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Clear leader emerges on spelling issue
One of the two rivals on the spelling issue that everyone is talking about has opened up a healthy lead. Is it Cross Gates or Crossgates? Find out which one and vote before the deadline!
Latest figures reveal Cross Gates - spelt two words rather than one - has polled 59 per cent of the vote to date compared with 41 per cent for Crossgates.
There's still plenty of time to have your say on Cross Gates or Crossgates debate. Scores of people have already cast their vote - have you?
But fear not - there is still plenty of time to have your say vote ahead of the August 24 deadline.
As you can see the vote panel on the right side bar display offers two options - Cross Gates or Crossgates.
It is up to you to decide - and you can vote as many times as you like!
And you can also have your say by adding your comments at the top of this story.
YEP community digital editor, Andrew Hutchinson, said: "This is an issue that people feel really strongly about.
"It seems there are just as many people use Crossgates as use Cross Gates, so we decided to use this website to find out who is in the majority."
The signs scattered around the town only add to, rather than clear up, the confusion.
Some local businesses chose the two-word version, others the all in one.
Even the train station welcomes passengers to Cross Gates on one side of the platform and Crossgates on the other.
To add to the confusion, the suburb's shopping mecca, this year celebrating its 40th birthday, has gone by three names.
To most of the locals, the place will always be The Arndale Centre, at one point it was known as Cross Gates Shopping Centre, then later became Crossgates Shopping Centre.
Speaking after a major revamp at the centre saw it get its current name, manager Steve Seymour said: "It has been an on-running saga as to what the area is called and even the railway station features both names, which is
quite confusing.
"It has always been my thinking that it was Crossgates and following discussions with the new owners it was decided to change."
The area's name is in fact derived from Crossyates, which was first mentioned in Whitkirk's parish records in the 15th century.
Yate was the old English word for gate and it is thought the name came from the gates used to divide land in the area and keep in cattle.
Since then it has been written as both one word and two, with neither said to be wrong.
David Owens, president of the East Leeds History and Archaeology Society, admitted he was as stumped as anyone else.
"I've looked into all the historical records for the area and there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer, " he said.
"It just seems to be an interesting quirk that no one is ever going to solve. Whichever way you write it, you are neither right nor wrong."
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Friday 18 May 2012
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