One of Europe's largest parks has just opened a fun new sculpture trail perfect for the whole family.
The new attraction has been created by Yorkshire chainsaw artist, Shane Green.
Known as the 'Yorkshire Carver', Green has transformed felled beech trees into gorgeous sculptures of owls, herons, butterflies, fish and more.
He has created a total of 16 tree sculptures for visitors to discover and marvel at throughout the 700-acre park.
Image: Leeds City Council
This project not only provides a wholesome day out for the whole family as they venture through the woodland to say hello to the friendly creatures, but it has also given the native trees a new lease of life.
The trail begins at the entrance to Roundhay Park on Park Lane, guiding visitors through Ram Wood to the wildflower meadow past the castle folly.
There are eight sculptures marked on the trail map, with another eight linked pieces located nearby, ensuring a comprehensive exploration of the park - so make sure you're wearing comfortable footwear!
Image: Leeds City Council
Shane Green, a local from Otley, has previously represented Great Britain at the international chainsaw carving competitions in America, and it's easy to see why as his work stuns from photographs alone.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Green expressed his pride in working with Roundhay Park: “It’s one of the biggest parks in Europe, so I’m really proud doing it there.”
He said that the lifelike and larger-than-life sculptures bring a touch of magic, particularly for children, encouraging them and adults alike to be imaginative and curious.
Leeds City Council’s executive member for climate, energy, environment, and green space, praised the wood-carved artworks, stating they “make a wonderful addition to the park.”
The tiramisu hype lives on, and this time it's coming to Leeds.
It really does feel like the traditional Italian dessert has taken the world by storm as of late.
Everything from tiramisu cups and tiramisu coffees have been popping up all over our feed, and now tiramisu in drawer form is popping up in the city centre.
Misu Tiramisu is an independent business that began at Manchester's Christmas Markets and quickly became one of the most popular operators, all thanks to its miniature tiramisu ‘drawers’.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The individually portioned and colourfully packaged desserts quickly became one of town’s top puddings, and owners Aleem and Aishah went on to launch a stand inside the Manchester Arndale too.
And now they’re branching out again in Leeds inside Trinity shopping centre for a two month residency.
You’ll find all their delicious flavours of handmade tiramisu, including classic, pistachio, chocolate, Biscoff, mango, and lemon - they'll also have some gluten-free tiramisu on offer as well, so no one has to miss out.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Misu Tiramisu owners Aleem and Aishah spent a year refining the recipe for their tiramisus after a trip to Milan, first launching with their first market stall in Sale.
Misu Tiramisu is now open inside Trinity shopping centre opposite Boots Opticians and Pop Specs.
They're open every day of the week for you to get your tiramisu fix, from 9am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and from 11am to 5pm on a Sunday.
And trust us Leeds, they're just as delicious as they are adorable.
Fossilised 320-million-year-old fish found in Leeds’ Roundhay Park
Clementine Hall
A prehistoric fish fossil has been unearthed at Roundhay Park in Leeds.
The fascinating prehistoric skull bone of a coelacanth fish was discovered by a geologist at Roundhay Park earlier this year.
It is thought the creature was frozen in time aeons ago, during an era when the park was submerged under a vast tropical lagoon.
The remarkable discovery has now been kindly donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries and added to the natural sciences collection at Leeds Discovery Centre.
Image: Leeds City Council
The Leeds fossil was found by Ru Smith of the Yorkshire Geological Society during a reconnaissance walk he was carrying out ahead of a planned field excursion in the north Leeds park.
Describing the moment he made the discovery, Ru said: “There’s a layer of rock in the park which dates from around 320 million years ago, from a time before the breakup of the continents, when what is now the park would have been situated close the Equator and under the warm waters of a tropical lagoon. West Central Africa would be a good place to find similar environments in the present.
“There’s a bed of freshwater mussels called Carbonicola at one level in the rock, and opening a piece of shale from this bed in my hands I saw something unusual – a distinctive skull bone of a large fish. I knew straight away this was something different and very rare."
The bone was verified byexperts as belonging to a coelacanth older than those found elsewhere in Yorkshire, making it the oldest fossil coelacanth discovered in the region.
Ru added: “Coelacanths are pretty amazing fish and it’s just very cool to think that at one time, you could have been standing in Leeds and watching them swim around above a bed of mussels in Roundhay Park.
“That’s really the wonder of geology, looking at the rock and time travelling in the imagination to what was a very different world.”
Clementine Hall -
10th July 2024 
