History is just old news... here's some new history.

This page came about from a suggestion from an ex-pat living in some far-flung corner of the planet. Most of the entries will have a historical slant but others.. well some strange things happen in Leeds.

The intention is to update this page on the first day of the month....

PLEASE NOTE -

This site is now at a new home at http://www.leodis.cwc.net/ so please update your Favourites/Bookmarks &c. This site will no longer be updated.

October 2000

It's raining

Count on Me
It only comes around once every ten years but it still causes problems. There are just six months to go before the census date.
The 'Census District Manager' has just started a recruitment drive to find 700 suitable folk. They will have to ensure that every household in Leeds gets a form and, probably more difficult, ensure every one is returned and filled in correctly. The information will enable authorities to plan hospital and schools - and, in 100 years time, there will be a genealogist who will be very grateful to you.

Remember Oliver Twirl?
The Faversham Hotel, a favourite haunt of the student population, has been renovated and is now regarded as one of the coolest clubs in Leeds.
The hotel was named after Mrs Haversham, the jilted bride in Charles Dickens' novel, 'Great Expectations'. Those of a literary bent will realise there is a mistake here.
When Gloria and Roger Quilliam bought the pub more than fifty years ago they had just seen the, then, new film of the novel starring John Mills.
As they cleared away, the interior of the ageing building the cobwebs and food that had been left since the First World War reminded them of the film.
So they named the hotel after the lady - only realising some weeks later that they had got the name wrong. Too late - the signs were up outside.

A Tale of Two Cities
As the boom in Leeds is making some people very rich, it seems strange that the city has fallen down the Government league table of poorest places.
New figures show that in 1998 Leeds was ranked 47th poorest place in England - today it is 146th, a huge drop.
Seven of the 33 wards in the city rank amongst the top ten per cent of the country's poorest districts.
The Council are negotiating with the Government to try to get some regeneration cash - based on wards and not the whole area.

Tragic
Last year it was revealed that 11,000 children's hearts were stored in hospitals across the country for research purposes. The news appalled many bereaved parents because they had not given consent for the removal of the parts. Many parents contacted their hospital concerned about the actions taken following the death of their child. Grief stricken parents are discovering that they buried a child without a heart. Exhumations have occurred followed by a 'complete' funeral.
Hospitals have been told to compile a catalogue of body parts that they have in store. Leeds hospitals have a hoard of more than 4,700 parts.

It's still raining

Book a Seat
A 'firkin' is a small barrel. It is also part of an irritating pub chain that renames pubs 'The XXXX & Firkin' - so we had the 'Felon & Firkin' that was once a court building and the 'Feast & Firkin' that stand opposite Woodhouse Moor where a feast/fair is held. Now, bowing to public pressure, the chain is starting to rename the pubs. The 'Feast &….' Is to be renamed 'The Library'. The building was once a library and police station.
Now can we get rid of all those 'Scruffy Murphy's' - a range of plastic pubs that sells Guinness so thinks it's a traditional Irish pub…..so it does.

Leeds A Head Again
For those who have not come across it there is a comic, VIZ, for adults, although the humour is very juvenile and school boyish. The comic recently asked readers to submit photographs of wig wearers in their home towns.
For some strange reason Leeds is top of the wig parade and Bernard Atha, the Lord Mayor, is top wig wearer.
Bernard was quick to point out that, although his hair a little unruly, it is all his own as anyone tugging it will find out.

School's Out
The Diocese of Leeds Schools' Commission, a Catholic organisation, is set to close two well-known Leeds schools following the decrease in the number of Catholic pupils. Mount St Mary's High School and St Michael's College in Woodhouse. Opposition is growing.

Still, it's raining

Shaping Up
The statue of Leeds war hero Arthur Aaron is almost half completed. The statue was commissioned to mark the Millennium following a vote of Leeds people as to who should be honoured.
The statue will be unveiled in December and will stand near the Millennium Fountain in Eastgate.

All Sewn Up
A fabulous tapestry is on display in the Central Railway Station. The tapestry, a Millennium project, was made by hundreds of groups who spent 18 months designing and making the 300 pieces that make up the tapestry.
The tapestry features scenes from around Leeds and each piece is dedicated to some aspect of community life.

Market Forces
Leeds Market has been named as the best in the North and one of the best in the UK. The market can trace its roots back to the 13th century.
The market was almost destroyed by fire in 1975 but emergency measures enabled the stallholders to keep trading. A 10 million pound restoration took place in the 1990s and now, making a link back in time, there is a traditional farmers' market enabling local farmers to sell local produce.
Each week 250,000 shoppers visit the place.

Down by the Riverside
Heritage watchdogs are calling for a halt to the building of offices and very expensive apartments on the Aire waterfront.
The Leeds Civic Trust wants more leisure facilities and asks in its newsletter, 'Why aren't there crowds of tourists and others enjoying the rejuvenated heritage of Leeds historic riverside?'
Something to do with the 'Private - Keep Out' signs all over the place came the answer.

That's the Spirit
Workmen renovating the 'Upstairs Downstairs' nightclub in Armley got a shock the other night. The ghost of a lady made her appearance prompting a fast exit.
Enquires with the former owner reveal that the 'grey lady' has made previous appearances. She is believed to be the ghost of a woman who committed suicide after the death of her husband in the First World War. She used to play on the tennis courts (now the car park).
Now workmen walk around in pairs.

Blue Meanies get Dozy Doris
Loony children's entertainer 'Dozy Doris' has been told to be quiet by the Police. Doris , real name Mandy Vickerman, drives around in a decorated van playing tunes on her air horns and singing songs on the vans PA system
Pc Plod told Doris that what she was doing was illegal and if she continued she would be prosecuted. At least her tunes had a better melody than those played by the boys in blue.

A Night on the Tiles
Leeds Town Hall is being restored to its Victorian glory.
The tiles in the main entrance are being replaced after decades of wear and tear. In a painstaking project, which will take five years to complete is using ancient methods employed by 12th century Cistercian monks. Each tile will be made by the encaustic method. Different coloured clays are used to make the multi-coloured tiles. The process takes ages and the fault rate is much higher than the usual process.
The tile project will cost 150,000 pounds and is part of a much wider plan to bring the Town Hall back to its original splendour.

Yorkies see Red
'Yorkshire Forward' a Government agency that no one wanted is charged with boosting the county's business profile. So far it has come up with a weedy green rose as a symbol of the county and spent millions on getting the design just right. Now it has endeared itself even more to Yorkshire folks by awarding the contract for an advertising campaign to a firm in Manchester - the other side of the Pennines.

Still raining

Rota System for Doctors?
Until now Yorkshire has been one of the few counties not to have an air ambulance. That has been remedied. The service will operate from Leeds-Bradford airport.

Home from Home
An old mill on Kirkstall Road has been turned into a process centre for the hundreds of people seeking asylum in Britain.
The building has a 200 sq ft area for the temporary detention of asylum seekers and includes interview rooms and offices.
In its heyday the mill was used to make leather seats, that's the red ones, for the nobility sitting in the House of Lords

Love Parade II
Earlier this year Leeds staged the largest free music event ever in the UK. Those who attended thought it a great success but residents around the venue, Roundhay Park, were not well pleased with the mess and disruption.
Not enough toilet facilities forced visitors to seek contemplation behind the shrubbery and the bus companies failed dismally in providing a service for everybody.
Now plans are underway to stage next years event that, the organisers say, will be bigger and better… people around the Park are looking nervous.

Joshua's Gone Missing
Strange happenings at the Tetley brewery - now part of the Carlsberg group.
The famous logo featuring a huntsman, which has been used for over 80 years, has been removed from the front of the brewery in Hunslet. He's also gone from the cans of bitter sold in supermarkets. His replacement is a rugby ball. A spokesperson for the brewery said that it was part of a sponsorship deal with England Rugby - she could not explain the disappearance of the log from the front of the brewery.

Just in Time for Christmas
Patches of Colour from My Life - Brendan Naughton
A granddad has published a book about his life in Leeds. Brendan Naughton came to Leeds with his family in 1938. The book features thirty glimpses of his life including; the schoolboy trying to lose his Irish brogue and gain a Leeds accent; the aircraftman in the Royal Air Force; the Hoover salesman; the entrepreneur running a business from his coal shed. Proceeds from the book will all go to St Gemma's Hospice in Leeds.

Morgan's Yorkshire - John Morgan
Yorkshire Evening Post columnist John Morgan has delighted readers for years with his tales of bygone Leeds. His book is packed with nostalgic stories of the flicks (cinema), dancing at the ballroom and music hall acts all told with John's gentle humour.
As a recommendation one of the first buyers of the book was Lord Mayor Bernard 'It's real - honest!' Atha.

Yes, it's still raining!
You might have heard that Britain has been experiencing some wet weather recently. Channel ferries had to anchor out at sea, being unable to dock at Dover because of the bad weather, many towns and villages are under several feet of water with millions of pounds worth of damage. Trees have been uprooted causing traffic chaos, the railway lines look more like rivers prompting cancelled services adding to the traffic chaos.
Tonight, as I write this, Kirkstall Road, which runs parallel to the river Aire and a major route into the city, is closed to traffic. An underground car park at the city end of Kirkstall Road was the scene of a near-tragedy when a woman was surprised by the flooding water and nearly drowned.
Earlier in the month a school party from Leeds went walking along the river in Settle. Two girls, 16 years old, were swept away and it took search teams until a couple of days ago to find the second body. Why they were river walking in this weather is subject of an enquiry.

September 2000

Heritage Weekend
The Civic Trust's Heritage Open days have been very successful.
The public were invited to visit many of the historical building around the city and see areas not usually open to the public.
Sites included many of the old churches and chapels, the Leeds City Varieties (Victorian Music Hall), the Hyde Park Picture House (Edwardian cinema) and Rose Wharf a huge flax mill now converted into offices.
Each site had some knowledgeable people present to answer questions and take visitors on tours around the site.
Next year I will not be going up the narrow steps in the tower at St Hilda's Church - my knees have warned me well in advance!

Twelve Grand Pianos
Italian musician Alessio Bax won the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition after delighting a packed Leeds Town Hall.
Alessio was one of three Italians in the final six competitors.
The prize was 12,000 pounds and a string of international engagements.

Singer Danny Doesn't Like Heavy Metal
A man who has hung about city centre streets for the past twenty years was given a birthday party, with a specially-baked cake, at the Civic Hall.
Danny Freeman has reached his eightieth birthday and his birthday gift was a brand new walking stick.
Danny can usually be seen singing outside Marks and Spencer's city store where he has raised 200,000 pounds for charity in those twenty years.
He's now aiming for the quarter-million mark despite his own problems - he has Parkinson's Disease and has difficulty holding a heavy collecting - so no heavy metal, just paper money please.

Lessons to be Learnt
After Leeds Education Service had the control of schools taken away from it following a damning Government report the Leeds taxpayers have now been landed with a 750,000-pound bill for the setting up of a private company to do the job instead.
The new company will control about 15% of the city's total education budget.

Church Damaged
Witless vandals have damaged two stained-glass windows at St John the Baptist Church at Adel. The 840-year old church is one of the finest examples of Norman architecture. The windows are believed to date from the 19th century. Luckily photographs exist of the windows so recreation is possible.

Walking Up the Aisle
A security guard at the Asda supermarket at Killingbeck asked his girlfriend to do some shopping whilst he was at work. As she pushed her trolley past the baked beans her boyfriends dulcet tones came over the public address system - 'Will you marry me?'
Cue woman running down aisle into the arms of the man of her dreams.
They're getting married at Kirkstall Abbey next June.
If he'd waited just one week he could have taken advantage of Asda's 'Two for One' offer!

First Footers
You can usually tell it's Christmas here - they have Easter eggs in the shops!
In a drive to remind customers to book early for functions at Christmas Weetwood Hall Hotel has a fully decked-out Christmas tree in the foyer and Sainsbury's at Moor Allerton, getting into the seasonal spirit, have switched from barbecues and summer chairs to Christmas cards, lights, crackers and decorations.

Give 'em a Big Hand
The Millennium Square is nearing completion. The landmark square will have gardens, a fountain, obelisks surmounted by the famous Leeds art deco owls, sixty trees, and over 1500 shrubs.
The complete the picture the council has decided that what is needed is a pair of 16ft-high arms - a snip at 53,000 pounds.
The bronze limbs are the work of internationally renowned Leeds sculptor Kenneth Armitage.

Otto's Coming to Town
A bus company is planning to bring the American yellow school buses to Leeds. In another effort to cut traffic congestion the buses will pick up children as near as possible to their homes thus there will be no need for the daily swarm of the 'school run'.
Drivers will be assigned the same bus every day and, it says here', 'provide a regular friendly face' for the children.
Those who use public transport in Leeds are looking forward to the novelty of 'regular' and 'friendly face' when used in connection with buses!

Going Home
Many events were held this month to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
The ancient Adel Church has mounted a display to remember Officer Charles Bird of Kirkstall. Charles died on July 25th 1940 when his Hurricane collided with a Junkers 88 bomber over the Cotswolds.
Charles was born and raised in Kirkstall and was just 23 years old when he died. He told his wife of ten months that should he die he wanted to be taken back to Yorkshire. His grave stands in the grounds of the church and the headstone has a rather sad poem, 'Wings' engraved on it.

The Fav.
The Faversham has re-opened following renovations by the new owners, Whitbread Breweries, and is now called 'The Fav' which is what everyone else called it anyway.
The former grand hotel and manor house, in Springfield Mount, sits a few yards from the university campus and has been the haunt of many a student down the years.

One Thousand Years
The project to research the history of East Keswick has received a financial boost from the Local Heritage Initiative.
The projected book will feature one thousand years of village life and will include carefully preserved pages from the exercise books of trainee Methodist ministers who were taught in the village in Victorian times.

A Night on the Tiles
Newcastle's Central Railway Station had a lounge that was converted into police cells in the 1940s. The plan now is to convert the old premises into a bistro and delicatessen.
As workmen stripped away the old concrete walling they were amazed to find some highly ornate tiles covering the ceiling.
The hand-made tiles were made at the Leeds Burmantofts Pottery in 1895 and are valued at more then 3.5 million pounds.
The display is rated to be the best outside a museum and plans are now being re-drawn to incorporate the tiles into the design of the bistro. The Railway Heritage Trust has chipped in with a 250,000 pounds towards the cost of restoration.

Down by the Riverside
The Governments Environment Agency has declared the industrial rivers of Yorkshire to be in the cleanest state they've been for decades. Some are achieving levels of purity not seen for over 200 years.
River quality is classified into one of six categories - 'very good' to 'immeasurably bad'. Where the Aire begins, in the Dales above Malham, it is classed as 'very good'. Just a few years ago by the time the Aire had passed through Leeds, it had reached the stage of 'immeasurably bad' mainly caused by Yorkshire Water's sewage works on its banks.
A campaign, spearheaded by the Yorkshire Post newspaper, has pushed Yorkshire Water into spending millions of pounds in a clean-up operation.
The river was once one of the most polluted in Europe - in 1866, things were so bad that the water was used as ink!

Independent Armley
To mark the Millennium the people of Armley have erected a memorial and buried under it a time capsule containing tapes, newspapers, &c. Armley is a unique Leeds district in that it has a 300-years old charter that gives it permanent and independent rights.

Jaws
Some few weeks ago the management of Kelda, Yorkshire Water to you and me, tried to set up an independent company, headed by ex-Kelda employees, which would be owned by the customers.
The customers could then, en bloc, negotiate to but water from Kelda, with the ex-Kelda employees (!) leading the negotiations, even though those employees still held major shares in Kelda. The downside, as if we needed one, was that the new owners, the customers would take on the debts of Kelda.
Not surprisingly, the only people interested in this idea were the shareholders who stood to offload a great debt and make a fortune when they sold the company to the customers.
Now, like sharks homing in on an injured creature, the shareholders are demanding the resignation of the Executive Chairman.

Vicarious Liability
The on-going saga of the Wetherby vicar and organist continues.
Late last year the Rev. Philip Evans arrived at St. James' Church in Wetherby. He discovered that the long-serving organist was 'living in sin' and had been for many years. 'Repent or go', was his response. This split the congregation and caused many months of upset. The vicar went on 'sick leave' as it all got a bit much for him.
Now Rev. Evans has stepped down from his post at the church and is looking for alternative employment. The organist is taking legal action for unlawful dismissal.

Oo-er!
People stopped and stared as glamorous woman walked up Briggate in some very scanty underwear. A catwalk had been erected in the shopping street and a fashion show was underway to illustrate that Leeds was the fashion capital of the North. The day went well although a tad chilly for the models although the male passers-by looked decidedly warm.
It appears that goose bumps are the next big thing.

Coming Down…(1)
Emergency services struggled for over two hours to rescue a workman who had fallen from the tower of St. Mark's Church in Woodhouse.
The man was trapped inside the belfry and fireman had great difficulty in climbing the narrow stairs to reach him. Then came the problem of getting the stretchered man back down to earth.
St Mark's was erected in 1826 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. It is one of many similarly named churches throughout the country. Known as 'Waterloo Churches' St Mark's is the last in Leeds

Coming Down…(2)
Two young lads, Ashley 10 years and Alex 9 years, gave fire-fighters a fright.
They started shouting for help after getting stuck on the third-floor balcony of the derelict Manston Towers at Swarcliffe. The 'great idea' was to climb down the outside of the tower-block dropping from balcony to balcony. They managed to get down to the third floor before panic set in.
They're grounded!

Des.Res…(1)
A house is for sale in Kirkstall. Not unusual but this one is different.
The unassuming semi is being marketed as the perfect buy for a model railway enthusiast. The second floor bedrooms are home to a complete working model of Leeds Central Station, 1960s variety. Wives beware.

Des. Res…(2)
Not far away from the model railway house is Hawkswood Mount, a collection of Council-owned properties in urgent need of repairs. One local resident complained to the Council regarding the delay in starting the repairs.
The response he got wasn't what he expected.
'The reason that the Hawksworth Wood estate has not received any funding for upgrading of properties is that people still wish to live on the estate.'
'The other areas of Leeds suffer from many forms of social deprivation and in order to encourage tenants to move into the area, funding is made available to upgrade the properties.'

Praise for Projects
Two Leeds projects have received praise from the regeneration organisation, English Partnerships.
The guided bus system on Scott Hall Road was described as an example of, 'quality public transport connections that ensures convenience for commuters and public transport priority at key traffic junctions.'
EP then went on to describe another project as, 'creating a movement framework that enhances the spatial dynamic by forging links with surrounding areas and reducing severance.'
So there you have it, the Centenary Bridge in The Calls, the first bridge in Leeds over the Aire for over 100 years, does wonders for the 'spatial dynamic'.

Land Grab
One of the last remaining sites on the River Aire is up for sale. The prime site is situated between those two 'movement frameworks' Crown Point Bridge and Leeds Bridge. It's not known what the 1.25 acre site will fetch money-wise but the agent selling it said, 'As the last prime development on the riverside it is sure to create a huge amount of interest…' ,which has got to be worth a couple of added zeros.

No Go Zone
Motorists in Britain pay the highest price for petrol in Europe. This is accounted for by 75% of the cost of a gallon of petrol being tax which goes direct to the Treasury.
A few weeks ago a 'Dump the Pump' camapign urged motorists to boycott the petrol stations on just one day to show they disagreen with the high prices. Very few bothered to support the campaign so no one bothered much when farmers and road hauliers announced that they would protest outside the refineries. Within three days the country was in panic. The tanker drivers had refused to pass the protesters so no fuel was being delibvered anywhere in the country.
Long queues built up at petrol stations as panic buying set in. Supermarkets came under pressure as some customers completely filled their trollies with loaves of bread and other basic foodstuffs.
Fights broke out at the petrol stations; rumours of a station having some fuel resulted in traffic chaos as hundreds of motorists wasted valuable petrol by driving pell-mell to the station; some garages were put under police guard and the fuel reserved for the essential services personnel who were rationed to the amount they could buy; some taxi drivers who were employed on ferrying patients to hospital or transporting body parts or blood were given a form pronouncing them to be essential users - very soon hundreds of photo-stat copies were circulating; local radio stations gave out details of those garages still with some petrol but this rapidly changed to reporting that Yorkshire was almost out of petrol.
By Thursday it was all over. The protesters retired whilst they still had general support but have promised the Government that they will return in 60 days if their complaints are not addressed.
The Government have had talks with the Police and Army and union leaders and seem set to take on the protestors rather than cut the tax on petrol.
November could be an interesting month..

August 2000

Painting the Town Red!
A tanker lorry was travelling along Garforth Main Street when a valve on the vehicle ruptured. The contents of the tanker, thousands of gallons of chicken blood, sprayed across the front of the bank, local shops and businesses, the community centre and the footpaths. The road was a river of blood. The red flow surged into the drains and eventually emerged into a beck that feed the river Calder. Environment officers raced to the scene and hastily erected a dam across the beck stemming the tide into the river.
Now plans are afoot to drain the beck and spread the stuff onto fields. Chicken blood is used as a fertiliser.

Council Develops Problems
The Council has allocated 1.5 million pounds to provide a new children's home on the site of the former Shadwell Boy's School. Developers are to build over 100 new homes on the site adding to the traffic problems as more and more drivers use Shadwell Lane - still effectively a narrow country lane.
Local councillors are pressing for some community facilities to be included in their plans. Thus far five plots of land in the area have been sold by the Council for development but no facilities are planned for the local community.
Perhaps a little help with insurance costs could be considered. For some reason, inexplicable to the Council, crime in the area goes up when one of the inmates from the School goes walkabout!

Red Faces Over Orange
Last October Orange, the mobile telephone company, applied for planning permission to erect four radio masts close to Meanwood Working Men's Club.
The planning department were unhappy with some of the proposals but it failed to notify Orange within the statutory time limit and so the plan was approved by default.
A planning officer did say 'Sorry' - he explained that a council fax to Orange didn't get through on time.

Money for the Abbey and Park
National Lottery monies have been announced for the restoration and improvement of Kirkstall Abbey and Roundhay Park.
Over six million pounds has been earmarked for the Park and will provide for social, environmental and recreational facilities. The park is one of the largest urban parks in England.
Another three million or so pounds have been allocated to restore Kirkstall Abbey - one of the finest early (12th century) Cistercian Abbey complexes in Europe.

Cricket Festival
The unfortunate fact that Leeds is sixty miles from the sea did not deter the organisers of a Beach Cricket Festival. Twelve tons of sand was laid out in Victoria Square, in front of the Art Gallery, and palm trees and bits of driftwood added to complete the scene. The three-day festival was aimed at getting children interested in cricket and was timed to coincide with the England-West Indies Test match at Headingley.

Park and Ride
Rothwell coal mine was derelict for nearly twenty years. Then the Council got together with local environment groups and spent four million pounds.
Now Rothwell Country Park has several miles of paths, 15 small ponds, streams and wildflower meadows. 100,000 trees have been planted and thousands of square yards of meadow sown. The local residents are delighted.
However, it's the Council so there has to be a 'however, the park is kept locked during weekdays. A Council spokesman said there was a fear that the park might attract the wrong sort of people - car thieves who might burn out their stolen vehicles and cause damage.
Apparently car thieves don't work at weekends.

Blooming Yorkshire
Once again Leeds has won the 'Yorkshire in Bloom' competition in the 'Best Large City' category. The city has now been nominated to represent Yorkshire in the 'Britain in Bloom' competition.
Other winners include Bramhope (Urban Community), Wetherby (Towns), and Barwick in Elmet (Best Summer Display)

Video Success
Demand for the 'History of Leeds' video has taken the producers by surprise.
Originally, the company expected to sell about 700 copies but that number has long since been passed. Many of the sales are to Loiners living abroad.
The hour-long video charts the development of the city from Roman times to the present day. The next video will be looking at traditional Yorkshire through dialect, song, food and industry etc.
The 'History of Leeds' video is still available:-
£15.99 mail order from Yorkshireshop, PO Box 130, Leeds LS18 4ZH
or on the WWWeb www.yorkshireshop.co.uk

Why's It Called a Stand ?
Leeds United Football Club have hit upon a great idea - if you like football that is.
They are seeking permission to erect a mini 3-tier stand on Commercial Street, in the centre of the shopping area, outside the Granada TV shop. Football fans who have to do the shopping on Saturdays may soon be able to take the weight off their feet and see how the lads are getting on.

Threats to Conservation Area
A four-storey Victorian building on Call Lane is threatened by developers who want to demolish it to make way for a retail and residential car park. The new development includes 55 flats and penthouses, shops and a, apparently now obligatory, restaurant. Leeds Civic Trust and English Heritage are opposing the demolition. The building is in a conservation area and fears are that if the plan is given the go-ahead then the floodgates will be opened for developers to demolish other buildings, historically interesting or otherwise, to make way for their plans.

Dust of the Millennium
The construction of the Millennium Square continues. The site is in front of the Civic Hall and at the side of the Brotherton Wing of the Infirmary.
Dust from the site has caused major problems for the patients in the wing many of who suffer from leukaemia and have very weak immune systems.
Windows facing the building site have been closed and a blower system installed to keep the heat down in the wards.

Big Mac To Remove Eyesore
A run-down building on Scott Hall Road is set to become a McDonalds restaurant. Rutland Lodge, built in 1850 by quarry-owner William Denton, was used as a 'basic skills' centre but was closed some years ago. Since then the neglected building has been an eyesore.
Now that the burger chain has shown an interest a local MP has prompted moves to have the building 'listed' - which would stop any moves to demolish the historic building. Why do people only care about these buildings when we are about to lose them?

Pulling Out All The Stops
St Bartholomew's Church in Armley houses one of the world's most famous Edmund Schulze organs. The instrument stands 77 feet high and has 2,688 hand-detailed pipes running through it. The priceless organ is in a terrible state and grossly neglected. The church needs one million pounds to repair the organ and church. The Lottery Commission has come to the rescue and the money is in the pipeline!
The organ was originally built for a private house, Meanwood Towers in Leeds, and in the Victorian era it was bought by a local mill-owner and transferred to the church.
Organists from around the world call at the church to see and play the giant.
Only last week an Australian knocked on the vestry door and asked permission to play.

Fun for All
A quiet month for news… everybody seems to have been enjoying themselves at the numerous galas, shows and festivals in the area.

Staff just managed to clean up Roundhay Park after the Love Parade as 200,000 people arrived for the Mela. This traditional Asian gathering is a celebration of Asian food, art, music, sport and culture. The event has become a favourite gathering of all cultures and races in Leeds.

Harewood House has been busy. The National Rally of the Morris Minor Owners' Club arrived with 500 'moggies', many of them in pristine condition.
If these small cars are not to your liking then the 21st North of England Rolls Royce Rally might be appeal. 300 rolled up with the pride of place given to a 1933 Phantom II. Worth over 100,000 pounds the car took eight years to restore.
Music fans had the Last Night of the Proms concert and a spectacular firework display.

Temple Newsam House had a capacity 50,000 visitors during the three-day Leeds Festival. Top attractions included Oasis, Blur, Beck, Stereophonics and Pulp. A great time was had by all but it was a pity the event was marred by some morons who set fire to a long line of portable toilets and then threw stones and bottles at the Fire Brigade. Police in riot gear had to be called to deal with the violence.

Chapeltown staged Europe' biggest reggae festival with headliners 'The Wailers', Bob Marley's old backing band.
Europe's oldest Caribbean Carnival enjoyed its 33rd year. 60,000 revellers took to the streets with some stunning costumes and steel drum bands.

In the city centre the Rhythms of the City programme continued with some traditional Irish music and , for some strange reason, three women dressed as brides appeared on numerous streets and did a little jig.
Boats of all shapes and sizes arrived at Clarence Dock for the Leeds Waterfront Festival.

Does anybody do any work around here ?!!!

Armley Gaol to Get Floral Curtains
Perhaps not, but you never know. For the first time in its 153-year history Armley Gaol is to have a female governor.
Stacey Tasker is one of just two female governors with a Grade 1A rating - the highest in the Prison Service.
The prison has a staff of 700, a budget of 21 million pounds and 1,260 inmates.

Avoid the Drunk
Down at Ingham's lodging house in Lower Briggate you can stay the night for just one penny. It's a clean place and the straw in the mattresses is changed regularly - every June and Christmas. If the local butcher has a special offer on then you might get some black pudding for breakfast.
Europe's top medical museum, Thackray in Leeds, has enlisted the Heyday's Group of actors from west Yorkshire Playhouse for a special show at the museum. You can talk to Lottie, the landlady of Ingham's, avoid a shambling drunk suffering from cholera or even help the lady trying to get into one of the privies. In the 1840s that privy would have been shared by 300 people.
Visiting children are fascinated by the exhibition-show and some have suggested the poor people filter their water to avoid diseases.

Wartime Archives
The Second World War Experience Centre is small archive centre in York Place in Leeds. The Centre houses the deep, personal memories of a people at war. Already the shelves creak under the memoirs, photographs and mementos of more than 1,000 men and women who lived through the war.
This month the Centre takes delivery of the memories of some of the 8,000 Mosquito crew members.
The museum, which opened last summer, will soon be looking for new premises to house the ever-growing collection.
One of the assistants at the museum is 84-year old Stan Hope, an ex-RAF flight sergeant.
During the war Stan had to bail out over Belgium when his plane developed a fault. He managed to make it to the Spanish border but was the captured by the Germans. His memories are in the museum as are those of Marmaduke Hussey, the media personality. He was riddled with machine gun fire at Anzio.
Taken to a convent the Germans wanted to take him to Germany. A young nun defied the SS threatening to hunt them down through the courts should they move the critically injured airman. Fifty years later Marmaduke returned to Anzio and that nun was still there.
Anyone interested in the centres activities can visit the website
www.war.experience.org

Indus Trial
The wonders of modern communication. Some customers with store credit cards may be in for a surprise when they ring to enquire about their account.
Leeds has a huge call-answering industry but for 'efficiency' (cash to you & me) reasons the calls will be routed to another centre…in Delhi.
Management assured customers that the change would be seamless - probably like ringing a centre in Birmingham or Bradford perhaps!

..finally
Two pubs in Leeds have had to re-name a cocktail after being threatened with court action.
'Viagra' a potent mix of vodka, Blue Bols and Red Bull has been a huge hit with drinkers but the medical company Pfizer did not like the rise being taken out of their product.
The cocktail has now been renamed, 'Niagra', which is probably more appropriate considering the possible effects ;o)