Burley - now and then

Many of the oral interviewees have commented on how Burley's shops have changed to reflect the influx of new residents from all over the world, as well as new local businesses and increased numbers of University students. One of the most recent additions to Burley is the Lahore cafe, on the corner with Burley Road - project staff and volunteers confess to eating there quite a lot!!

Obaid and Naveed - two of Lahore's very friendly staff. The busy cafe and takeaway employs  around 30 people!

 Compare the photo above with the one below - taken just a few streets away - around 100 years ago!

Wyatt's hairdressers at no 7 Burley Road, c.1913. (Copyright,  Leeds Library and Information Service)

Film screening - Dates for your diary!

Thanks to our fabulous partners at the historic Hyde Park Picture House, we can now announce that, in addition to a launch event for the school, families and guests, there will also be a free public screening of the project film, All About Burley, at 2pm Sunday 9th June. Do come along and watch!

Hyde Park staff member, Andy Moore, and workshop leader, Meena Jeewa, get together to plan the launch event! 

Old Burley - how times have changed!

One of the resources available to community heritage projects in Leeds is the amazing Leodis web site www.leodis.net which contains thousands of historic photos of houses, shops, factories and people - and much more. The person responsible for this remarkable archive is Rose Gibson and she has been incredibly helpful in pinning down the copyright permission to use the images, many of which will appear in the film.

One of the lovely photos we have found of old Burley is an old postcard which shows what it was like in the early 1900s when its village origins were still clear!

Copyright: John Wray - Courtesy of Leeds Library and Information Services

Excitement mounts!

An enthusiastic group of parents, volunteers and young Burley Champions turned out during the Easter holidays to work on key aspects of the film.  With guidance from project filmmaker, Simon Collins, the children have been doing voice overs for the film!

They have also been drawing their own images to animate in the film. As you can see, it is time consuming and requires huge concentration to get it right! Plans are now in hand for a launch event in June at the historic Hyde Park Picture House - there will also be a free public screening. We will post up full details on the blog as soon as we have them.

All aboard the bus!!

On Saturday 16th March a hardy group of the young Burley Champions and their parents set off  on a tour of historic places of interest in and around Burley. Despite the cold (and at least it didn't snow!) they enthusiastically took photographs of landmark buildings old and new.

One surprise was that the bus company provided a double decker bus - which provided great views all the way.

Meena, the workshop leader, had her map reading skills put to the test.....

The children were able to show off their knowledge of  old Burley, and demonstrate their new found camera skills.  And yes, we loved those hats too!!

Adventures at Armley Mills

The Heritage Lottery grant has enabled the project to take the children, parents and volunteers on two exciting study trips. On Sunday 10th March the group went to Armley Mills Industrial Museum, where Learning and Access Officer, Sarah Barton, gave them a bespoke tour of the collections. 

Formerly the largest woollen mill in the world, Armley Mills was a major place of employment for people living in Burley from its early construction in 1805 to its closure in 1969.  As well as having a general look at the history of the building, the group learned about the the effects of the industrial revolution on the population of Leeds. They also got a chance to have a role play session, dressing up in costumes and trying out different jobs people would have done in a mill during Victorian times. 

Feedback from the trip was really positive:
"A very good day"
"Hope to come back another time"
"It was wonderful".

We agree and we would like to pass on a big THANK YOU to Sarah Barton and the other staff at Armley Mills who made it such a special event. Click here to find out more about this gem of a museum!

Celebrating diversity

Reflecting Burley's rich cultural mix, over 30 languages are spoken by the children at Rosebank Primary School. Around 70% of children do not have English as a first language.

Not surprisingly, the 'Burley Champions' group is very multi-cultural with children of British, Asian, African and Caribbean origin, as well as Indonesian and Iraqi. They are also a multi-faith group including children of Muslim, Hindu and Christian faiths.

The project volunteers and oral history interviewees have equally diverse backgrounds.

We are delighted that grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund is enabling the project to bring together people of such different ages and backgrounds with the common goal of exploring and celebrating the area where they live.