Kirkstall Online News

Go Growing Crazy

The co-operative membership in partnership with BTCV would like to invite you to

GO GROWING CRAZY! - Discover the secrets of growing food in Leeds.

On Saturday 20th June 2009 Hollybush Conservation Centre is opening its doors to host a fun open day for local people and their families, including

Grow your own 5 A Day
Fun kids activities
Local business stalls selling a variety of local and yummy produce
Free seeds
BBQ
Quizzes
Growing and cooking demonstrations
Refreshments
Herb growing

Plus all the Hollybush gardens and ponds will be open to have a stroll round and enjoy.

BTCV and Hollybush do loads of work within the community maintaining green spaces and providing training for volunteers to expand their conservation skills. The fun open day being held on 20th June 2009 is a great opportunity to get local families involved in conservation and growing their own food.

For more information about Hollybush and how to get involved go to www.hollybushleeds.org.uk

Leeds Shakespeare Festival

The popular Leeds Shakespeare Festival returns for 2009 in the cloisters of Kirkstall Abbey.

The 14th Shakespeare Festival will take place from Tuesday 21st July to Saturday 9th August 2009.

Cast includes Roxanne Pallett (Emmerdale and Dancing On Ice), Daniela Lavender, Gabriel Thomson (My Family), Steven Blakeley (Heartbeat) and Robert J Williamson.

Shows are Much Ado About nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Dates are 28th July to 15th August 2009.

http://www.britishshakespearecompany.com

Comedy in the Park is Monday 3rd August and
Monday 10th August. http://www.comedyinthepark.co.uk

Milford Ju Jitsu and Kobudo Club

Ju Jitsu & Kobudo: More Than a Martial Art
By Matt Ng

As a person keen on martial arts, I found myself visiting several self-defence clubs in my time. I flirted around with several dojos and gyms around the country, each offering to teach me the ways of Karate, Fencing and Tae Kwon Do, amongst others.

After a while of comparing them, I found that most of these martial arts had a particular area of expertise, which often meant they lacked in other respects. Judo practitioners rarely kick or punch, while karate aficionados are almost utterly defeated if they are grappled to the ground. Most of these so-called “traditionalist” styles of martial arts emphasise rigid training regimes based on these features of their methods, and repeat them ad infinitum.

Repeat after me

Therein lies another big problem of conventional training dojos – boredom. Too long have I practised rigorous attack drills over and over again, mostly hitting nothing but thin air. Countless times have I executed roundhouse kicks without actually seeing how well they would work in a real-life situation. I never thought something so dynamic and important as self-defence was supposed to be as dull as punch, kick, rinse and repeat.

Learn to be soft

Ju Jitsu however, is an entirely different beast altogether. Rather than the emphasis on strength and repeating fixed regimes, this art uses technique and skill to subdue your opponent, often using their own energy and momentum against them. Known literally as the "art of softness", Ju Jitsu evolved from feudal Japan, where the Samurai developed a style of fighting against armoured opponents if their weapons were lost or became unusable on the battleground.

Its a martial art that’s relatively easy to learn, and you’ll cover many different ways to escape from a number of dangerous situations, including being choked, being held on the ground; even being held at knife-point. This is what makes the style so unique and exciting. There is no shortage of ways you can take down an aggressor (so there is no room for boredom), and although learning them is easy, mastering them takes time.

Locking up

Often you will subdue assailants with severely debilitating locks or holds, which really do need to be seen to be believed at how well they work, even on the toughest and persistent of foes. In a “real” situation, it is likely your attacker will outmatch you in terms of strength, and in these instances simple punches and kicks may not be enough. But with Ju Jitsu, you can overcome a difficult and potentially life-threatening scenario with simple technique, using the minimal of effort.

Wield not yield

If however, you’re after some props to play with, Kobudo might just be for you. Its a martial art revolving around traditional Japanese weapons, reportedly developed by Japanese commoners in Okinawa. Farmers and peasants were prohibited from carrying armaments, so it is said they adapted their own simple tools to defend themselves with. This system has you wielding a variety of different weapons, from the classic katana and bo staff, to the more exotic nunchaku and sai. Kobudo aims to arm you with the knowledge of how to defend yourself against an armed or unarmed opponent, whether you have a weapon or not. The style shares many key traits with Ju Jitsu, including its focus on technique rather than raw power.

The Northern Martial Arts Academies is holding a free open demonstration evening on Wednesday 6th May, 7.30pm at Milford Sports Club on Beecroft Street in Kirkstall. Feel free to come along to see the club in action, and have a go yourselves. Please contact Sensei Anna Ward on 07786064671 or email anna.ward31@hotmail.co.uk for further details. For more information on the Northern Martial Arts Academies, please go to martialarts.myshopify.com.

Kirkstall Festival - 11th July 2009

This year's Kirkstall Festival will take place on Saturday 11th July at Kirkstall Abbey.

The parade starts at noon followed by an afternoon of family fun and activity in the grounds of the Abbey.

If you wish to take part in the festival, please contact us and we will pass on your message.

If you have questions about the festival, please post in our discussion board where other readers may be able to help.

Kirkstall Forge

The aim of this group project is to inform readers of how Kirkstall Forges changing industry occurred through out the early twentieth century. The project will look into three main areas of change, which have been seen to be the most important, these being women and the home front, the changing face of Kirkstall Forges industry and the impact of the Second World War on Kirkstall Forge in regards to industry, production and war damages. In order to carry out this investigation the group first visited the Forge to view the site in its present form. This gave us a perspective of the size and scale of the site and also giving us the ability to view machinery, moulds and products used and sold during the period being investigated. From this visit we were also given maps of the site from 1858 and 1916. We have also obtained maps from the West Yorkshire Archives that show the Forge site in 1908, 1921 and 1934. This collection of maps gave us a visual representation of how the forge site changed over the years, for example, with the reduction of the dam and retreating away from waterpower towards electricity and the erection of new buildings (Ordnance Survey, 1908-1934, West Riding). The West Yorkshire Archives was the most useful source of publications on the Forge, with the collection including journals, diaries and a minute’s book taken from monthly meetings on the forge site. We also looked at various secondary sources on each topic in order to contextualize our findings.

The earliest evidence of the Forge site is believed to have been located in the vicinity of the Abbey Mill in 1893. After heavy expansion and development throughout the following 100 years the ownership was sold to a family partnership, the Beecrofts and Butlers. As a result, development continued to increase with the production of axles taking priority as one of the few continuous processes undertaken on-site with the production of axles for commercial motor vehicles the most prominent process. The beginning of WWII triggered the final expansion of the site in order to meet the war demand. The Forge became a place of particular industrial importance during the war years and as a result the government introduced a complex detailed camouflage scheme designed especially for the Kirkstall Forge site. Despite the threat of destruction, the site continued to operate successfully for the next 40 years.

Full report

KVCA Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the KVCA is at 7pm on Tuesday 14th April at 7pm. Venue is the Milford Sports Club, Beecroft Street.

Agenda:

1. Minutes of last AGM.

2. Chairs Report

3. Treasurers' Report and Accounts.

4. Secretarys Report

5. Ativities: Kirkstall Matters, Kirkstall Festival, etc

6. Election of Officers for next year.

7. Any resolutions received.

Any members who want to raise any resolutions or issues for the agenda, or who wish to make nominations for officers, should send by post to the Secretary at 76 Morris Lane, LS5 3EN or email to k.stratford@ntlworld.com

Help us help Tate Online

Can you help us to confirm where exactly this painting was painted? It looks to me like its the canal but why is called "Lock on the River Aire"?

Help us with this mystery and also help us find the history of Kirkstall Mills. Join in the discussion on our discussion board.

Classical Fantasia Tickets available tomorrow

Tickets will be available for Classical Fantasia between 10am and noon at Millennium Square tomorrow, 9th August 2008. There is a limit of two per person on a first-come, first-served basis.

Classical Fantasia takes place on September 13.

More information here.

Kirkstall football club need women players

A football club based at the Cardigan Arms in Kirkstall, who play in the Open age West Riding 11 a side League on Sundays, and 5 a side football usually on Wednesday nights is looking for new members.

Training on tuesday evenings, the team are inclusive of all ages, abilities, backgrounds, and races. The team are winners of the Anti-Racist World Cup of Football, and participate in and organise community football tournaments in Leeds and abroad. The team look forward to hearing back from you if you are interested in coming along to play. Please contact Sophie on 07963045268, or write to sophie.michelena@yahoo.co.uk

Kirkstall Festival Photographs

Thanks to Val and John Crompton we have these great photographs of the set-up, parade and festival.

Setting up
Parade - part 1
Parade - part 2
Parade - part 3
Festival - part 1
Festival - part 2

Si also has some photographs of the festival on flickr