Full steam ahead for St George’s Day dragon hunt

Little dragon hunters can follow in the footsteps of St George this weekend as Lotherton celebrates the most patriotic day of the year.

The Aberford estate will be hosting an exciting programme of traditional English activities across the weekend to mark St George’s Day on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 April.

Young visitors will be able to follow a dragon hunt trail around the historic house, which was once home to some of the city’s most prominent families.

Intrepid youngsters can also dress up as a knight, dragon or princess, get involved in some medieval family crafts or soak up the atmosphere with live music from a traditional brass band.

Lotherton will also be continuing their hugely popular Mad Hatter’s Trail over the weekend, inspired by English author Lewis Carroll’s classic novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Activities include flamingo croquet and a special Mad Hatter Trail through the gardens.

Tickets for St George's Day weekend and other events at Lotherton can now be booked in advance online.

For more information about Lotherton, or to book tickets, please visit: www.leeds.gov.uk/lotherton

Elsewhere this weekend, the George Cross will be flying from Leeds Civic Hall and Leeds Town Hall and Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills will be welcoming an historic Leeds-built locomotive back to Yorkshire for a whistle stop tour.

The Hunslet 2-6-2T locomotive No. 85, built in Leeds in 1954 for service in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, was brought back to the UK by Mid-Wales tourist attraction the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway (W&LLR) in 1975.

For the past five years the locomotive has been on static display at the Locomotion Museum in Shildon, but this Saturday, April 22, it will be back in Leeds for a special event promoting links between the UK and Sierra Leone.

Councillor Brian Selby, Leeds City Council’s lead member for museums and galleries said: “It’s great to see some exciting activities happening this St George’s Day weekend which will give our visitors the chance to celebrate some of the very best of Leeds, Yorkshire and England.”

For more details on Leeds Industrial Museum, please visit: www.leeds.gov.uk/armleymills

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact:

Stuart Robinson

Communications Officer

Leeds City Council

Tel: 0113 378 9182 (please note my new number)

Email: stuart.robinson@leeds.gov.uk

www.leeds.gov.uk