Do you remember the lion’s den?

Friends of Crow Nest Park member Jenifer Devlin was reminded of the park’s “Lion’s Den” when she saw a child climb the rockery near where it used to be.

She said: “Sadly it no longer exists, possibly because it became the location for certain unacceptable goings-on, but it was a structure at the top of the rockery to the left of where this child is climbing.

“Getting people to describe it is hard, people have said ‘it was a sort of spiral you went in’, ‘you had to duck under to get in’, ‘they said there was a lion in the middle, so you were scared to go in’ and ‘we used to spend all day climbing over it and playing tig’.”

She said it was a part of the park that everyone remembered but that it was difficult to paint a clear picture.

“No-one seems able to say exactly what it was like, so there’s no chance of reconstructing it for a new generation.

“Perhaps that’s as well – it’s nice to think that while the ancient Greeks had their legend of the Minotaur who lived at the centre of the Labyrinth on Crete and devoured seven Athenian youths and seven girls each year, here in Dewsbury we have our legend of the lion who sat in his den in Crow Nest Park scaring, but not eating, the young of the last century.”

If you can describe or draw the lion’s den, or have a photograph of it,please contact Jenifer Devlin [email protected].