Off Upperthong Lane, Ward Place, Holme Valley, Holmfirth, Kirklees, West Yorkshire Attached to the arch that supports the gates leading into St John's Church is a vintage Benjamin floodlight fitted with a high wattage GLS (incandescent tungsten filament) lamp. Unusually, this is not the common 'Duoflux' shovel-shaped fitting, but a circular type that seems to share many of the other components of the Duoflux. The floodlight is unlikely to see frequent use in the modern era, but still appears to be fully capable of being lit as-and-when required.

While the floodlight is positioned to face towards the church door, I am uncertain as to whether it is intended as a means of illuminating the path to churchgoers after nightfall, or as a general architectural floodlight.

A rather dusty lamp is still fitted within the floodlight.

Some versions of this floodlight were supplied with a glass cover to seal the reflector interior. This example, however, has an open reflector. The enamelling on this is in remarkable condition, with only very minor rust patches having formed on the lowest portion.

Fans of the TV comedy series Last of the Summer Wine will know that the churchyard has the accolade of being the final resting place for two of the series' actors - Bill Owen (William J. Owen Rowbotham) and Peter Sallis, who played 'Compo' Simmonite and Norman Clegg, respectively. While both actors were Londoners by birth, such was their love of Holmfirth that they both decided to be buried there.

The graves are positioned side-by-side a short distance from the entrance.

Peter Sallis is also remembered for providing the original voice of Wallace in the Wallace & Gromit series; this is also recorded on his headstone.

I was fortunate to have been on holiday in Holmfirth during the filming of a scene from the 19th series of Summer Wine in 1997 - this video discusses the experience.

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