Inside the West Leeds Country Park Visitor Centre are amongst other exhibits some tanks containing some native fish species. The one that interested me the most contained the smallest fish and one that I had not seen since I was a boy.

The above photo shows a couple of small fish, these being the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. These small (4-6 cm) fish are to be found in streams, rivers, ponds and also canals here in the UK and are also native to Northern Europe and N America.

There were quite a few sticklebacks in the tank but because there were quite a few reflections on the glass I tried to catch a few away from the daylight behind me.

Here in the UK the stickleback is also known to mostly young boys as the tiddler.

Not Quite New Inn

Picture of a pub sign at the New Inn of Farsley, Leeds.

The pub where I saw the sign for the husband creche that I posted yesterday is the New Inn at Farsley.

This public house although called the New Inn was established back in 1877. There are I think more than half a dozen pubs also called the New Inn around Leeds, most of them I think are Victorian. Deceptive I know but I guess back in the 1870s it was the new inn.

Pub Creche

Picture of Pub creche sign in Farsley, Leeds.

I have only recently discovered the small town of Farsley a few miles from Leeds, not sure why but I had never visited it before.

Walking past a public house in the town I saw a sign on the pub wall about them providing a free crèche for husbands. I thought it was a great way to get noticed.

The sign reads:
HUSBAND CRECHE
Is he getting under your feet at home..
Is he moaning about shopping...
Would your day be stress free without him...
Then We Have The Perfect Answer
Drop him off at our free husband crèche inside
Our friendly staff will take special care of him
whilst you enjoy a peaceful afternoon thats stress free
TLC Guaranteed

I suspect this sign is tongue in cheek.

The pub is the New Inn on Town Street, Farlsey.

Hello Kitty

Picture of a cat in Yorkshire, England.

A few days back I was walking down to the railway station and I passed a rather cute cat.

Having my camera in its bag I thought she would make a nice subject having already noticed that she was happy to say hello and not run off. The cat was very friendly, if anything a little too friendly. I wanted to capture her from some feet away but she just wanted to get up close in the hope of some attention.

Berries in Snow

Picture of red berries with snow in a Yorkshire church garden.

I was passing the garden where I photographed the crocus in the rain around 24 hours later.

Since the crocus photo it had snowed here across Yorkshire. I took the above photo of some red berries in the same garden. I am not sure what kind of berries these are but I am surprised the birds have not had them.

Crocus in the Rain

Picture of crocus flowers Leeds.

Today here in Leeds it has been a cold, wet and very overcast day.

There was one bright spot, at least I thought so when I saw some crocus flowers in a garden outside a local methodist church.

Bramhope

Picture of a lane in the village of Bramhope near Leeds in Yorkshire.

A short walk along this lane is the Wendy House from yesterday.

Does Wendy Live Here

Picture of a Wendy house in a garden in Bramhope, Leeds.

I was passing through the village of Bramhope a few days back and as I passed the gates of a house I saw the above Wendy House in the garden.

I just had to go back for a better look and photo for this blog.

I just could not get Loyd Grossman's voice using his well-known ... Who lives in a house like this, out of my mind.

Diamond Jubilee

Picture of Golden Jubilee stained glass window at the church of St Peter in Rawdon, Leeds.

Today 6th February it is 60 years since the death of George VI and on that day it was The King is dead long live The Queen.

I have never met The Queen, though I have sworn allegiance to her and was proud to do so when I was a young man on joining the military. I find it incredible that all these years later in a very changed world there has been one constant as an example of duty and service.

By some very odd chance today I visited the church of St Peter in Rawdon, not for the first time but I looked around the interior. I say odd because there is a very modern stained glass window in honour of the Golden Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II back in 2002.

The sunlight was almost behind the window when I took the above photo, this is not ideal I think, hence the wire mesh behind the window. I have cropped the image to show the main detail the motto of the Order of the Garter "Honi soit qui mal y pense" this being a French phrase meaning: "Shamed be he who thinks evil of it" surrounding the shield of the royal coat of arms. Under this in a scroll is Dieu et mon droit, this being the motto of the British Monarch.

The other window of the pair reads: AD 2002 The Golden Jubilee year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Leeds Church Restoration Interior

On Friday I got to revisit the church of St Mark at Woodhouse in Leeds. This fine old Waterloo church, now the last remaining of 3 that were built in Leeds, has been under repair for some months.

The last time I visited the church it was covered in scaffolding whilst stonemasons restored some of the stonework. By chance when I was approaching the church to get a few photographs of the newly repaired exterior I noticed someone else admiring the church. We got chatting and it turned out that he was awaiting the architect who was supervising the work.

Until I was shown into the building I had thought that the work was just about finished. As can be seen from the above photo the interior of the church building is the next phase of the work. I was last inside this Victorian building nearly a year ago and I had forgotten just quite how much work needed to be done.

Magpie Numbers

This photo was not at all the one I intended for today. I was mooching about waiting for someone just across from the church of St Mark Woodhouse Leeds casually watching some magpies in a couple of tall trees.

I do not really have a long lens suitable for much bird photography but I caught these magpies above the church.

Many people know the magpie verse "One for Sorrow", common here in the British Isles. There are a couple of regional variations on some of the lines. An early version goes:
One for sorrow,
Two for luck; (or mirth)
Three for a wedding,
Four for death; (or birth)
Five for silver,
Six for gold;
Seven for a secret,
Not to be told;
Eight for heaven,
Nine for [hell]
And ten for the devil's own sell!

If you look carefully in the expanded picture above you can easily do the rhyme as you count the magpies in the photo.

Leeds Church Restoration

I took the above photograph back in mid December when the restoration work at the church of St Mark in Woodhouse was still underway.

I have visited this church in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter over the 3 years that the Leeds Daily Photo has existed and there has alway been something for me to see.

I guess it has something to do with the fact that the church of St Mark is a Waterloo church and I am an old soldier and am interested in social history.

This old church has been redundant, disused and slowly decaying but over the last few months stone masons have been hard at work repairing and restoring the stonework.

When I last spoke with one of the specialists working on the church he thought the work would be finished perhaps by the end of September. But later a mobile phone carrier wanted to put a mast in the tower and the scaffolding for that work enabled access for more repairs to the structure. This work is being carried out by the workmen in the above picture.

Chapeltown Community Church

Picture of former United Reformed Church at Potternewton, now the Chapeltown Community Church.

Today this is the Chapeltown Community Church, but prior to this fairly recent change it was a United Reformed Church.

Yorkshire was very much home to the Nonconformist religious movements with many towns, villages and cities having several chapels of various denominations.

This building constructed in 1906 just across from Potternewton park would I think be quite a bit less visible when these tall mature trees are in leaf.