UPDATE: The Jubilee Plaque has been returned to the Park and found on 17th January 2023.
It is with sadness that we report that the Queen’s Jubilee Tree Plaque has been stolen; it is not vandalism. It was well fixed, and it seems to have needed an ‘implement’ to remove it.
Why anyone would want to take the plaque the day before the Lantern Parade and cause shock and upset at Christmas time no one can fathom. Maybe the person themselves is also in a bad way and needs help. If you did take it and are reading this, now is a good time to return this item to the local residents; especially when so many have worked so hard to bring joy to others.
Yorkshire based artist Eleanor Tomlinson drew several illustrations at the death of the late Queen that superbly captured the mood of the nation, and spread like wildfire across social media. (Unfortunately some people then used the illustrations on commercial goods without paying the copyright fee, which is akin to stealing.)
When we were looking for a photograph to illustrate our Jubilee Tree Story booklet written by Bradford writer Irene Lofthouse who specialises in secret local stories, we asked Eleanor if we could use one of her drawings. We were delighted when she agreed, for the fee of a donation to The Prince’s Trust.
Illustration by Eleanor Tomlinson (copyright) used in the FOPP booklet
We hope to see you tomorrow at our stall at Guiseley Christmas Lights Market. Come and say hello. We’ve got the following on offer:
Our Guiseley Jubilee Oak Story booklet at £2, a souvenir of an historic year. It contains the specially written story told at the Jubilee Picnic by author Irene Lofthouse about Guiseley people. It has photographs by Darren Sanderson, and other park users. And, in memory of the late Queen it also has an historic illustration by Yorkshire artist Eleanor Tomlinson, who kindly let us reproduce it in return for a donation to the Prince’s Trust. You can get a copy by emailing Jennifer Kirkby at parkinsonspark@gmail.com
We also have a raffle for two delicious Christmas hampers,one for adults and one geared for children. Tickets £1 each
Then we have a Christmas Bag Lucky Dipfor £3 a go.
Our Parkinson’s Park Story Trail Leaflets, and some Children’s I-Spy in Parkinson’s Park Leaflets – both free.
Don’t forget to also visit St Oswald’s Christmas Tree Festival, which opens tomorrow. We’ve put up one of the exhibits for The Queen’s Green Canopy. There are also lots of other lovely trees too done by various local organizations. There will be an Advent Service in the church at 7pm (not the advertised 6.30pm).
Our Queen’s Green Canopy Festive Christmas tree has a range of leaves and regal bits and bobs almost all crafted by Friends. There is crochet, felting, knitting, needle-felting, pipe-cleaner modelling, and marbling. Thanks go to Barbara Winfield, Becky James, Caroline Herries, Jennifer Kirkby, Nicola Denson, Peter Kirkby and Vivien Hornsby-Smith. We choose the theme to go with our main event in 2022, the dedication of the Jubilee Tree and planting more trees in the Park for the Queen’s Green Canopy.
We first put up our Remembrance Poppy Display during the 2020 November Lockdown, when it looked like Remembrance events would not be allowed. We asked people to put a poppy on the netting at the Farm Gate so we could all remember in the traditional manner. An historic event in its own right !!
November 2020 – Lockdown Display
This year, we’ve taken all the donated poppies from the last two years and repurposed them in a new 2022 centenary display. This year we especially remember that it is 100 years since the the Guiseley Branch of the Royal British Legion was formed after a meeting at the Town Hall on 17th November 1922 with the aim of providing support to ex servicemen and women and their families.
Like so many across our Nation we mourn the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; she had a unique and simple power to make us happy. That is why we loved her. As public figures come and go she has been the constant in the lives of many of us, we have never known anything else – singing God Save the King instead will seem very strange.
The Friends of Parkinson’s Park are now keen to fulfil one of the Queen’s Jubilee wishes for there to be a Green Canopy planted in her name. We started with the dedication of the Jubilee Tree in June and at the start of December we will be planting more trees along Jubilee Walk, and trees in the Orchard with the help of local uniform groups and residents.
Ten years ago the Friends of Parkinson’s Park was formed. November 2011 saw the start of the Park’s regeneration; a collaboration between Bellway Homes and an embryonic Friends Of Parkinson’s Park (FOPP); whilst February 2012 saw our first public meeting . 2012 was the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympic Games; a time of celebration and joy that gave us a lot of impetus to create a community asset for the people of Aireborough – not to mention the opportunity for Jubilee related grants for improvement.
Work on Park Re-Generation Starts November 2011
Friends at the planting of the Queen’s Jubilee Walk in 2012
Ten years later, we are still here; now registered as a Community Interest Company who work to raise money for Park improvements and organize community events. The Park itself has been officially recognized as part of the Leeds Green Infrastructure in the Local Plan, and is listed as both a Community Park for wellbeing, and a Natural Space where ecology is important. This meant than when the pandemic struck in 2020 the Park was there as a crucial sanctuary for many residents.
Poster by Paul’s Paint Pots
Our 10th anniversary year of 2022, will see the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham plus the Winter Olympics in Beijing and the Football World Cup. We will be having events and ‘crafts’ that celebrate these occasions as well as the Festival of British creativity and innovation announced by Prime Minister Teresa May in 2018 and now called Unboxed.
On top of this will be our usual Aireborough events including the Children’s Gala and Lantern Parade – in addition we will be collaborating with and supporting the Leeds 2023, Yarns Well Spun creative project run by Abi James, and Good Grief Guiseley.
Children’s Gala
Improvement work on features and facilities will continue with the help of grants from various organizations and a growing band of Friends (watch out for announcements and calls for help) whilst we are delighted that the Co-op has chosen our Willow Walk project as one of their local causes for 2022. Incredible Edible Aireborough will be looking after the herb planter; we hope to plant more trees in Crooklands Orchard; and Greenshaw Wood and the wildflower areas will continue to grow.
Crookland Orchard with trees donated by Leeds City Council, new sign courtesy of Heritage Lottery and bench sponsored by Cllrs Graham and Pat Latty
Over the last decade we have had help and support from innumerable people; resident, councillors and organizations. We have had sponsorship from a number of businesses and collaborated with many local and regional organizations from Guiseley Brass Band to the Orchard Project and Open Country. Through all this time, the core FOPP team has stayed more or less the same.
Litter Free GuiseleyGirl GuidesOpen Country Fire BrigadeOtley Dry Stone Wallers
Will we be here in another 10 years time? We hope that FOPP will last that long – but the most important legacy is the Park itself which was founded by the Parkinson brothers in the mid 20th century and given to the people of Guiseley. This is what we so nearly lost at the start of the millennium and which has been core reason for being.
The dragon has been important in Northern European cultures for millenia; as seen in artefacts, poems and sagas. Its symbolism is complex but includes courage, watchfulness and protection – dragons can be good, or bad.
Iron Age Britons, Anglo Saxons and Vikings all used zoomorphism (or animal symbolism) to describe many things from humans to the mood of the sea. The Vikings had their dragon ships, the Welsh still have a dragon on their flag* and the Anglo Saxon burial at Sutton Hoo ( 625 AD) is famous for its dragon helmet. The British King Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon, whilst the Anglo Saxon poem Beowulf tells of heroic dragon slaying. Modern stories that draw on earlier folklore also have their dragons from The Hobbit, to Harry Potter.
Sutton Hoo Helmet with the dragon forming the nose, eyebrows and moustache.
In Guiseley, we too have a dragon: you can find it on part of a 9th century, early medieval cross, now in St Oswalds. This motif has also been carved on the stone at Guiseley Wells when it was restored at the Millennium as a Heritage Lottery project. Now, given what we know about the history of the land which is now Parkinson’s Park, we have a Guiseley dragon protecting our Orchard, based on an Anglo Saxon drawing.
* Our area used to be part of the British Kingdom of Elmet 470 – 617 AD – it was closely allied with the Kingdom of Gwynedd. At the end of the 5th century Elmet had a King called Arthuis ap Masgwid he was likely named after the slightly earlier High King of Britain King Arthur, of legend fame.
Friends of Parkinson’s Park have decided to publish a 2023 Calendar using the photographs that are left on our Facebook page, as well as any other received. The bank of pictures on Facebook is growing, with lovely photos of the seasons; the activities, the landscape and the events – not to forget the ecology, so we thought we’d put them to good use.
However, not everyone has or uses Facebook, so if people email their photos to parkinsonspark@gmail.com we can put them on Facebook for other to enjoy and add them to the potential calendar collection.
Early next year (2022) we’ll start the process of choosing the photos for the Calendar by asking people to vote for the ones they like best (we’ll do this in a variety of ways). There will be a prize for the most popular.
Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, Whispering “it will be happier”. ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson – The Foresters 1892
2020 A Year of Learning
Well, 2020 did not work out as we had planned, but overall it is probably true to say that for Parkinson’s Park it worked out better; we certainly learnt a lot.
Along the way we lost our community event programme, two benches, and help from Open Country. But as one door shuts another opens, and we gained lots of new visitors using the Park for a variety of purposes, many more people getting involved in building community spirit, a new wood and 4 brand new benches.
We also gained an award as one of the Leeds Parks supporting their local neighbourhood during the Spring Pandemic, and were able to tell our story as one of only 4 Leeds Parks featured on ITV Calendar’s Park Life.
Thank you to everyone who has worked together this year to make the Park special, the people who use it, the people who tidy it, and the ones who enhance it for other to enjoy. Here are some of your photos of 2020
The Friends of Parkinson’s Park wish everyone a good New Year.
Friends of Parkinson's Park CIC 
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