Foxwood and Sparrows at Unity Day July 2017

I watched my local pub go up in flames 22 years ago. I thought the clouds in the sky were in the wrong order - white on top of brown, and brown on top of grey. Weird.

view from top bedroom window 1995

What with the melting firebombed cars and the melting tarmac on Hyde Park Road and Moorland Road, and the surreal clashes between police with batons and shields and some rioters, Unity Day was born.








And now I have played steelpans for Unity every year but two ever since. First time, of all things, the Unity Committee asked for the steelband based at the College of Music, the one, in fact that I played in. [Failing to find the actual day, have used the band at another gig around that time, for now].

Panic at gig mid nineties

When I found out that Unity Day was on my doorstep [and I mean literally, as I live alongside Woodhouse Moor], I said to Amit, Chris, Simon and the crew - Did you not know I had my own steelband, and they said no but we do now. Which is how I came to do all the others.

Foxwood Steel was reborn out of the devastating closure of Foxwood School. This closure tore apart  its community of children from Seacroft and Gipton apart. We specialist teachers were thrown to the winds. I was sure that at least the steelband would survive, and twenty one years after Foxwood School [pointlessly and briefly, renamed East Leeds High School] it still does. 

NEXT! Pictures!

This year Sparrows joined up with Foxwood again. We agreed to open up on main stage at 12 [to the sound crew and a few stewards], and then played on the Stone Circle at 3 [this site suggested by Kevin of Mothers fame]. Thanks Julia for doing what they could with pics of a bare stage in a white tent in an empty park! Lol.



We were me, Vicky, Wanda, Gary, Georgia, Bart, Charlotte, MillieC, Katie, Maya, Lola, Owen, Ella, Annie. Ellie and Annie took off up the park with two but kept getting lost. Hilare! Patrick was there too, disguised in a Foxcub top, so you couldn't tell someone was holding him and playing one-handed.


Most bizarre moment was shortly after we had finished dragging the instruments up from the backstage holding area. The wondering samba band wondered up to us in the Stone Circle as we started our first song. We stopped playing and waited for them to pass.

They stopped wandering [but went on playing, static loudly, right next to us.]; we waited a bit longer, contemplated how we could fit a tune in with them, then Wanda said, Dead or Alive would see them off! And she was right.











After the stone circle, what a lovely arena [and thanks to Tom for nice pics] we carried our pans back to the van by the stage, watched Bart overload himself, as usual, and watched as strangers tried to "help" him. Lol.

Bart did wheelies in his wheelchair and Katie tried to as well - with less success, but made us laugh!

Loaded van took it then a few of us hung round, eating samosas and, in my case, bumping into ex-students.

community choir