Welcome to my hood

A very nice friend of mine named Brier recently replied to a comment I left on her blog which was to the effect that her photos of Thunderbay seem nice, especially compared to my city, Leeds (which I referred to as a rat-infested slum). She replied very respectfully that Thunderbay has its moments, but that she thought Leeds was charming too (while acknowledging that it might be different if one lived there). "Charming?" I thought. "Could Leeds - and more specifically, Beeston - really be considered charming?".

Because I know that I am a miserable sod, and that Brier is a nice lady with good taste, I set upon a walk around the block with Beth's digi-camera to gather some photo-evidence. We live at the top of Beeston Hill, which is the highest point in Leeds. We also live a few doors down from a dillapidated and ancient graveyard which has been made famous in Tony Harrison's poem V. (click here to read the poem, it is excellent. Also it really gives the reader a feeling for the atmosphere here in Beeston, even though it was written years ago. I'll add a bit of commentary for the poem below for those who read it.)

Anyways, upon further consideration I suppose Beeston could be considered charming, in a bitter-sweet way. It certainly looked pretty today, it was one of the sunniest days of the year. Well, there you have it, Leeds is charming, but in a rather sad way. The neighbourhood is incredibly poor, and mostly inhabited by immigrants and refugees. There is a Carribean/African section, a Muslim section, and a poor-white section. We live in the probably the nicest street in Beeston, tucked away beside the cemetary. Here's the photos I took today on my walk.

The view from my corner
At the other end of my streets lies the graveyard, this is the view from the edge of the hill, looking over downtown Leeds.

In the Tony Harrison poem he mentions the 'dead of the Somme' (WWI), here are their graves.

Also in the poem: many, if not most, of the tombs are graffitied, vandalised, or simply sinking into the earth. Quite weird to walk through.
Seriously.
Some street near my house, on the way to the Co-op.

Notes on Tony Harrison's poem V:

• He refers often to 'United' and 'Harp'. These are a) the local football team, Leeds United; and b)Harp Lager - a beer.
• The poem was written during the notorious shut-down of the mines in the 80's (see Billy Elliot or The Full Monty for an idea).
• Ulster/Eire refers to North Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This poem was also written amid the violence in Northern Ireland.

Well, that's all for now. I really recommend reading the poem, although I'm sure that part of the reason it resonates so much to me is because I live in the place about which he writes, and feel much of what he is saying firsthand. Weird heh?

Peace.