Celebrating Reading and its many lions

Reading Council and the town have many much loved links with lions.

In the build up to the mane event World Lion Day on Saturday 10 August, we’ve been celebrating local lions on our social media accounts.

There has been Reading FC’s mascot Kingsley inspired by the Forbury Lion Maiwand. Kingsley, Queensley and Princeley are regularly on the prowl around the stadium before games, hunting down fans and giving paw pumps.

The most im-paw-tent Reading lion is Royal Berkshire hospital’s Children Lion Ward. The ward has 23 beds and includes special rooms for children receiving chemotherapy.

Lions feature in many of our play areas including South Whitley Park and Prospect Park's Ranger Station 9-hole mini golf where each hole features a Reading landmark including Reading Abbey, the Blade, and of course the Forbury Lion Maiwand https://www.reading.gov.uk/leisure/active-reading/ranger-station-at-prospect-park/

In celebration of World Lion Day Reading Museum have their Rodin sculpture on display The Crying Lion and a portrait of George Blackall Simonds (of Simonds Brewery) the Forbury Lion Maiwand sculptor. Both only on display from 5 August -  20 August 2024, making it the purr–fect time to visit, admission to the Museum is free. 

A lion you may not be aware of:

• Mushie. In 1948 Ellen Harvey was badly bitten in Reading by her seven year old male lion Mushie, who she had trained in a ‘wrestling stage act’. The incident occurred during an evening performance at the Palace Theatre on Cheapside in Reading. It was reported Mushie, who had been feline a bit grrr-umpy all afternoon leading up to the performance took a bite from Ellen’s hand. Read more of the story here Reading Museum

The bright yellow Lion buses can’t be missed in Reading town centre they roar through Cemetery Junction, to the Three Tuns then into Winnersh, Wokingham and Bracknell. Reading Buses have been transporting customers in and around Reading for over 120 years and eight new Lion buses were unveiled earlier this year the pride of the bus fleet!

And of course our most famous lion, in the heart of our town. Maiwand our Forbury lion. Watch some beautiful drone footage of the gardens and Maiwand here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iuVnLInaYs

Maiwand Lion was erected to represent the brave soldiers of the Berkshire Regiment who fell at the battle of Maiwand read more about the history from Reading Museum https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/maiwand-lion

Did you now he IS anatomically correct? The sculptor studied and drew the anatomy and movement of the lions at London Zoo and became aware Lions don’t move in the same way as domestic cats, and the statue reflects that.

Did you know the sculptor George Blackall Simonds also has a sculpture in Central Park New York?

Did you know the sculptor was a member of local brewery family Simonds?

Maiwand is a massive, 31ft from nose to tail and weighs approximately 16 tonnes. This caused an issue with transport, so the lion was designed to be cast into 9 separate pieces: each leg, tail, hindquarters, middle, forequarters and head. Once Simonds was happy it was transported by a barge to Reading, making several trips, and then stored in the basement of the Town Hall. The last pieces, the rear legs and hindquarters arrived in February 1886.

At the time of it’s unveiling the Maiwand Lion was the biggest statue of a standing lion in the world.

https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/maiwand-lion

Celebrating Reading’s lions. World Lion Day 10 August 2024

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