SIMPLY SPEETON

Welcome to the Church of St Leonard, one of the smallest churches in Yorkshire. It stands in the village of Speeton.

Dating from before 1100, it is believed to have been built on an original Saxon church – so it dates from the first Christian days in Yorkshire. The building was restored in 1965 and 1976. The church is built from stone, with a little chalk. It is enclosed by a stone wall that replaced the Victorian iron railings. The narrow tower contains one bell - a ships bell.

Services are still held every Sunday – which is unusual for rural churches now. There are also special services to bless fishermen on their voyages and candle light vigils were held during stormy weather. On the cliffs below the village are the wrecks of many ships.

There is no burial ground here so pallbearers had to carry coffins along a poor clifftop path to Bridlington Priory some 5 miles away. It was customary for them to halt at the Nags Head for refreshment on the way – and again on the way back ! Today there are good road links to Bridlington.

Sporty Bit . . .
A move to Iceland has changed a life !
I know we have Blippers in Iceland and they may know of one Gary Martin. Gary was a young footballer with my Boro. He admits he had the wrong attitude as a youngster and so a promising career with Boro never materialised.
Then he moved to play football for the KR Club in Reykjavik, Iceland – and became their highest scorer last year.
He was also voted the best foreign player in the league. Nice one !