Floral tribute to Leeds's Barnbow lasses

Pupils at Manston Primary School and Manston St James Primary Academy are each year asked to come up with a floral design for the garden area that surrounds the Barnbow memorial in Manston Park at Crossgates.

This year’s winning design was supplied by Lucy Schofield, with Charlotte Pedley and Lucy Norton taking second and third place respectively. Lucy’s design has now been planted at the park and it was in full bloom as youngsters who took part in the competition gathered for a prize-giving event. Other attendees included Leeds East MP Richard Burgon and local councillor Pauleen Grahame. The competition was organised by East Leeds History & Archaeology Society (ELHAS) with support from Leeds City Council and the local authority’s parks and countryside department.

ELHAS president Bob Lawrence said: “The idea behind the memorial is for it to be a living monument to the Barnbow girls and the competition is part of that.

“All of the children get a certificate of merit and we hope it will encourage them to find out more about the story of the factory and the people who worked there.”

A total of 35 women lost their lives in the blast at the Barnbow site in Crossgates in 1916. The factory had opened in 1915 and, as increasing numbers of men were called up to fight in the war, women eventually comprised the majority of its workforce. The memorial to the victims of the explosion – known as the Barnbow lasses – was unveiled at Manston Park in 2012.