Headingley Street Art

Our walks around Headingley during lockdown have allowed me to appreciate the work of local artists which add more colour and fun to the urban landscape.

Some are far more professional others. But they all add interest to the area. Some seem to follow a theme while others are completely random. Almost all have an element of fun.

Although sometimes the trees try to fight back….this street sign has been all but totally enveloped by the tree!!

Other spots of joy scattered through the local streets of Headingley and Meanwood are provided by the Little Free Libraries. These were the brainchild of our friend Carrie Franklin and were lovingly decorated by local artists. Here are a couple of fabulous examples.

Perhaps not the usual idea of art…but this amusingly depicts complex lockdown moods…..social isolation alongside a longing for freedom.

And finally we come to The Bat House. The Bat House, nestling in an ordinary residential street of semi detached houses, has a special place in our family history.

Most Saturday evenings, when our children were small and Gary still actually played 11 aside football, we would give a lift home to one of the other Old Mods players. This was the ineffable Jem Dobbs. Jem would always insist that we take a small diversion past a house known locally as The Bat House.

This house was dedicated to the original Batman programme and was decorated inside and out with Batman paraphernalia. Every week Jem insisted on driving past to show the house to our young son, Jamie….forgetting that we had done exactly the self same thing the previous Saturday.

Sadly, The Bat House is no longer painted a lurid black and purple but the entrance to its cellar still has the bat emblem over the doorway.

So many things in Headingley have changed during our 30 year tenure but the area remains as lively, bright, informative and entertaining as ever. Thank Goodness!

It has certainly brightened our lockdown exercise!