Goat in Churchyard

Picture of a goat in the churchyard of St Wilfrid at Calverley, Leeds.

I had been wanting to get a photo of a goat in the churchyard of St Wilfrid in the village of Calverley ever since I first discovered that they were used as an organic lawn mower.

I dropped by the other day and they were around a dozen goats hard at work on the vegetation. They were not very keen on being photographed but I snuck up on the one in the above photo. This was after I gave up on pursuing them around and over the various headstones, goats are more agile than I remember.

Sheep are also used to keep the vegetation under control at the church at Rawdon another village on the outskirts of Leeds here in Yorkshire.

Misty Yorkshire Churchyard

Picture of a misty Yorkshire churchyard at the Church of St Wilfrid, Calverley, Leeds.

These last few mornings have been quite misty here in this little bit of Yorkshire. I have often driven through the village of Calverley on my journey into Leeds but until recently I had never explored the village.

The Church of St Wilfrid is perhaps the best known building in Calverley there has been a church here since the time of the Normans and most likely there was one here in Saxon times.

But on this misty day I was more interested in the misty churchyard, there are many gravestones in the oldest section of the churchyard with mostly 17th, 18th and 19th century headstones. I showed this picture to a friend and she asked if I was scared, I replied no all the graves are just long dead and gone people.

For some time after we die, we live on in the thoughts and memories of our family and friends. But after 100 plus years all that people leave are the words on a headstone in the graveyard. This churchyard has many headstones both large and small and some of them are over 300 years old.

I took photos of a few of the, to me at least, interesting gravestones and will post a few of them in the next day or so.

Churchyard Spiders Web

Picture of a spiders web on a fence at the churchyard of Saint Wilfrid in Calverley, Leeds.

I always admire the industry that spiders put into their flimsy webs. There always appears to be more about at this time of the year, there were quite a few in this old

Bluebells Calverley Churchyard

Picture of bluebells in Calverley churchyard.

Walking around the churchyard at St Wilfred, Calverley I saw these bluebells.

St Wilfred's like many churches here in Yorkshire tries to make their churchyard wildlife friendly.

Cat Among the Dead

Picture of a cat in the churchyard of St Mark Woodhouse Leeds.

I passed nearby the church of St Mark in Woodhouse Leeds recently and was pleased to see the repairs to the structure are going well and the scaffolding will be down in a month or so.

Whilst in the churchyard I saw a black and white cat amongst the headstones, I tried to get closer but it was either shy or more likely given the neighborhood not used to being approached by people with good intent.

I think this churchyard could do with some churchyard goats to keep the vegetation under control rather than a cat!

Graffiti on Gatepost Leeds

Picture of graffiti Leeds.

No ide

a what or indeed why this was on an old stone Gatepost at the entrance to the churchyard of St Mark at Woodhouse here in Leeds. This graffiti of a womans head was not on the gatepost last time I was at St Marks.

Sheep in Calverley Churchyard

Picture of sheep in a Yorkshire churchyard at Calverley, Leeds.

These sheep in the above picture are in the graveyard of the church of St Wilfrid in the village of Calverley just outside Leeds in Yorkshire.

In an effort to keep the weeds and brambles down and the church here has enclosed some of the churchyard with fences to keep the sheep and goats within the ares of the churchyard that need their efforts. It is I think a very good way to keep on top of the vegetation here in this old churchyard.

There are two churchyards here in the Leeds area of this bit of Yorkshire that I know of that use sheep and goats in this way, the other is a churchyard in Rawdon using sheep.

Sorting the Sheep

Picture of sheep and goats at churchyard of St Wilfrid at Calverley, Leeds.

If you are like me you have most likely heard the expression "sorting the sheep from the goats". Here in the churchyard of the church St Wilfrid in Calverley you really could do this. I suspect that you have to be pretty nimble to sort the goats though.

The sheep and the goats are a nice ecologically sound method of keeping the vegetation down. Also they are much quieter and less likely to damage the old stonework in the graveyard.

Leeds Churchyard Tree Identification

Picture of Leeds churchyard tree identification post.

This is the last in a short series of pictures from the churchyard of the Church of St.John the Evangelist, Wortley

This picture shows one of a number of name posts scattered around the churchyard enabling visitors to identify the various trees, shrubs etc that are growing here.

This post in front of a tall, old tree reads..

Ash fraxinus excelsior

Common native tree easily identified in Winter by its very dark buds. Mature trees are a favourite habitat for bats.

This tree appears to date back to 1856 judging by the nearby gravestone!

I did not add the last line, but I could well have done so.

Autumn Leeds Churchyard

Picture of St Stephen Kirkstall churchyard in Autumn Leeds.

Yesterday was a damp and very dull day here in Leeds. Driving through Kirkstall I stopped off at the church of St Stephen to have another look at the churchyard before the leaves have gone.

By chance as I passed the church doorway I noticed someone waiting, the meter reader come to read the church electricity meter. So I got to look inside the church of St Stephen and the treasurer told me a little of the history.

The North window is I think the best one and a stunning example of the art of making stained glass windows. There is a coloured drawing of the window hanging on a wall opposite, I believe done by the makers James Powell and Sons of Whitefriars, London. I will photograph these on another day that is not quite so dull. Stained glass photography I find does not need a sunny day but you do need a reasonable amount of light behind the glass. I have photographed the windows in many churches here in this bit of Yorkshire, some for my Leeds photography and this blog and others further afield because its a subject that interests me.

On a different note, a chance remark as we parted led to another story for this Leeds blog about some alms houses in Kirkstall but I will have to find them another day.

Cat Churchyard

Picture of the Cat Churchyard.