Dreams of Throstle Nest; Farsley Celtic’s Buxton breaking point.

The Celts have been homeless for the entire 2024/25 season, whilst playing their ‘home’ matches 70 miles away in Buxton. Now, the future of the club remains fraught as supporters are left with more questions than answers.

A single farsley fan amongst the away end — A lonesome Farsley supporter cheers on regardless.

Background

Farsley Celtic Football Club boast that they are the highest placed village club in England, some feat when considering their catchment area is completely dominated by Bradford City and Leeds United.

Initially, the club joined the amateur leagues of Leeds and from there the newly established West Riding County Amateur League in 1926. The conclusion of the Second World War brought new pastures for the club, which moved into their home of the Throstle Nest in 1948.

The Nest takes pride of place within the centre of the village, and like its locality, it serves as a beacon for the residents to engage with their community and embrace their home. No matter the league Farsley found themselves in, the Throstle Nest remained unwavering in its capacity to facilitate its faithful spectators.

Downward Spiral

Feckless authority would rear its ugly head in 2010 following relegation from their only stint in the National League. Major financial difficulties meant the club were expelled from the Conference North, and mere days later, ceased to exist.

During this time, the Throstle Nest was purchased by Leeds City Council to secure its future ahead of Farsley’s demise. The nest was soon to be reoccupied by the current iteration of Farsley Celtic, which fell under the ownership of Paul Barthorpe in 2019.

Alarm bells rang instantly as Barthorpe switched the club colours from blue and white to green and white in order to boost the club’s commercial appeal.

This was just the start of the peril, as Barthorpe then set his sights on the Throstle Nest. The name was changed to The Citadel, and fans were left wondering when the alterations were going to end.

The end came disastrously when the club made the decision to replace their grass playing surface with 4G ahead of the start of the 2024/25 season. The construction hit what the board called unforeseen delays, leaving the pitch unplayable.

Joao Silva leaves the pitch after full time — João Silva embodies the mood of Farsley Celtic

A statement from the club in October 2024 outlined the plan to move the team to Buxton.

“We believed we had a ground share agreement in place with Bradford Park Avenue… This was, however, rejected by the league.”

The fans felt the rug had been pulled, with continuous promises of a return date that never materialised after last playing at the Nest in April 2024 in a final-day win over Buxton to keep them in the division.

In early November, the Supporters’ Club (FCFCSC) met and later announced a vote of no confidence for Barthorpe.

“The FCFCSC has no confidence in the Chairman and CEO’s ability to improve relationships with supporters…It is the view of the FCFCSC that the relationship between the chairman, board and supporters has seriously deteriorated.”

Following the announcement from the FCFCSC, the fans staged a boycott in an attempt to show the hierarchy that the fans will not stand for the confusion and distrust shown towards them.

After the boycott was lifted, many fans were still underwhelmed by the direction of the club and decided to refrain from returning for the rest of the season. This left an even bigger hole on a matchday as the sparsity of fans grew, with many unable or unwilling to make the 120-mile round trip.

a belated round of applause — Young full-back Polworth claps the sparse ‘home’ end.

Unsurprisingly, the strain on the first team from the ongoing turmoil at board level, alongside the inability to sign new players due to an embargo, led to remonstrations from manager Pav Singh, who made the decision to resign.

His replacement was the former Leeds and Rotherham boss Neil Redfearn, who looked to be a coup as a local former Championship-level coach dropping down the divisions and helping the Celts regain a semblance of stability.

The opposite was to happen as Redfearn lasted just 20 days in the job and left Farsley once again searching for help, and a fourth manager of the season.

New faces

Ex-Premier League goalkeeper David Stockdale was next up to face the music of Farsley Celtic FC. Instantly subdued by the transfer embargo, it was up to Stockdale to bring through unknown youngsters from the Elite Talent Squad to fill the numbers.

Despite the obstacles, Stockdale took to the job with passion and determination to improve and stay for the long haul.

While results did not pick up, as at the curtain call of the season, the team had not registered a win since Boxing Day.

For Stockdale, all of these issues were fresh, but for the Farsley supporters, it was the norm. Watching their team spiral to the foot of the National League North without the hope of improvement, or a certainty that the club will exist past the summer.

Stockdale looks on as his squad ignore his raucous touchline shouts — Stockdale looks on as his squad ignores his defensive instructions

A glimmer of optimism came in February when Barthorpe announced he would step down as chairman after six years. In his parting statement, he outlined

“I hope this act means there will be more support and more positivity towards the club and the board, as they are all, like me, volunteers, all good guys and all have the club at heart, and we are all desperate for this to work out.”

However, the relinquishing of the chairman role did not mean that Barthorpe is done with the club. He still remains the main creditor and owner of the Throstle Nest.

The amount of hours spent on the road by the fans that remain, knowing that relegation is coming and the future of your team is hanging in the balance, would seem nothing less than a nightmare.

A nightmare staged at Buxton’s Tarmac Silverlands Stadium, England’s highest football ground. The high points stopped there for Farsley, who failed to win a single fixture as the stadium became a hunting ground for despair.

A spring sky in Buxton — A pleasant night for another Farsley defeat

John Baron is a Farsley Celtic supporter and volunteers with communications at the club. As a Manchester United fan stuck on the wrong side of the Pennines, John needed local football to watch.

He chose the Celts and has had an affinity for the club ever since travelling there with his son almost a decade ago, and has remained steadfast in his devotion to the green and white army.

“I first started attending games about eight years ago with my son, who really took to the club. We’ve been a member of the supporters’ club for the last three seasons and have literally travelled thousands of miles in the minibus supporting the Celts home and away”.

When all is said and done, most football fans will take anything their club throws at them; the level of football and squad available mean nothing when there is no team to support.

While divisions between fans and the boycott kept most away, Baron and his son continued to make the long journey down to Buxton despite the campaign serving no joy, as Baron summarised.

“It’s been a car crash on and off the field. Not being able to get a new pitch down, travelling to 70+ miles to Buxton for every home game, a fan boycott, losing most of our first team squad through the season, and the fracturing of the fan base have all been tough”.

Touchline conversation — Striker and former goalkeeper lost in translation

Part of the allure we associate with the ‘beautiful game’ of football is built upon the connections we make through our times in the stands and concourses. It is these associations that draw people like John to teams far away from their primary clubs.

Baron’s experiences within the Throstle nest and across the country, amongst the people who welcomed him in, and shared his passion for football, is what made him addicted to the life as a Celt.

As Baron pointed out in his review of the season, the Throstle Nest and the feeling around the club stuck with him.

“Little did I know in those first games that my son and I would develop such a deep love for the club, even with its uncomfortable old wooden seats and outdated facilities. While the ground may look tired, it’s a club with real heart…”

“Home games were a place for dreaming. We’d sit and plan what we’d do with the club if we won the lottery – new stands, a decent pitch, new community facilities… It would become the beating heart of the village”.

For Baron, the loss of a community asset such as Farsley Celtic would cause devastation beyond just the fan base.

“It’s not worth thinking about! A local football club should be at the heart of the community, whether it’s juniors, women, our deaf team or our emerging talent squad. It’s about people, friendships and the community coming together…”

“You get used to going there on a Saturday, win, lose or draw, you still see the community. That would be taken away.”

But life on the precipice for the second time in recent memory has shown Baron the indomitable spirit of some supporters.

“There are some positives, a small group of people have volunteered and helped to steer the club through to the end of the season, it was great to see people come together and give their spare time to help keep the club going in its darkest hour.”

The Supporters club minibus, dubbed the ‘fun bus’, has seen more than its fair share of miles this season, but like the people inside it has stuck with the cause and carried people far away from the safety of home and into the uncertainty that every game in Buxton had.

The club languished at the foot of the table for months by the time the season ended, but to halt the love for your club during this bleak period was a step too far for some.

The supporters who chose to take time away from home and other commitments for the Celts were rewarded with nothing more than a journey back, drenched in acceptance of this week’s downfall and the continuous discussions of what lies beyond. Baron recounts how the energy and discourse between the fans changed.

“The discussion among fans has, for quite some time, been on the soap opera off the pitch rather than the game on it. Which is sad.”

The stands at the Tarmac Silverlands stadium were invariably full of away supporters who are familiar with escapades across the country in support of their team, but have been spared the misfortune of a new life filled with continuous miles adding up week after week, while their home slipped further from their grasp.

father and son share a moment — John Baron and his son remain valiant in their support

Whilst the Farsley fans in attendance watched on solemnly as teams celebrated in front of them in their adopted home. The questions would seep in from those sympathetic to their cause, ‘What went wrong?’ and ‘What happens next?’ were the talk of the day, week and eventually the year.

A cascade of actual away fans each game would switch ends en masse while the stragglers of Farsley marched to take their place, surrounded by emptyness for another 45 minutes.

It is hard to describe the temporary loneliness of being amongst them, which is only amplified by the fleeting fear that this could be how the club ends. With what is meant to be youth squad members clapping for a couple of people, dominated by the vast rows of concrete terracing between them.

When the final whistle blew on their final fixture in Buxton, the mood was one of fear and slight catharsis. Although bottom of the league and without a win in five months, the Buxton chapter was over and with it, one less thing to be concerned about in the short term.

But thoughts of the long term could not be escaped; the handful of fans that were there that day had no idea if what they had just witnessed was the swan song of their club.

There were pockets of hope of a groundshare with someone closer, as relegation meant the local teams in the same division would no longer have to worry about the Celts’ fixtures taking precedent.

The ground was declared a community asset by Leeds City Council in March, meaning if Barthorpe wanted to sell, the FCFCSC would be treated as a potential buyer.

The group are currently attempting to collect the money for a purchase, but without certainty, there is the potential for the opportunity to slip through the cracks.

While a buyout from the supporters club would be a ray of light for Baron, the club is still far from a stable existence.

“We need to achieve stability in the coming season and operate more sustainably. I suspect it may take some time to steady the ship.”

Hopefully, for everyone associated with the club, that time will come as a homecoming for the fans, and John would mean more than some could comprehend.

“It would mean everything, I would love my son and I to sit down in our usual seats and watch Farsley Celtic play, win, lose or draw.”

rapturous celebrations — The unfamiliar release of a Farsley goal

Week 1: “It’s gone backwards for the last 30 years” the reality of life outside Kirkgate.

Leeds City Council have predicted 2025 to be another ‘bumper’ year for Kirkgate Market with visitor numbers increasing following a multi-million-pound investment, but how do those heading the stalls feel about the state of their beloved workplace?

The Grade One-listed building is the largest indoor market in Europe and has been a fixture of Leeds’s high street since 1822. According to the council’s official statement, a significant investment of 10 million pounds continues to be pumped into the regeneration project, which has already seen twenty-four units be refurbished, with sixteen more on the way by March this year.

On the surface, this all seems to be indicative of a prospering project of improvement. But for those at the heart of the action, all may not be as it seems.

David Schofield has been running David’s Bargain Stall in the outside market since 1978, he holds a different view on the current state of the market.

“It (the market) has been going backwards for the last thirty years… it has just been badly run, the whole market is badly run inside and out.”

A lot has been made of the future of the market following spikes in visitor numbers (up 4% since last year), footfall (33% increase since 2021) and number of events hosted (250 alone in 2024). However, for Schofield, there is only one way an actual improvement beneath the surface can be attained.

“If they get the right people looking after it, it could be brilliant”.

Reflection:

The task this week proved to be a very welcome test early on, my initial reaction to being set the test was one of apprehension, having done similar tasks in the second year I was still worried about the quick turnaround aspect of it.

Being put under the pressure of having to go from idea stage to production in the space of half an hour tested me in a way that needed to be done. The fact that I was so fearful of doing it is exactly the reason it should have been done, and it proved to myself that I can be proactive and streamlined with my thought process.

I decided to interview a market trader about the current state of Leeds Market, having read days prior about a multi-million pound investment in Kirkgate Market. Being able to quickly think of local stories to pursue helped me create a respectable product. Given the time constraint, I gained a wonderful insight into the process of pressure-filled work, which I hope will stand me in good stead for the future.

I was also pleased with the overall article and the emotion I was able to get out of the interviewee with just a few questions. The photograph perfectly displayed the character of the man and his willingness to help and remain cheerful despite being asked if the place he has dedicated his life to is getting worse.

Task 6 – Photoshop

Here are the two images that I have chosen to edit, before using photoshop.

This is an image of my high school, during one of my bike rides. I like this photo, but it’s a little bit too dark, so I want to edit it to appear brighter.

This is a photo of me and my friend, Tom on a small hike in Netherend. I love the photo, but I feel that we should be the focus of the image and not the background as such.

Thanks to the ‘Crop Tool’ on adobe photoshop, I now have an image where me and Tom are the focus of the image, without having to sacrifice the quality of the image at all. This has allowed me to appreciate just how good we look in the image, and also places more focus on how we got onto that rock formation in the first place. You can now clearly see the path we climbed to reach the top. I am quite happy with the brightness and colour of this image, so it was unnecessary to make any changes to this.

For the image of my High School, I utilised the ‘Adjustments’ section and selected ‘Brightness/contrast’.

I then increased the brightness of the image until I was satisfied with it.

And to polish it off, I added an extra +25 to the saturation of the image to further empahsise the beautiful golden colour of the setting sun on the field.

Once this was done, I saved the image as a copy, and this was the result.

Overall, I am much happier with this image. I particularly love the increased emphasis on the golden colour. You can also see a lot more of the grass right in front of the camera, giving me more of the image to look at. Instead of ignoring the dark parts of the image, I can appreciate the full thing. Thanks to photoshop, this image has been turned into a beautiful one, from one that was slightly disappointing.

Task 5

These are some images of me, mid-jump, in a University library.

This image of me was taken with a slightly higher shutter speed than normal cameras. This has allowed the image to maintain it’s focus and provide a sharper image of me, despite being in the middle a fast paced movement.

These two images of me imitating a football player attacking a ball in the air are quite blurry. This is because they were taken with a lower shutter speed, meaning that the images come out with less focus, and fast movements are blurred. Notice the arms and head movement, they are rapid movements that cause a lack of focus for cameras with a lower shutter speed setting.

Here is another image of me.

This image was taken using the ‘live photo enable’ feature, which has been used to create a long exposure affect.

I simply enabled the live photo feature, shook my head left and right, and this was the result. This long exposure affect has created an image where the head looking towards the camera remains still, and more in focus (because it is stationary). However, the movement of my head shaking left and right has created this long exposure affect because stationary objects remain a sharper image whereas moving elements are blurred.

Another example could be a moving body of water. The river bank would remain a solid and focused object, whereas the running water will be slightly blurry, to imitate movement.

The most famous sweet shop in Leeds?

Jack Snaith

Right in the middle of the Leeds City Centre sits the famous Kirkgate Market. Since the 1820’s, the bustling lanes and countless stalls have attracted customers from all over England.

Even today, being the biggest indoor market in Europe, over 100,000 people visit and shop at the stalls every week, from Butchers to flower shops, there is always something for the customer.

One of the stalls, ‘Brown’s famous sweet shop’ is among the 800 stalls in the market. Opened for business in 2002, Brown’s has continued to sell sweets, chocolates, crisps and drinks, keeping the classic sweet shop feel while also adding a modern twist with more up to date products.

Brown’s famous sweet shop – Steven is pictured inside serving a customer

One of the owners of the store, Steven, gave his thoughts on how his independent business is running in the face of the difficult period of January.

“It varies, it’s a funny time of year because everyone goes on diets which obviously affects business.”

“It depends on what I’ve got in stock, the more variety I have, the busier I tend to be.”

There is also competition with supermarkets and other sweet stalls.

“As long as we beat the supermarkets on price, then everyone’s happy,” he said “but business-wise, there’s no real rhyme or reason, it always varies.”

Leeds Beckett University round off incredible season

Leeds Beckett University’s Rugby League team has had an incredible 2024-2025 season, they have played the entire season and remained undefeated throughout. It has been a display of complete dominance from start to finish, defeating some top clubs such as Northumbria University and University of Leeds on the way, beating Northumbria three times in the same season. They finished the season with 10 wins from 10 in the league, gaining 30 points and an impressive 360 points difference.

Only two years ago, Leeds Beckett turned their fortunes around. From a struggling team that struggled to compete with the top teams in their league, into perhaps the best University team in the UK right now, perhaps even in the history of University Rugby League.

This leaves one question, how? How have Leeds Beckett’s Rugby League team turned it around in such a short time? And how exactly has their season panned out?

This season was one of redemption for Leeds Beckett, after losing out to Northumbria University in the BUCS Nationals Championship Grand Final the season before. The Leeds Beckett players had their eyes set on the trophy from the very first game of the season and snatched it with relentlessness.

By December, Leeds Beckett had already won six games from six, beating Northumbria University and bitter rivals, University of Leeds. At this point, it was clear to see that the Leeds Beckett team had become a completely different monster, hungry for the league title, as well as the highly sought after BUCS Championship trophy.

Players

One of the major factors for the success of Leeds Beckett’s season was some of the standout players within the team.

As a team, Leeds Beckett have been an unstoppable unit, playing as one single body. The professionalism of this team has undoubtedly been its key strength for such a successful season. They rarely make any mistakes, while forcing the other teams to make mistakes of their own. The fantastic communication between the players also leads to making the correct choices with the ball.

However, the team would not be such a strong one without some of the key players within. One of the most important players, Fin Balback, plays as a full back for the team and his contributions to the team is invaluable.

Fin Balback – Against University of Leeds in November 2024

Balback has been playing Rugby League his whole life and has played at an impressive level throughout his career. He boasts an impressive record at his boyhood club, Newsome Panthers, where he won multiple trophies, such as the league title and other county cups. He also had a small stint with Leeds Rhinos. He has also been selected on numerous occasions to represent Yorkshire and even England for University Rugby League. Balback now plays for Bradford Bulls and has been for over a year now. His record speaks for itself, at such a young age, he has achieved an incredible portfolio.

Fin Balback is full of praise for some of his teammates, even some players who have come in as first year students.

“I think a lot of the new players have been great. James Evans, winger, hooker, half-back, full-back, wherever we’ve asked him to play he’s really stepped up”.

“I’ve also got to give props to MacKauly Stephenson, our skipper. He’s really stepped up this year and has led the team on and off the field and we just feel like a different team this year with him”.

To say Balback has been instrumental to the Leeds Beckett team would be an understatement. Fin is an incredibly intelligent player, he sees every run, every pass and even anticipates what the other team are planning. Alongside his rugby skills are his communication and his unrelenting passion for the sport.

Balback gave his thoughts on how the season was panning out back in December, and expressed his thoughts on how it started:

“I think it’s gone really well, it all kicked off at the start of the season against Northumbria, who won the entire competition last year and beat us home and away. We kicked off the season well with a good win against them, beating them at home 28-18”.

“Training has been really good, and you can tell because we’re playing really confidently”.

When the opposing team is in possession of the ball, Balback can be seen at the back of the pitch, barking orders at his teammates, keeping them in line, as if he’s commanding an army. Balback’s role in the team uses his many years of experience to keep the team in line with each other, ensuring that the players are in the right position. When Beckett has the ball in possession, Balback is in and amongst the thickest of the action. He is the player who makes it happen, the player making that vital run that could make the difference in the game.

Another role that Balback has in the team is being the designated goal-kicker. Perhaps the role with the most amount of pressure in Rugby League, Balback has been trusted with this role. Goal kickers can change the game completely, that extra two points after each try are potentially even more important than the tries themselves. Balback has incredible accuracy in every goal kick, it’s very rare that he ever misses. Again, this comes from years of practice and experience in goal kicking.

Fin Balback converts the try – March 2025

Coaching staff

At the end of the 2022-23 season, Leeds Beckett lost a lot of their key players due to many third year players graduating and leaving University. This happens to every team, every year at every University, but Leeds Beckett managed to ride the storm and maintain a team with plenty of experienced players, while taking on some new players from up-and-coming college students going into University.

Heading into the 2023/24 season, the team also decided that new coaching staff would be necessary for future success. They decided to appoint Mark Butteril, ex-coach of the Leeds Rhinos development team, an exceptional appointment for the team. Butteril helped to completely change the fortunes of Leeds Beckett, the entire mentality and coaching staff helped to turn them into an unstoppable force.

Mark Butterill watches on as Leeds Beckett close in on another Try – Leeds Varsity April 2025

Mark Butterill’s ideology consists of having a vice grip on the game; he wants his team to be in control. He has drilled his team in every training session not to make mistakes. Some mistakes might include some players being too eager to offload the ball in an attacking situation, leading to losing possession of the ball in an otherwise promising situation. Other mistakes that Butterill has ironed out of his team are the common and naive ones, such as catching, knocking on, being caught offside, head high and dangerous tackles.

Even in games that are incredibly heated, Butterill has taught his players how to maintain a certain level of discipline. A lack of discipline can completely change a game, one rash moment could lead to one of their most important players being either sin-binned or sent off completely.

To see where this team is now, compared to the state they were in only two years ago is incredibly inspiring and just goes to show how much of a difference a good coach can make. They have completely changed their fortunes in the space of these two years, through the adversity they have faced in the past.

Camaraderie

Another key reason for the success of the Leeds Beckett Rugby League team is the Camaraderie and Synergy between their players.

The players in the team don’t just rock up to training twice a week and play on the weekend. They play as if they’re brothers in arms, fighting together with winning being the only thing on their minds.

Leeds Beckett on the attack – Leeds Varsity

Outside of rugby and even University, they are all friends, meeting up and fighting each other’s battles. And during the games, they are not afraid to back eachother up if things get heated.

This type of synergy and camaraderie in the team is incredibly important and is always overshadowed in the context of reasons for the team’s success. They don’t just play because they are told to, they play because they love the sport, and because of the love they feel playing side by side with their brothers.

BUCS Championship final

The BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) National Championship is one of the most prestigious sporting events across all Universities in the United Kingdom. It is held at a variety of venues every year and involves a wide range of sports. Universities from across the UK compete against each other in a series of sporting events.

The stage was set for the BUCS National Grand Final – Loughborough University

For Rugby League, that involves playing a series of knockout games throughout the season, and having the final played at Loughborough University.

The stage was set for a thrilling final at Loughborough, it was Leeds Beckett coming up against Northumbria University, the very same team who beat Beckett to the final only a season before.

Northumbria (Left – in black) and Leeds Beckett (Right – in purple) line up ahead of the Final

This time, Beckett wanted to be the one to come out on top. Fans from both teams turned out in fantastic support, particularly for Leeds Beckett, where a familiar face in ex-Leeds Rhinos legend, Jamie Peacock. Balback also spoke about the preparations that the team had made heading into the final.

“For us, it’s just been building, game in game out,” he said. “We’ve played Northumbria twice this year and we’ve come away with four points, beating them home and away. Last season, we lost to them at home and away and went on to beat us in the final.”

Leeds Beckett started off incredibly strong, imposing themselves onto Northumbria very early on. They were the ones who struck first, and then again almost straight after.

However, Northumbria University did not back down without a fight. They hit back at Leeds Beckett, capitalising on Beckett’s rare but costly mistakes throughout the game. The current champions were still in the fight, but their title was under threat by an entirely new and improved Beckett side, who were now an entirely different beast compared to last season.

Fin Balback leads the celebrations as Leeds Beckett make it 10-0

Northumbria had done just enough at half time to unsettle Leeds Beckett.

At half time, Leeds Beckett were leading 22-6, a long way to go for Northumbria to mount a comeback.

Despite this 16 point lead, Northumbria hit back at Beckett. It was all or nothing for the reigning champions. They scored two tries in quick succession and put Beckett under siege for much of the second half. Beckett made many mistakes, but defended like lions to keep hold of their lead.

Eventually, the Northumbria onslaught was lifted and Beckett started to fight back. Once again, we saw why they remained undefeated throughout the season. They remained patient despite being under immense pressure, and scored an incredibly important try to make the score 26-16 to Beckett, which helped to relieve the pressure and keep Northumbria at an arm’s length.

This proved to be just enough for Beckett, Who slowed down and saw out the rest of the game. Their patience and discipline paid off, the game being a true testament to the way they played throughout the season.

Seconds after the full time whistle, confirming Leeds Beckett’s win

The scenes at full time were that of incredible joy and relief. They had done it. Leeds Beckett had just ended a 9 year wait to lift the BUCS Nationals Championship trophy, an incredible story of a team that came from nothing, to winning the highest and most prestigious competition in University Rugby League.

Fin Balback celebrates in front of the camera

What’s next?

So, what’s next for Leeds Beckett University? They have finally won everything there is to win, what can they do now?

The first thing Leeds Beckett needs to do is weather the storm once again. This is because a lot of the important Leeds Beckett players will be leaving at the end of this season, this includes Fin Balback, who is in his third year now and will be leaving the University in a matter of weeks.

They also must keep Mark Butteril as their head coach, with him still at the club, Leeds Beckett can most definitely reform this summer and head into the next one with their main objective in mind: Retaining the league title, and more importantly, retaining the BUCS National Championship trophy.

Time will tell, will Leeds Beckett succeed in defending what’s theirs? Or will they struggle next season? For now, it’s purely speculation.

One Club City: Leeds United

Work reflection 3

The work has been fun to complete I have found, this will be because I enjoy doing the design work and I have a passion for Leeds United. However, the writing side of it I found to be the thing I have struggled with the most throughout the completion of the work.

I think the content I have is good and it does work well, I just feel it could be better written but this is something I would need to spend more time on doing to improve on. This style of writing is something I have never really done before so doing it for the first time was challenging, there were situations where I was questioning certain phrases I was using or how I was wording the sentences wondering if it made sense but I also think some of that is me overthinking.

Being passionate about the topic really helped me as I knew a lot already and knew where I needed to look for the information I didn’t have, which saved me that initial struggle of getting started in the first place.

Overall I am happy with the work that I have created, I think the design is good, I made sure that everything is aligned and that there are no hyphenated words at the end of the lines to make it an easy read.

I believe the images are well taken and also edited good enough to a standard to be published, and they also suit the theme which I was looking to achieve at the start when I was putting my ideas together in the first place.

As mentioned earlier the words content could be improved but if I get the chance to do this type of writing and work again it would certainly benefit me and help me learn this type of writing style and also other writing styles as well.

I had to upload the magazine spreads on to Issuu instead of Heyzine because when I inserted the link to the final piece it didn’t work.

Unleash the Fun: A New Dog Park Dedicated to Keeping Our Furry Friends Happy and Running Free.

DogTopia K9 Adventure Park is a newly built private dog-park located just off Tyersal Lane, Bradford in West Yorkshire. It is stacked with all sorts of fun toys and adventurous things for your dogs to experience!

A woman infront of a gate holding a dog — The entrance to Mrs P’s – Photo by: Connie Lea

What does Dogtopia have to offer?

At DogTopia there are three designated play areas, Woodland Walk and Mrs P’s (pond and play) which is split into two sections, a smaller boxed area with a ninja warrior style obstacle course filled with plenty of toys. There is also a swing at the bottom for dogs to ride and relax – this area is recommended for smaller and older dogs or those who are in training.

An obstacle course — A view of the Ninja Warrior style course in Mrs P’s – Photo by: Connie Lea

Then the second part of Mrs P’s in a much larger open space, 2.65 acres of field to be exact. It includes a deep pond near the bottom of the field and then at the top end there is an agility course with a sand pit. This area is the newer out of the two and there are plans in the future to add more adventurous stuff for dogs to play and enjoy, suggestions are welcome! Also, worth mentioning that the smaller play area is flood-lit from 6-9pm in the later months of the year, when the sun sets earlier in the evening.

A wooden obstacle course in a field — A view of the agility course – Photo by: Connie Lea

Moving onto the Woodland Walk, which is extremely popular. This field is slightly bigger than Mrs P’s, it is 4.75 acres. As you first enter there is another play area and agility course, with a pirates inspired theme. It has its very own pirate boat and a sand pit! The agility course is filled with walk planks and obstacles made from repurposed wood. All of which are packed with fun and immersive things for your furry friend to experience.

Also, in the entrance way furthest out is a raised flower hill – perfect for hide and seek or chasing. The area is also equipped with tractor tyres and long tubes that act as a tunnel for your dog to run through, lastly for this section there is a tug zone, two long rope toys hung from a piece of wood, designed to simulate a battle, and see who the strongest dog is.

A gate with lots of signs — Entrance gate to Woodland Walk – Photo by: Connie Lea

As you walk further down the grass field to the left is a section of woodland, which is all very natural looking. The hill is slightly steep but there are a few marked pathways. If you keep an eye out throughout your walk there are also some magical spots like Narnia, Gruffalo’s Den, and The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party along the way – this also helps to keep young children occupied as well if they come along, as they are not allowed to play on the agility course or other areas of the park.

Your dog is then free to run up and down the grass and mud, follow the scent trails and go in and out of the meadows, ideal for zoomies! There is a free-flowing stream that runs along the bottom – which you can cross via the rickety bridge. A small slide has recently been added for even more excitement and endless fun!

A lot of the equipment like the wood, toys, tyres, and pipes have been donated to the dog-park. For example, on the day I visited there was a long tube pipe, which can be used as a tunnel was being delivered by JDP Pipes a drainage company based in Bradford and Leeds.

Three people sat on a drain pipe — Staff from JDP Pipes sat on the donated pipe – Photo by: Connie Lea

Meet Kate

Kate is the owner of Dogtopia, a local businesswoman and entrepreneur from Bradford. She was inspired to build the dog-park because she has four dogs of her own, who she describes as an absolute nightmare.

She also shared that they’ve been brought up on a farm or in a larger house where they have been free to roam without being on a lead or restricted to wearing a collar.

Then she moved and bought the field – which is 20 acres all together and let the dogs run the whole length, however they didn’t come back so she made the decision to make it smaller and they could play in those areas. Then as she started to make progress and build other parts, she added a 6ft fence instead of 3.

A woman stood infront of a gate — Kate pictured in front of the Dogtopia entrance – Photo by: Connie Lea

Following on from that, as she realised, she probably wouldn’t use the area all of the time, she expanded the usage and decided to make the area available to other dog owners to exercise their pups as well in a secure area as the whole entire area is fenced off and enclosed.

“I wanted people to not feel like they were trapped, or they were in a pen. I want people to come here and think you know what, leave me in peace and then let their dog be free to play and sniff in a safe place.”

Services and Accessibility

The Woodland Walk is open and can be booked for a private hire, which means you can book a session for your dog only, but you are also permitted to bring your family or a friend’s dog along too. Therefore, any people or dogs you don’t recognise aren’t allowed to enter the area during your booking and allocated time. This session can be reserved for £13 an hour or in Mrs P’s for 45 minutes (£10.50). “I don’t charge a lot as it’s not about the profit, it’s about the happiness of people and their dogs,” said Kate

There are also regular social events that are held. For example, themed events, breeds only, small dogs only, and friendly dog groups – these sessions are when different dogs can play and mix with one another. Please refer to the timetable on the website for more information.

A dog in a field — A dog walking in the grass field at Dogtopia – Photo by: Connie Lea

In terms of accessibility, Kate has thought of pretty much everything and catered the park to suit everyone. Dogtopia has two drive-in compound areas that can fit a maximum of 2 cars (Woodland Walk) and there is an extra allocated space for (Mrs P’s) if required.

The park also has disability access, and the gates are slightly wider to fit wheelchairs as well as pushchairs. There is a portable disability toilet on-site as well as a baby changing area for those customers who may need to use. There are also picnic tables located inside Mrs P’s along with a sheltered area incase of a change in weather throughout your allocated session.

For the dogs, there is a water bowl station with a refillable container, treats, extra toys to play with, leads if needed and dotted all around the park are plenty of poo-bags which customers are politely asked to use (if not your own) to remove your dog’s business and ensure and clean space for everyone – there also bins provided around to discard.

All breeds of dogs are allowed at Dogtopia including XL Bullies/Exempt breeds, you just need to upload your Defra 2024 Insurance Document onto the link when booking.

What are the benefits of a dog park?

“Having a dog park is far better than taking your dog for a walk down the street or road on a lead,” says Kate

Dog parks are a fantastic place for dogs who might be a little bit more challenging in public areas and also for the dogs who are well-behaved but struggle on walks in areas where there are other owners with their dogs who might not necessarily be as calm and manageable.

They are a safe and secure place for the dog but also the owner too. As some people may feel vulnerable walking their dogs alone in local areas. There are no trip hazards, everything is signposted and there’s plenty of things for your dog to do. Including plenty of activities, keeping the mind occupied, mental stimulation and is free to run as much as it wants rather than being limited to a length of a lead on a walk.

A basket of dog toys on a fence — A basket of dog toys hung on the fence in Woodland Walk – Photo by: Connie Lea

At Dogtopia specifically the dogs can alternate between the two parks, Woodland and Mrs P’s to give them a different experience each visit! “Dogs need to be free and learn how to balance on planks, hear different noises, go in a boat that rocks, chase balls and dig in a sand-pit,” Kate explained. “In the wild they do all of these things so why do we walk them on a lead down the highstreet and not let them live their lives,” she added.

According to a survey carried out by YouGov UK, 33% of people said it is ‘somewhat acceptable’ for you to walk your dog without a lead in a public park, whereas 24% disagreed stating that is ‘completely unacceptable.

There is also a sense of community and bringing people together, in April there was an Easter themed event where a group of people brought their dogs and dressed up in Easter clothing and had a picnic whilst the dogs socialised and played.

Customer Reviews

At the time of my interview, Rebecca and her two labradors were having a session inside of the Woodland Walk. She says she brings her dogs to Dogtopia because they are safe, and she quite likes the stream at the bottom as her dogs just love the water. “I know they are safe and especially with all the dog attacks you hear about,” she says.

A dog playing with a toy — A labrador running with a tug toy – Photo by: Connie Lea

First Hand Experience

On Thursday 1st May, I took my six-year-old loyal and excitable American Akita down to the dog park for an evening play. Let me tell you everything from start to finish was an absolute breeze and hassle free.

As the weather had been a lot warmer recently and with her breed, we thought it would be appropriate to book her in for a session as late as possible, to allow the temperature to drop. I booked Skye in for the 7.45pm slot, which gave us a whole hour to explore. Our session included the Woodland Walk – which is available to be booked privately. We opted for the private session because that one best suited Skye.

She had so much freedom to play, she loved climbing on the pirates-themed play area. It had wooden planks she could walk across, a pirate ship and even a sand pit, plenty of new things to investigate and sniff. My brother kept throwing a tug-toy down the grass area for her to chase after, it was so amazing to watch her run so freely and have so much fun. She also had a bit of a face-off and was chasing the other dog on the other side of the fence in the opposite play-area – much to our surprise it was another Akita!

They spent a good five minutes running up and down between the fences. Both areas are fully enclosed and fenced off, there is also a large green sheet of fabric on the fence to disguise the view of the area next door but that didn’t stop Skye and her wicked sense of smell.

Then at the bottom further down the field there is the woodland area – I think this was her favourite part of all! She was running up and down the hills in and out through the bluebells, jumping over the water stream at the bottom and genuinely having the best time ever. Myself and my brother also really enjoyed chasing her through the trees minus the mud!

A dog stood on a plank of wood — Skye at Dogtopia – Photo by: Connie Lea

The drive down to the park was quite easy and pleasant, you turn off the main road and down a one-lane path. As you drive down you are greeted with lots of open fields, plenty of horses and some cows too. As you go further down, there is a silver gate – the code for this was provided to us on our booking confirmation. There is a footpath next to the gate, so you could also walk your dog’s down to the park as well. Following the road all the way down to the bottom, you’ll approach the dog park, there are two gates for each play-area where you drive into. There is a second code on the gate, which is provided to you on the day of your booking.

Then you’re in, the gate shuts behind you and it’s time to let your pup free. As a family we particularly liked how straightforward it was to drive in and ensure everyone’s safety. It was perfect for Skye as she’s quite sensitive to loud-noises, so I think if we were unloading her on the side of a busy road, there would have been a higher risk of her trying to escape – but Dogtopia’s way just gives you that extra sense of security and relief knowing that she’s in a safe and secure place.

Link to Dogtopia website: https://www.dogtopiaadventures.co.uk/

Reflections

Week 1:

For the 1st task we had to go and find a story from the city taking photos and finding quotes to create it. I went to an indepedent coffee shop that had just opened a 4th location. Tom who was the barista inside allowed me to ask a couple of questions about the company and what they try to achieve. Unfortunately it was quite quiet at the time I went so couldn’t speak to anyone else or get a picture of the place full but I was happy with the photos I got for my piece just nextime make sure I get a photo of the person I’ve intereviewed. From the examples shown I think having a picture of the interviewee is important as it can really add to the story if the audience can picture the persons saying the quotes so doing this will make my pieces have more depth.

Week 2:

During this week we learnt about the different types of photo journalism and the ways they can be used to document or report on a story. The photos are usually the driving force behind the story – or they are at least of equal weight to the text. We were tasked to start researching the type we’d like to use for our assessment and to delve into the history of photo journalism, famous photo journalists alongside some of the most well known moments captured. Looking at all this I think its helped me decide to focus on reportage. Capturing pictures in a sports event really gives depth to the story of a match or even sometimes telling the story. The challenge will be having my images high quality enough to not have the ball blurred etc but its something I’ll need to be persistent with. Some sports photographers who’ve caught these iconic momments have made a name for themselves just through 1 photo and thats what I should be trying to replicate. Capturing split second momments that not many others managed to capture.

Week 3:

After going through all of our research from last week and discussing our choices of photos and what makes them such important momments captured in sports we were given a task to find three photos. The first challenge was to find a news photo that was staged and the history/reasoning behind it. It incredibly dangerous it was to set up that photograph but to capture the essence behind the height of the newly contruscted rockerfeller centre put lives at risk but thats what length the photographer went to. Then I had to find a picture that affects the story/event and I chose a picture of the second plane crashing into the twin tower during 9/11. When the first plane collided the public would’ve thought it was just a catastrophic accident but someone getting a picture of the second plane then meant it was no longer an accident but a planned terrorist attack. The photo made me think about how important photos are to a story and the way they are told for the rest of history. Finally it was a challenge to find a picture that could where the meaning of the photo could be disputed. I found one of the England squad in 96 that were slammed for having a wild night out shortly before the Euros that caused uproar for most but for some the meaning of it wasn’t that they’ve let the country down and should all be banned/fined but instead showed how close knit this group were and that afterall they’re also human. It made me reflect on how journalists/photographers can present a certain narrative for the public to jump on despite the story being spun into what they want to tell.

Week 4:

Reflecting on this week learning about focus, aperture and F-Stop were all relatively new terms to me and something I hadn’t really come across before. When taking a photo on my phone I just trusted the software and mechanics to create a good photo. I knew that choosing what was in focus was an option but I didn’t know how to simulate aperture to the fixed lense on an iphone .It was interesting using the F-Stop slider to change the depth of field when we were experimenting with taking photos. We took 3 photos with a model and background at 3 different F-Stop settings (highest, medium, lowest) and the results were really interesting. It showed if you use a low F setting, more light comes in – but less of the image is in focus. Whereas if you use a high F setting, you get much less light – but more of the image is in focus. One thing I need to think about when coming to taking photos for my assignment is possibly hiring a camera as I feel with my phone being one of the older generations the photos aren’t going to be of the highest quality but over the next few weeks I’m going to play around with F-Stop sliders and focus and really get to grips with taking a vairety of photos.

Week 5:

Each week I’m learning more and more about the capabilities of the camera in my phone and how I can adjust certain setting for a different creative output. Learning about shutter speeds and the burst setting today gave me some ideas for some shots I’d like to take for my final project and how this will benefit the final quality of the shots as it gives me a choice to choose from due to the shutter speed being so quickly. After doing some research a lot of sports photos use fast shutter speeds to capture split second and fast paced momments. The exposure triangle is all about finding the balance between ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. It takes time, practice, and patience to get comfortable with how they all work together. The best way to master this is by learning each setting first individually and I’ve been looking at each setting we’ve learnt about over the past few weeks more closely so that when I end up putting them all together it will provide a higher quality image. After looking into the shutter speed more I found that the best setting to get the best images is 1/1000 as this will allow the action shot to be frozen but in order to do this having good lighting is key in order for the image to remain crisp if it is not good lighting then the shutter speed should be lower. Although most sports photographers use a high shutter speed having a low shutter speed could also be used. So using this I could also use a slower shutter speed to create a motion blur in golf to capture the speed the players are swinging for my assignment piece.

Week 6:

Getting to learn about post photo production, colour correcting and cropping I think is an invaluable tool moving forward with this module. As much as some photos don’t always need edtiing, after playing around with a few i’d taken previously just the smallest of changes to the adjustment layers can enhance a photo completely. Sometimes in my photos I feel unintentionally I leave a lot of blank space so learning about cropping on photoshop will be extremely useful when it comes to editing my final images and getting a refresher about the rule of thirds/grids has given me something to think about in terms of variety. Photoshop although it seems a bit confusing at the start actually becomes quite easy to use once you know your way round it. Being able to delete layers quickly means for quite a quick editing process and having the original photo next to it really allowed me to see if the editing made a positive impact to the appeal and professional look of the photo.

Week 7:

Clearing up the difference between Raw images and JPEG was important today as I didn’t realize what made them so different and why only one is suitable for an online format. Taking a few practice images and playing around with the settings and the different formats over the next week I feel will benefit me when it comes to capturing the actual event for my project. A way of laying out all images taken on a contact sheet and picking out which photos I initially like and don’t, whilst choosing the ones I want to develop further. It’ll give me a clear direction on the concept for the article, its visual aesthetic and narrative to be told through the imagery. Changing the images from portrait to landscape is important as it means instead of just deleting them they can be edited into project worthy photos. I didn’t realize how using perspective crop to straighten an image would actually change the image so much. When testing it on some sample images straightening the images changes the perspective of the image and where your looking at it from.

Week 8:

When looking at close up photography and the different perspectives that can come from it it’s definitely led me to have a think about possibilities for my project. Because I will be shooting sports photos I think I need to use an actual camera rather than a phone as when taking some test shots it’s hard to really capture the fine details. Learning about the different lenses available could be of use to me as on a golf course I don’t really want to be too close to the action as shutter sounds etc might put the players off so shooting from a far with the same quality. Over the next few weeks its time to create a plan and a to do list that shows my progression through this module. It’ll give me an incentive to keep up to date and on track with the deadlines. I’ve been completing a bit of additional research as well to add to my knowledge which gives me a greater understanding of how the best sports photographers do what they do. If I plan effectively it’ll lead to a much smoother process in creating my story and if I can improve my photos in post production editing and have them sorted it’ll just be the words I need to write.