hyperion3 wrote:Just been on a FB site, the subject was zoo's.And the lion in the garage was mentioned,the contributor Malcolm S stated that lion came from Knaresborough zoo when the zoo was closed in the 70's The then owner of the zoo thought it would be a good idea to take the lion home with him. He used to walk it on stainbeck lane on a leash,till it was taken off him by the RSPCA.
Never knew that Nick Nyoka and his wife Barbara lived in Leeds. Used to love the small zoo and took my daughter there many times when she was small.
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Is this the end of the story ...or the beginning of a legend?
Wasn't there a private zoo in Garforth, on the A63, in one of the big houses opposite the end of Lidgett Lane
I'm sure I remember seeing Monkeys in cages there, in the 70s
The lion was kept in a cage bolted to the side of the house on the corner of Wensley Crescent and Stainbeck lane, the right-hand corner as you are looking into the crescent. It was in the Evening Post at the time, but I have never been able to find any cuttings of it.
I lived about ten houses up on Stainbeck Lane and you could sometimes hear the lion on a night. It did get out once but the owner caught it and returned it to its cage. I always thought it was this escape that prompted the owners to sell it on. It wasn't kept there very long, only about 6 months if I remember correctly, and i think that it would have been about 1970/71.
I remember seeing a guy walking down Meanwood Road with two young lions on leashes near the cricket pitch/Switchgear, on the opposite side of the road. This would be late 1979 to early 80's. Not sure if it was Nick Nyoko though.
I also remember going to Knaresborough Zoo, and stopping on the way to look at the pets cemetery. The big lion that Nick had was called Ricky, I believe Ricky was blind and used to sleep on the bed with Nick and his wife. I have some pics somewhere, will have to find them.
Off topic but does anyone remember Shipley Glen funfair?
I certainly do , my friend from primary school lived next door to this lion .First time I saw it was when I went to her birthday party next door to where this lion lived and I was about 4 years old in 1971 and as I walked through the gate there was a lion on the front lawn on just on a chain and nothing to separate us but a tiny low fence between the gardens and I remember hiding behind the wall and peering at this lion all through the party . It was a semi detached house opposite to what is now a police station . Finally someone who beside me and my parents /family who remembers this lion . I told my friend at work who thought what an imagination I must have had as a child and was making it up but then went on to tell her father who also recollects the lion. Brilliant!
Hi,
Just looking at these posts as my daughter asked me about the lion as it lived next to us. I’m curious as it seems you came to my party and wondered who you are, also what a brilliant memory you have.
