At the top of my street on the very busy Otley Road is the graveyard of St Michael’s Church. It has always been a favourite place of mine full of interesting gravestones and stories of an earlier more rural Headingley, and then later the often grand homes of the well to do who moved in the nineteenth century from the city centre to an area free of industrial smoke.
It’s a place I visit on a daily basis with my small dog and have always enjoyed as a haven of overgrown green, close to shops and cafes and bars.
Recently there have been many stirrings and great changes as the churchyard begins its transformation into St Michael’s Gardens, a place where more folk are invited to enjoy a newly landscaped area amongst the memorials and graves that give this special place a strong individual ambience.
Litter has been picked and shrubs have been cleared before new planting and other changes to the gardens can be made. Above is the front cover of the autumn programme of events to accompany this new beginning for ‘the churchyard at the top of my road’, where art sessions, music, poetry and planting will take place. The sharper-eyed amongst you may spot a bald, bespectacled person in the poster above. Yes, it’s me, ready to run a series of creative writing sessions throughout the autumn where writers of all experiences can work together and respond the unique atmosphere of this special place.
Keep and eye out for events that you might wish to join in on at www.stmichaelsgardens.org and also if you follow me on Instagram under the moniker jamesmorgannash
