Lions in the snow ... in County Durham!

WHAT’S going on here? Lions? Zebras? In the snow?

It was January 1978, and these striking images were captured, clearly not on the savannah of Africa, but in the heart of County Durham!

For those who grew up in our region in the 1970s, many will remember family and school trips to Lambton Lion Park, near Chester-le-Street.

Opened in July 1972 in the grounds of Lambton Castle, the ancestral home of Lord Lambton, the roar of lions began to be heard across the plains of County Durham.

The first guidebook declared: “This undulating, heavily wooded estate with a romantic castle at the centre acts as a perfect backcloth against which to exhibit Africa’s fauna.”

Lambton Lion Park brought the safari hippopotamus in Chesterle-Street – and it was reported that in wintertime the lions indeed enjoyed a frolic in the snow.

By 1975, the park had become hugely popular with sometimes threemile tailbacks of cars waiting to gain entry.

That year it was upgraded and relaunched as Lambton Pleasure Park.

Later features included the addition of a ‘Magic Castle’, children’s rides, an adventure playground, and a miniature railway.

There was a restaurant, souvenir shops, and a feature called Lambton Airways plane, “which the visitor can board and enjoy some of the thrills of flight”.

Lambton Pleasure Park closed in 1980, and the area fell into decline, although the site was used in the 2012 period drama, The Paradise.

Lions in the snow at Lambton Pleasure Park, Co Durham, January 1978; below, inset, Lambton Lion Park visitor guide book, 1972 Zebras in the snow at Lambton Pleasure Park, Co Durham, January 1978

experience to North East England, and thousands enjoyed days out viewing the exotic African and Asian wildlife. Later, domestic UK additions, like the Highland Cattle in our photographs from 40 years ago, would have felt very much at home in the...

Highland Cattle were much more at home in the snow at Lambton Pleasure Park, Co Durham, January 1978