5 things you might not have known about Pudsey

Today marks the 1st birthday of the MyPudsey website so we thought we would put something together that is a little bit different from our usual blog posts to celebrate! Read on to find out 5 things you might not have known about Pudsey and 5 things you might not have known about MyPudsey!

1. Pudsey has its very own theatre!

Based in Fulneck, the theatre is run by the Fulneck Dramatic Society. The theatre was founded in 1924 under the name Fulneck Amateur Operatic Society, they were known for very successful operettas and plays up until 1951 when they became Fulneck Dramatic Society, the society still exists to this day. If you’re interested in finding out more about the theatre and the Dramatic Society, they are holding their next performance beginning the 7th March “A chorus of disapproval”. Find out more on the MyPudsey events calendar.

Find out more about Fulneck Dramatic Society over on their website: https://www.fulneckdramaticsociety.co.uk/

2. A Pudsey businessman once had two different shops flattened by a tram

Fred Coe was once a prominent Pudsey businessman, and also served as a Pudsey Councillor and Pudsey Mayor during his lifetime. Fred was also quite possibly the unluckiest businessman to have once walked the streets of our town. Fred owned what is believed to be a hat & dress shop on Lowtown in Pudsey, much to Fred’s disappointment his shop was one day flattened by a tram. A fairly unbelievable occurrence, and one that you wouldn’t think would go on to be repeated… So poor old Fred reopened his shop at the bottom of Stanningley, happy in the confidence he couldn’t be so unlucky again… However, Fred was to be proven wrong when a second tram flattened his new shop. At the time Pudsey folk joked it was all a setup, an insurance job to allow Fred to open other shops… Pudsey folk, eh?

3. A small piece of Pudsey demolished in the 1920s can still be found in Pudsey Park

Many people know of the small drinking fountain at the far end of the play park, but how many of you know the origins of this fountain? Known as the William Dibb Scales drinking fountain, this piece of history once formed a larger structure by the old park lake. The structure was made of sandstone which couldn’t withstand the pollution and air quality and therefore was demolished in the 1920s, but a piece still remains to this day and who knows… Maybe you have taken a drink from it?

4. The founder of Leeds General Infirmary was born in Pudsey

Those of you that joined us last year for our very first Pudsey spooky tours will be familiar with the name William Hey, you may even remember the striking photo of the handsome chap you see above. Hey was born in Pudsey on the 23rd August 1736 and resided on Radcliffe Lane. An eminent surgeon of the time, Hey invented the “Hey saw”,  a wonderful little contraption that was designed to make removing the top of people’s skulls a much easier process. By the time he passed, Hey had quite the CV. Not only had he invented surgical tools and procedures, he also went on to become the Mayor of Leeds as well as being one of the founding members of Leeds General Infirmary.

5. Pudsey Cenotaph is the only Cenotaph in the world known to have human remains within and underneath

Another little fact that those of you who attended our spooky tours will now know, Pudsey Cenotaph is the only Cenotaph in the world known to have human remains buried within and underneath the structure. The word Cenotaph is derived from the Greek word kenotaphion, which literally means “empty tomb”. Pudsey, never to do things by halves decided ours wouldn’t follow the crowd and the structure was erected on the site of the old Pudsey Chapel and burial ground. For this reason the Cenotaph contains and stands over human remains. On some dark, cold, winter evenings some people say you can still catch a glimpse of those that once walked the cobbles.

1. The MyPudsey idea was born following a meeting of minds over a beer at Pudsey St Lawrence

In June 2020 following the first relaxations of the COVID-19 lockdown, a meeting was arranged by the 4 founders – Hayley Taylor, Damon Sugden, Trish Smith & Glenn Taylor. The plan being to discuss what we could do to promote and support Pudsey in its return to normality following the pandemic. Mockups and logos were presented, beers were drunk and the MyPudsey idea was born. The MyPudsey you see today is a much more advanced version of the original discussions, with original plans to just  promote businesses, jobs and events.

2. The MyPudsey team created the first ever Pudsey ghost tours, raising £375 for Pudsey charity in the process.

Following the success of our Pudsey Cemetery tours in the Spring/Summer of 2021, the team decided more events were required to try and support Pudsey based charities. With our team being big fans of history, ghost stories and the ghost walks of York & Whitby the idea seemed like a no brainer. Over a number of months plans were put in to action, promotional photos were captured, stories were dug up and 80 tickets were sold. The ghost tours raised £375 which went to the fantastic Pudsey Community Project to support them in their excellent work in the town.

Lots of people have asked if the ghost tours will be returning for 2022, for now all we can say is… Who knows? 😉👻😈

3. The MyPudsey website has had over 40,000 visitors since the website launched exactly 1 year ago today.

In 12 months our website has been visited over 40,000 times and by visitors as far away as Australia. With numbers growing month by month, now is the perfect time to get involved in our project – if you run a Pudsey business/charity/community group, are hosting an event, need to list a job or have a suggestion for a blog post then please do get in touch. This part of the blog post maybe about us (with a little bit of tooting our own horn) but the project exists to support others.

4. At the beginning of 2022, the MyPudsey team launched 2 further websites to support Pudsey businesses

Not content with managing one website, the MyPudsey team have fully embedded themselves within the business community, and to help support the community further have launched 2 additional websites with more to come. The first of the 2 is a new Pudsey Lottery website to support the initiative and tell visitors more, advertise where you can buy tickets and where you can spend your winnings. Find out more over at https://www.pudseylottery.co.uk/. The second website to launch was for the Pudsey Market. Pudsey Market has existed since the late 1800s and is worthy of our support. With fantastic traders and goods to purchase, we strongly recommend you pop down on a Tuesday, Friday or Saturday to check it out. Find out more over at https://www.pudseymarket.com/.

5. The MyPudsey website comprises over 77,000 lines of code and over 840 pages of content

One for the techies amongst us. Putting the MyPudsey website together has been no mean feat and has seen the MyPudsey team devote many days of their lives to the project; creating pages, blog posts, adding/approving businesses, job listings, events and much more besides. It really has been a phenomenal team effort to get to where we are today and we aren’t finished yet. 2022 will see more excellent blog posts, new features, guest contributions and more websites launched. Stay tuned.

Bonus Fact: The MyPudsey website shares its birthday with one of our team members, Trish Smith.

When looking for a solid deadline to launch the website the MyPudsey team had many ideas but one suggestion seemed unique and prominent enough to go with, Trish’s birthday! So Happy Birthday Trish from the rest of the team. 🙂