Planting for a new woodland owned by the University of Leeds has begun on the Northern edge of the city.
A new woodland situated near Golden Acre Park in Bramhope is being planted in a hope to increase Yorkshire's tree cover.
The site, owned by the University of Leeds, is a whopping 37-hectares - the equivalent of 37 rugby pitches.
It will eventually be home to 66,000 new trees, a mixture of broadleaf species including oak, elder, hornbeam, wild cherry and silver birch.
The first tree, an oak, was put into the ground by Roger Gair, who worked at the University for more than 40 years and retired last year. The woodland, called Gair Wood, takes his name.
Image: University of Leeds
The Gair Wood will contribute to the target set by the White Rose Forest - the community forest for West and North Yorkshire, for 7 million more trees by 2025.
Mr Gair said: “This means an awful lot to me. The wood will benefit the environment, the academic work of the University and the people of Leeds, and I am deeply honoured to have my name associated with it.”
Following the ceremonial planting, the focus now switches to the mass planting which will happen in early 2023, and they are asking for volunteers to help out.
No planting experience is needed and full training will be given. If this sounds like something you'd like to get involved with, book onto one of the planting sessions here.
Image: University of Leeds
Professor Simone Buitendijk, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, said: "Roger was a fantastic servant of the University for more than 40 years, calmly guiding its growth and development through periods of great change.
“The Gair Wood project also embodies the philosophy of the University. It is the result of collaboration with partner organisations, and it will be a fantastic resource for the public to enjoy for decades to come and for our researchers to use to further scientific study into climate change.”
The tiramisu hype lives on, and this time it's coming to Leeds.
It really does feel like the traditional Italian dessert has taken the world by storm as of late.
Everything from tiramisu cups and tiramisu coffees have been popping up all over our feed, and now tiramisu in drawer form is popping up in the city centre.
Misu Tiramisu is an independent business that began at Manchester's Christmas Markets and quickly became one of the most popular operators, all thanks to its miniature tiramisu ‘drawers’.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The individually portioned and colourfully packaged desserts quickly became one of town’s top puddings, and owners Aleem and Aishah went on to launch a stand inside the Manchester Arndale too.
And now they’re branching out again in Leeds inside Trinity shopping centre for a two month residency.
You’ll find all their delicious flavours of handmade tiramisu, including classic, pistachio, chocolate, Biscoff, mango, and lemon - they'll also have some gluten-free tiramisu on offer as well, so no one has to miss out.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Misu Tiramisu owners Aleem and Aishah spent a year refining the recipe for their tiramisus after a trip to Milan, first launching with their first market stall in Sale.
Misu Tiramisu is now open inside Trinity shopping centre opposite Boots Opticians and Pop Specs.
They're open every day of the week for you to get your tiramisu fix, from 9am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and from 11am to 5pm on a Sunday.
And trust us Leeds, they're just as delicious as they are adorable.
Fossilised 320-million-year-old fish found in Leeds’ Roundhay Park
Clementine Hall
A prehistoric fish fossil has been unearthed at Roundhay Park in Leeds.
The fascinating prehistoric skull bone of a coelacanth fish was discovered by a geologist at Roundhay Park earlier this year.
It is thought the creature was frozen in time aeons ago, during an era when the park was submerged under a vast tropical lagoon.
The remarkable discovery has now been kindly donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries and added to the natural sciences collection at Leeds Discovery Centre.
Image: Leeds City Council
The Leeds fossil was found by Ru Smith of the Yorkshire Geological Society during a reconnaissance walk he was carrying out ahead of a planned field excursion in the north Leeds park.
Describing the moment he made the discovery, Ru said: “There’s a layer of rock in the park which dates from around 320 million years ago, from a time before the breakup of the continents, when what is now the park would have been situated close the Equator and under the warm waters of a tropical lagoon. West Central Africa would be a good place to find similar environments in the present.
“There’s a bed of freshwater mussels called Carbonicola at one level in the rock, and opening a piece of shale from this bed in my hands I saw something unusual – a distinctive skull bone of a large fish. I knew straight away this was something different and very rare."
The bone was verified byexperts as belonging to a coelacanth older than those found elsewhere in Yorkshire, making it the oldest fossil coelacanth discovered in the region.
Ru added: “Coelacanths are pretty amazing fish and it’s just very cool to think that at one time, you could have been standing in Leeds and watching them swim around above a bed of mussels in Roundhay Park.
“That’s really the wonder of geology, looking at the rock and time travelling in the imagination to what was a very different world.”
Clementine Hall -
5th December 2022 
