|
Leodis New News March
2005
Harewood House
There's a bit of a kerfuffle surrounding Harewood House at the moment.
The Harewood House Trust has been given £1.5 million to renovate
an old stable block designed by
famous 18thC architect John Carr.
The Trust initially approached English Heritage, a public body with
responsibility for protecting and
promoting historic buildings. They turned the Trust down.
Then the Trust went to the National Lottery and came away empty-handed
again.
Third time lucky - Yorkshire Forward, an un-elected regional development
agency came up with the
necessary.
The Trust said that it was extremely grateful to Yorkshire Forward which
saw the potential of the
building and that it would be contributing to a sustainable business.
Now it all seems perfectly sensible until you look closely at Harewood
House.
The House is the home of the Queen's cousin, the Earl of Harewood, who
appeared in the Sunday
Times "Rich List" as being worth £30 million.
In 2004 the number of people paying to visit the House and gardens was,
in Harewood's own publicity,
"2004 saw Harewood House smash all previous visitor figures with
a fourth consecutive record-breaking
season.... further consolidating Harewood's position as Yorkshire's
most visited historic house."
Sounds like a struggling business to me!
Add in all the special events, music concerts, &c and it's easy
to see that Harewood House isn't short
of a bob or two.
It's also easy to think that someone has friends in high places.
Holy Trinity
"Fantastic news", said the vicar of the Holy Trinity Church
on Boar Lane when he heard that a Heritage
Lottery and English Heritage bid to obtain funds to repair the spire
and tower had been successful.
The church is regarded as one of the finest 18thC churches outside of
London.
Built between 1721 and 1727 the tower originally had a short lead-clad
timber spire. A violent storm in
1839 said goodbye to that. The replacement was the elegant spire of
three diminishing parts.
The original architect was William Etty and it was Robert Chantrell
[designed the Leeds Parrish Church]
who designed the spire. Apart from a slight change in the colour of
the stone the additions are in keeping
with the original design.
The funds will allow repair work to be carried out on the tower and
spire and prevent further damage.
Check here for a photograph
of the tower.
http://www.riponandleedsbells.org.uk/boar%20lane.htm
With Conscience and Dignity
"I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity"
- it's part of the Hippocratic Oath which I understand some medical
practitioners no longer avow.
Following government legislation the responsibility for providing out-of-hours
medical services was passed to the local Primary Care Trust. This created
an opportunity for commerce to provide the medical services when GPs
opted not to continue the provision.
NYED - North Yorkshire Emergency Doctors - had been in the business
of supplying out-of-hours cover for eight years when it won the contract
to provide cover for a million patients in North Yorkshire and parts
of North Leeds.
None PCTs were involved including Harrogate, Selby and Scarborough.
Four of them didn't even bother to put the contract out to tender. They
agreed a contract of over four million pounds for just six months -
£22,000 per day.
The five remaining Trusts agreed separate contracts with Leeds NW and
Leeds NE paying over three quarters of a million pounds per year to
cover just 93,000 patients.
The trough was well attended.
The pay the NYED doctors received beggars belief. Simply providing cover
whilst practices carried out staff training was £90 per hour.
Overnight cover on a public holiday got a nice £180 per hour.
In the rural areas doctors were paid the standard £90 per hour
even though business was so quiet they slept most of the shift - that's
almost a grand a shift.
Of course, it couldn't last and the business went bust. The expected
enquiry is in progress with the usual assurances that patients health
has not been jeopardised.
A new staff nurse, in the NHS, will currently be earning just under
£15,000 per annum.
Alf Cooke's Going
As you travel across Crown Point Bridge out of the city a familiar site
has greeted countless travellers for decades - Alf Cooke's factory.
The fact that Alf died in 1902 and the factory hasn't belonged to the
Cooke company since 1981 is neither here nor there. It's still known
as "Alf Cooke's".
The site is now owned by another printing company - Bemrose Corporation.
With modern business being what it is the company can no longer maintain
the factory on Hunslet Road and is transferring some of the staff to
another site off Dewsbury Road in Leeds. The shift will result in some
redundancies.
The founding Alf Cooke was born in 1842, the son of a printer on Dewsbury
Road. Alf's first business was a rented shop and house on Hunslet Road
selling stationery and newspapers and a little letterpress printing.
Alf was just 24 years old.
The 1870 saw Alf buy premises on the east side of Hunslet Road, near
to the Crown Point Bridge, so that he could expand his printing operations.
The place burned down in 1880.
A new factory opened on the west side of Hunslet Road within a year.
Alf had borrowed £31,000 - a fortune at the time.
The building is listed as a site of historical importance.
In 1894 the new factory burned down leading to the present premises
at Crown Point.
Alf died in 1902 and his sons Harry and Alf Jnr took the reins. Harry
died in 1935 and his brother managed to see out the Second World War
before dying in 1947. His son, Alf Jnr, was killed in the conflict.
The 1881 factory was extended in the 1950s on the site of a demolished
church. In commemoration
of that church, St Jude's, a stained-glass window, rescued from the
church, was built into the extension. The window is to be donated to
St Mary's Parish Church in Hunslet.
A Grand 850 Grand
The restoration and development of the Grand Theatre on New Briggate
starts with Phase One -
improving seating and sound systems together with better facilities
for the disabled. Thre will also
be improvements to the orchestra pit and the scenery management system.
The scheme will create the first permanent home for Opera North since
its inception 26 years ago.
Phase Two will see the adjacent Assembly Rooms renovated and developed
into a 350-seater
multi-purpose venue.
The whole development is set to cost £31.5 million, the money
coming from various sources -
private, Arts Council, Heritage Lottery, &c
To assist in the running costs of the theatre the Yorkshire Bank has
stepped in with a sponsorship
deal worth £850,000. The deal, lasting five years, will see the
theatre's 1500-seater auditorium
named after the bank.
The 126-year old theatre was in need of some TLC, it will be interesting
to see what they do -
as long as they don't lose those dizzying heights of the Gods.
The Royal Armouries
The Best Specialist Museum of the Year 2004, the Royal Armouries, hosts
the nation's greatest collection of historic weapons.
To add another string to its bow the Armouries is to join forces with
a commercial company - Forensic Alliance Ltd.
FAL is to develop a state-of-the-art facility for the ballistic and
forensic examination of firearms.
The scheme will include a 25 metre indoor firing range.
FAL offers a comprehensive range of facilities to more than 30 of the
42 police forces in the UK. Other customers include coroners and the
military police
Patient Improving
Accountants - a breed that live in a different world where all is not
what it seems.
Along with several other Hospital Trusts around the country Leeds NHS
Trust is deeply in debt. This has caused numerous problems recently
with operations being cancelled, wards, closed and many job losses.
The Trust anticipated ending the financial year £17million in
debt.
The Trust's accountants have come up with a solution to all our problems.
A "routine revaluation" of the hospital buildings has given
the Trust an extra £13.8 million it didn't have. This is based
on assets that you can't really sell but it does allow you to look healthier
financially than you really are. Bosses say the extra money may allow
the Trust to balance the books this year.
A note of caution from the Trust - it will start the new financial year
£28 million in debt.
I'm sure all this jiggery-pokery is perfectly legal but at some stage
I'd want to see some hard brass.
Anybody Seen Whatsisname?
Until he lost his seat in the local election of June 2004 Gerry Harper
(Labour) was your man if it involved car parks or rubbish.
Many's the time Gerry would appear, just after the media had arrived,
at some local rubbish crisis or car parking melee to solve the problem
or at least promise to do something about it.
What thanks did he get - very few kisses at the election.
In the new dawn came his replacement, the dashing Liberal Democrat David
Morton.
The desk he was given seems to have been a little too large for him
as just five short months into the post dashing David dashed.
He had apparently come to the conclusion that he couldn't make "an
effective contribution to the department."
Now, according to Councillor Peter Gruen (Labour) Councillor Morton
seems to have come to the same conclusion regarding his attendance at
council meetings. He's missed numerous meetings including those of the
West Plans panel of which he is a serving member. For this he claims
over £1,000 per month for expenses.
One meeting he did attend was one for which he needed to attend to avoid
the risk of being liable to disqualification as a councillor but he
hasn't been to a council meeting in months.
Council Morton said that he had been doing some work on the plans to
ban "To Let" signs in Headingley.
Time Gentlemen, Please!
The doom-mongers have been proved wrong again. This time the relaxation
in licensing laws allowing drinking establishments to open 24 hours
a day was to have caused havoc with the social fabric of the nation.
The owners of pubs have had a month now to apply to open for the full
day. To date, in Leeds, not one has done so. This no-show seems to be
the general reaction across the country.
No applications have been received in Manchester, Liverpool or even
central London.
Later in the year some clubs may seek an extension of a couple of hours
but that may be about all we see of the new legislation.
On a healthier note Leeds City Council have voted not to mass medicate
the city by requesting that fluoride be added to the drinking water.
So we can look forward to pure water coming out of our taps until the
doom-mongers regroup.
More Council Cuts
The alliance administration seems to be slashing costs wherever it can
in a possible attempt to levy a low council tax.
The latest to feel the edge of the blade are about three thousand pensioners
who have, or will have, their home help service discontinued. Basic
necessities such as shopping and cleaning are being stopped with the
Social Services department suggesting possible alternatives in the voluntary
sector. The charitable volunteer groups appear not to have been consulted
on the matter.
Social Services councillor Peter Harrand (Tory) said that the council
was "implementing central government policy which tells us to concentrate
our funds where they are most needed."
With a General Election looming it will do no harm to put the Labour
Government in a bad light even if the little people get hurt in the
process.
Councillor Harrand added, "We are not removing services without
signposting to suitable alternatives.."
One old lady was told that the help she gets with her shopping will
be cut from one hour a week to just one hour a month.
Should she get hungry she was "signposted" to the local Chinese
takeaway. Free delivery within two miles and a free bag of crackers!
Ridin' Along On My Pushbike,
Honey
The council workmen arrived and started digging up the pavement. Ten
days it took them. Solid graft and countless cups of tea.
It then took four days to lay down the bright red tarmac and for some
artistic chap to draw some white lines and a child-like image of a bicycle.
Staff at the nearby dental surgery had watched the proceedings with
interest and were a little non-plussed when the work appeared to come
to an end and the workmen left.
Street art, thought some. Other a training exercise perhaps.
The result of two weeks work looked like a cycle lane. But it was 64
inches wide, 250 inches long, started nowhere and finished nowhere.
Passers-by started looking for a hidden TV camera. Workmen having a
laugh wondered other members of the bemused.
A Leeds City Council spokeswoman declared; "This is a link enabling
cyclists using Nursery Lane to access the toucan crossing on King Lane
and the longer cycle route between Moor Allerton shopping centre and
Crag Lane. Toucan crossings can be used by cyclists as well as pedestrians."
I don't know what they smoke in the Civic Hall but it's obviously good
stuff.
Expensive Sandwich
A group of businessmen were invited to a business breakfast at St George's
Crypt to launch an appeal for money to keep the 75 year old charity
running.
They were served with a pot of tea and a bacon butty (sandwich) as they
were given a presentation on the good work that the Crypt does.
As the businessmen were leaving they were making donations to the appeal.
One man, so moved by the charitable work - or the great bacon butty,
donated £1,500 there and then. Good man, hope he enjoyed his sandwich.
An old man walked into the
Crypt, wished to remain anonymous, and gave them £19,000... and
then returned later with another £11,000.
The man, who was in his 70s said that he couldn't take the money with
him and wanted to make sure it went to the best of causes.
The Crypt has a campaign running to try and raise £750,000 to
mark its 75th anniversary.
During the Great Depression the, then, vicar had the crypt cleared of
remains and turned the place into a refuge for men who were sleeping
rough and had hit hard times.
Donations, not necessarily thirty grand, can be sent to the crypt at
- Great George Street, Leeds, LS1 3BR
Sinners To Dinners
The public toilets at the Oakwood Clock, at the top of Roundhay Road,
were closed some years ago as they had gained a rather sleazy reputation
for gents of " a certain persuasion" frequenting them. Now
it looks like they will be reopened next year as a cafe run by a group
of Christians.
The group has already been granted planning permission for a change
of use and is now seeking plans to make structural changes to the building.
The £100,000 project is to be called Cafe@Oakwood and will have
seating for 40 inside and 4 tables and chairs outside.
Although run by committed Christians the religious message will not
be forced on people - they might be putting a "Thought for Today"
on the menus, but that's about it.
The menu has yet to be settled but think of what they could do with
a few loaves and a couple of fish!
Where's Rubber Duck?
The local constabulary endeared itself to many motorists the other Wednesday
(23rd).
The G8 Environmental Summit was taking place in Derby and a huge crowd
of protesters turned up. Well, about one hundred actually. To counter
this Derbyshire Police organised about 20 police forces to assist by
sending 1000 police officers to deal with any unrest.
A convoy of 19 West Yorkshire vehicles set off down the M1 motorway
in the afternoon. It soon became apparent that other drivers were having
problems entering and leaving the motorway because of the length of
the convoy. The officer in charge decided to switch the convoy into
the outside lane and travel at 50mph. This caused even greater confusion
as drivers were unsure whether to undertake or not. The motorway traffic
slowed down to rush-hour speed, ie. not very fast.
With profuse apologies a senior police officer claimed that it was essential
that the convoy reached Derbyshire without being separated.
No explanation was given why this was the case. Possibly, the only bloke
who knew the way there was in the front van...maybe.
Supertram
I think it's about time our representatives on this sorry scheme realised
that government ministers are just pulling their chains.
Another naively confident group travelled to London to meet with government
transport officials and duly came back empty-handed.
All of them tried to put a positive spin on the result but it looks
increasingly obvious that transport ministers have no intention of assisting
Leeds create the Supertram light-railway system.
Transport Minister Tom McNulty did give the team something to bring
back to Leeds - questions to further clarify the financial aspects of
the scheme - even though Leeds has already answered seventy requests
for additional information since last November.
A decision is expected before the end of the month.
Moves Are Afoot
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott received a bloody nose from the
electorate when he tried to get his regional assembly plans accepted.
The vote in the North East of the country was such a resounding "No"
that Prescott's plans seem to have been binned.
Seems our Johnny has been making new plans in his playpen. A City Regions
Commission is to look at the best way forward for establishing city-based
regional government. The result could be a "Greater Leeds"
mini parliament.
The Commission will carry out the enquiry between now and the summer
- so it's an exhaustive and in depth study then?
Lewis's
Reputedly, the largest department store outside of London, Lewis's opened
it's doors to the Headrow in 1932. It became one of the shops to visit
when in the city centre. Time passed and Lewis's left the scene to be
replaced by Allders. That company lasted a fair few years until January
2005 when it went bust. Consequently, the city has been looking with
interest as to the future of the well-loved building on the Headrow.
A deal has been agreed between Liberty International and the administrators.
Liberty, the owners of the giant Metro Centre in Gateshead plans to
split the store into separate shops and, inevitably, add some luxury
flats above it.
New Bridge
The problem with the £240 million Clarence Dock development was
that there was no easy pedestrian access to the north bank of the river
Aire and thus the city centre. This month we saw the installation of
a 250-feet long footbridge.
The 80-tonne bridge was handled by a 1000-tonne crane that inched it
over the river and then turned the thing 90 degrees to link the two
riverbanks outside the Royal Armouries and the British Waterways building.
This is only the second bridge to be built over the Aire in the last
100 years - the other being the Centenary Bridge which was constructed
in 1993.
Mills Get Facelift
Carr Mills are believed to be some of the oldest in the city - and for
years they've looked it.
Sited at the junction of Meanwood Road with Buslingthorpe Lane the mills
have been an eyesore for many years.
Various developers have purchased the site over the decades but none
have done anything constructive. A scheme now underway intends to convert
the Grade 2 listed building into 48 2-bedroom luxury apartments. A smaller
20-apartment block will be built at the side of the mills and a 7-storey
building behind which will provide 282 student bedrooms.
The scheme should be finished by September and hopes are high that the
project will kick-start the regeneration of the area which has become
neglected and run down over the years.
Mount St Mary's
Mount St Mary's Primary School is set in one of the most deprived inner
city areas of Leeds. It is church-aided by the Diocese of Leeds.
The area of East End Park has suffered from neglect for many years.
Almost half the 5-11 year olds are below the official poverty line.
Unemployment and social deprivation blights all who live in the area.
The school is in a dilapidated condition with the 135 pupils being housed
in over 30 portable buildings.
With all that against the school it is astonishing to learn that it
is in the top ten best schools in the city and has been awarded Beacon
status. The government has even set aside £1.6 million to rebuild
the school.
Now this is where this success story gets a little strange.
The Diocese of Leeds has sent a letter to the board of governors requesting
them to formally close the school.
The letter, as you'd expect, came as a bombshell; parents attended the
school to protest; the media was inundated with protests; &c
The Diocese claims that there is a surplus of school places for Catholic
children so they wish to close Mount St Mary's, merge the school with
St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary school in Burmantofts, and then
use the government money to renovate St Pat's.
The board of governors rejected the request unanimously with local councillor/chairman
of the governors declaring, "We now know why the Bishop and Diocese
have refused to spend our £1.6 million on rebuilding the school."
If the merger-closure went ahead it would mean the children having to
cross one of the busiest, and most dangerous, roads in Leeds, the A64
York Road.
Education Leeds, the local education authority, admitted that negotiations
with the Diocese had been going on for some time.
The Bishop himself seems to have gone missing and so is unable to make
any comment.
Parents have accused the Diocese of being liars and, with the General
Election coming up, all manner of assorted politicians are beginning
to gather.
Information now coming to light includes an offer from Leeds City Council
to fully make up any shortfall in the costs of rebuilding the school
on condition that if it was no longer viable as a Catholic school it
would revert to the local authority. The Council seems to have recognised
that a school is more than the buildings, it is the team, the teachers
and support staff that make the place a success.
The Episcopal Delegate for Education denied that any such offer had
been received or discussed. That was shown to be false when a letter
between the Council and the Diocese's director of finance became public.
The letter cautioned that the council should not discuss the matter
with the staff or school governors.
A campaign to keep Mount St Mary's open has begun and the government
has put a hold on any money promised as should the school close the
cash will return to the central pot for distribution elsewhere in the
country.
Senior church officials met and a spokesman revealed; "We have
had a letter back from the governors saying they don't wish the school
to close, so all that's left now is they (the Diocese) will carry on
working with Education Leeds on the next stages of closure."
"If the parents have a different point of view, which doesn't surprise
me, then there's nothing we can do about it."
With all the development in that part of Leeds Mount St Mary's is on
prime building land - I wonder how much the site is worth and who would
benefit.
School in Danger
Another school that may not be with us much longer is the Christ Church,
Church of England, Upper Armley Primary. Again falling pupil numbers
is the problem with many families moving away from the area and students
moving in.
Two ex-pupils have added their weight to the campaign - author Barbara
Taylor Bradford and playwright Alan Bennett.
Barbara started the school when she was four years old in 1937. She
lived in nearby Tower Lane.
Alan, a year younger than Barbara, remembered Miss Cook, the headmistress,
being caned and the terrible state of the toilets.
He did say that he learnt to read at a very early age. Alan's father
was a butcher on Tong Road.
A campaign has been started by the pupils in a bid to attract more children
to the school.
A Concerted Effort
Leeds has claims to be a major city in Europe and boasts a get-ahead
mentality that has seen it outstrip any rival city.
Except when you look at large-scale concert facilities. In a recent
poll a concert arena was voted one of the most desired features to add
to the city.
A developer has announced plans to build a £65 million concert
arena on a site close to the Royal Armouries.
Whilst essentially an Olympic-sized ice rink the arena would have seating
for 12,000 and could be used to hold major pop concerts, sporting events
and stage shows.
Private funding is already in place, no need for tax-payers money, and
the place could be open by Christmas 2007.
The developer needs a general pledge of support from the Council before
progressing with the scheme.
Leeds City Council's Leisure Services councillor John Proctor said;
"We would obviously be keen to sit down with Mr Nally [the developer]
and discuss his ideas further."
So it's not going to be plain sailing then.
Just as a matter of interest
I checked the places that the rock group U2 is playing on the UK leg
of a world tour.
City of Manchester stadium 48,500, Twickenham 75-85,000, Millennium
Stadium, Cardiff 72,000 and Hampden Park 52000
To compete you have to, at least, equal your competitors.
Shake, Rattle and Roll
Residents in Carlton Croft sheltered accommodation in Little London
are complaining about the lift in their block.
"You have to brace yourself every time you take the lift. It shakes
and judders like a fairground ride every time you use it." said
82 year
old Georgina Walker. "My knees are bad with arthritis and the pain
I have after using the lift is nobody's business.", she added.
Local councillor Penny Ewens has stepped in to help and as a result
grab rails have been installed. The organisation charged with the general
maintenance of the building, Leeds North West Homes, says the lift was
due to be upgraded soon as part of its 2005-2006 capital programme.
Joan Davies, a mere 72 years, exclaimed, "We need to wear bras
with extra support in them when the lift starts to shake."
Thanks Joan, but possibly a little bit too much information there.
With that image in your mind....I'll
leave you until next month..
|
