From Emily Bronte to Alan Bennett: Leeds residents reveal the celebrities they feel deserve a blue plaque

Yorkshire has honoured its heroes since the scheme began in 1866, from author Emily Bronte to Nobel prize winning geneticist Oliver Smithies.

By Natasha Meek
Monday, 11th March 2019, 8:09 am
Updated Monday, 11th March 2019, 8:13 am
The YEP reader panelists
The YEP reader panelists

But who would people from different generations choose to celebrate? That's the question we posed to the Yorkshire Evening Post panel who have their say on local issues each week. If you'd like to join email [email protected] See last week's question: how to tackle the blight of fly-tipping in Leeds

Strong women can include the ladies who kept the munitions factory going in Swarcliffe during the war. Maybe a joint plaque to all the nurses and support staff that keep the city running.
It has to be Alan Bennett and Barbara Taylor Bradford. They have given hours of pleasure to those who read their books and watched the television adaptations. The characters of Leeds were never so well observed.

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For me it is the everyday women that inspire me. The women who run, work and volunteer for charities such as Homestart Wakefield and CoActive Arts Charity. So many women deserve recognition.
Ex-Benton Park School alumnus and cheeky, rapid-fire comic Billy Pearce: evergreen of Variety and ever-present of pantomime. I didnt think Id find Hiya Kids! or Chuffin eck! quite so funny.
Yorkshire is a place where artists seem to thrive and it would be nice to have an art walk style series of plaques dedicated to those perhaps lesser known, such as the talented Sharron Astbury-Petit or painter Darren Reynolds.
Peter O Toole - a fine actor brought up in Hunslet. His range, everything from iconic to drunk and dissolute, always utterly captivating.