Wildflowers in Holbeck Leeds

Photograph of wildflowers growing on previously industrial wasteland in Holbeck, Leeds.

I was driving through Holbeck not far from Leeds city centre on a lane that I rarely travel on when I saw lots of colourful wildflowers growing adjacent to the road. Apart from meadows in the Yorkshire Dales I have never seen such a profusion of wildflowers elsewhere in Yorkshire.

This sudden flowering in Holbeck is not natural, it is part of a Green Corridor project here in Holbeck. I thought that this was the case, because it reminded me as a much better example of wildflower seeding than that done this year in the temporary park created in Bradford city centre where the retail development should be.

Ragwort in Flower With Cinnamon Moth Caterpillar

I came across some wildflowers growing and in bloom on some waste ground not far from the Royal Armouries museum here in Leeds.

This one in the picture is the Ragwort, a distinctive yellow flower and on this plant was a yellow caterpillar with dark bands, the cinnamon moth caterpillar. Lots of insects and bugs like the ragwort and when in flower the cinnamon moth is quite common on this plant.

Lost Pubs - The Mason's Arms, Leeds

Picture of part of frontage at 107 Kirkgate, Leeds this shows the sign and name The Mason's Arms, this being formerly a public house.

Directly opposite across Call Lane lies The Scotsman's Arms, also now disused as a pub.

At one time there were quite a few public houses on Kirkgate, but now most of them are long gone.

In 1881 the inkeeper of The Mason's Arms was Robert Wardle.

Arthur Louis Aaron VC - Statue Detail, Leeds

This picture shows a small detail on the statue at Eastgate, Leeds to the memory of Arthur Louis Aaron VC DFM (5 March 1922 – 13 August 1943) .

One of the city of Leeds most famous sons Arthur Louis Aaron was awarded the Victoria Cross in WW2.

This 5m bronze sculpture by Graham Ibbeson takes the form of Aaron standing next to a tree, up which are climbing three children progressively representing the passage of time between 1950 and 2000, with the last a girl releasing a dove of peace, all representing the freedom his sacrifice helped ensure.

This small detail on the Aaron statue is of a child's small home made aeroplane with a clothes peg as the propeller.

Yorkshire scultor Graham Ibbeson is perhaps best known for his statue of comedian Eric Morcambe, in Morcambe, Lancashire. There is another work by Graham Ibbeson in Skipton, Yorkshire, a bronze statue of cricketer Fred Trueman.

Black Prince Statue Leeds - Detail

This picture shows some detail of the large bronze statue of the Black Prince that sits astride his charger in the centre of City Square, Leeds.

This large Victorian statue stands on a tall plinth and faces the Queens hotel in Leeds city centre. The Black Prince is just one of many statues in City Square outside the old Post Office building, but it is both the largest by far and the most imposing.

Blackberry or Bramble

Picture of tweaked photograph of bramble flowers growing wild in Leeds, Yorkshire.

I am not a very artistic person but Photoshop allows me to play with my photos and turn them into something a little different.

These delicate pink and white flowers on a bramble can be seen all over Yorkshire at the moment. Soon these flowers will be gone and replaced by the delicious berries, to be picked by people like me or eaten by birds.

The blackberry plant is also known as bramble, I think depending on where you live.

Daisy Wildflower - Leeds

I love wild daisies like the one in the above picture.

I was driving along a road in north Leeds and saw a small patch of daises growing wild on the verge. I pulled over, got my camera out and here is a detail from one of those wildflowers.

Leucanthemum vulgare is its proper name but its commonly known as the oxeye daisy or marguerite. I also discovered when writing this that it is less commonly known as moon daisy or dog daisy.