Join us for a special exclusive event celebrating the Bear Pit Restoration!
Saturday 29 June 2024, 13:00 – 16:00
Due to the volume of inquiries about the Bear Pit, we are opening our members event up to the public! Join us on Saturday 29 June for an exclusive sneak peek event, starting at The Hyde Park Picture House. You are invited to join us for a drink before a picture exhibition and a talk on the Zoological Gardens by Janet Douglas followed by Kevin Grady talking about how Leeds Civic Trust came to own it.
Afterwards, attendees are invited to join us for a walk to the Bear Pit to see the renovation.
Talk information – ‘A Place of Enchantment’: Leeds Zoological and Botanical Gardens 1836-1860. Janet Douglas
Over the years thousands of people walking along Cardigan Road must have puzzled over a miniature castle set amid the suburbs, not realising that what they are looking at is now probably the grandest bear pit in Britain. It was once part of the short-lived Leeds Zoological and Botanical Gardens which opened in 1840, the brainchild of a society founded in 1837 and financed by a hybrid commercial-cum-philanthropic company that embraced a variety of sometimes conflicting purposes. This talk will explore the ideological underpinnings of the project, its changing development over the years, and the ultimate failure of the Gardens, whilst also seeking to explore the light this venture throws on the social and cultural life of mid-19th century Leeds.
Tickets:
Leeds Civic Trust Members: £6
Non-Members: £8
Useful information
Schedule:
- 13:00 – Arrive at Hyde Park Picture House for a drink
- 13:30 – Zoological Gardens talk by Janet Douglas
- 14:15 – Short talk from Kevin Grady
- 14:30 – Walk to the Bear Pit
- 14:45 – Site tour of the restoration
- 15:30 – Guests are free to have a walk round the site
- 16:00 – Event finishes
Supporting event – Ernest and Celestine screening, Hyde Park Picture House.
Leeds Civic Trust are collaborating with Hyde Park Picture House to celebrate the restoration of the bear pit! Our junior friends and families are invited to join us on the morning of the 29 June from 10:30am for a drop in self-led scavenger hunt to find the many bears who have snuck into various hiding places around the beloved cinema! Followed by a brief introduction by Martin Hamilton, Leeds Civic Trust director on the renovation of the bear pit!
Guests then will be invited to watch the beautiful animation Ernest & Celestine a charming story based on the popular children’s books Gabrielle Vincent. In a world where bears are in charge and mice are downtrodden creatures, an unlikely friendship is formed.
This is event is part of HPPH Hyde & Seek screenings and are Pay What You Can including £0.
To book your ticket for this screening, head to the HPPH website:
