Painter and draughtsman specialising in sporting subjects. Studied during evenings, 1925–32, at Leeds College of Art. Exhibited widely in Yorkshire, having one-man shows in Leeds, where he lived at Far Headingley. Appleyard had his work reproduced in Yorkshire newspapers and magazines, gaining a reputation as a horse painter, and he became honorary secretary of the Yorkshire Group of Artists. Newcastle upon Tyne and Wakefield art galleries hold his work.