Pride of Yorkshire Rotherham locations revealed

For the first time, a number of visitor attractions and destinations across Rotherham have been added to the free, open-air art trail that this year celebrates 150 years of Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

The ‘Pride of Yorkshire’ Sculpture Trail is the charity’s most ambitious fundraising campaign yet and will raise vital funds to support the hospital’s next chapter of life-changing care.

Building on the success of Bears of Sheffield, this new free trail will feature 150 large lion and lioness sculptures, and 150 smaller lion cub sculptures. They will be positioned across Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield, each telling a unique story and designed by professional artists and community groups.

Visitors to the trail will be able to find, collect and keep track of their sculptures both with a physical printed trail map, and an interactive mini-site with quests, prizes and more! Both of these will be available for the start of the trail on Monday June 8.

The locations in Rotherham include:

Lions and Lionesses

Gulliver’s Valley - Forge Island - Riverside House - Clifton Park - Maltby Leisure Centre - Snail Yard - AESSEAL New York Stadium - Magna - Boston Castle - Minster Gardens - Rotherham Leisure Complex - Wentworth Woodhouse

Cubs

Magna - Clifton Park Museum - Grimm & Co - Rotherham Leisure Complex - AESSEAL New York Stadium - Wickersley Library

Merchandise

Grimm & Co - The Makers Emporium - Clifton Park Museum

At Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham artists Sam Piper and Joe Philpot, known as Heritage Scenic Studio, have created a design taking inspiration from the iconic Marble Saloon floor at the Grade I listed mansion. Recreating the pattern using traditional scenic painting techniques, the lion looks like the marble floor has been wrapped right around it.

Rotherham band, The Reytons, are supporting the trail with Steve White, aka It’ll Do Art, who has created "Lion Off the Estate." The sculpture is inspired by the band’s raw, independent rise from local pubs and clubs to selling out arenas and will be located in Clifton Park, where The Reytons played to 20,000 fans in 2024.

Bring Me the Horizon’s drummer, Mat Nicholls, another talented Rotherham musician, has come up with the "dreamseeker" lion, named after the opening track on the band’s 2024 album Post Human: Nex Gen.

Mat, who came up with the original concept for the design, was inspired by the idea of forgotten landmarks, and said: “The idea for the lion actually came whilst I was walking my dog one day. We didn’t want to paint some logos on it and call it a day. I was thinking we could maybe make it look like it was an actual stone statue that had been sitting in a public space for years.“

The design was then brought to life by artist Enso, who said: “The brief was to create a 200-year-old lion that had been tagged and left, with moss on it and a real sense of history.

“I usually work in calligraphy and line making through tattooing and murals, so this was something completely different for me. Hopefully people on the trail stop, look closely and discover something new every time they see it.”

When the trail goes live, fans of Bring Me the Horizon will be able to find dreamseeker in Fitzalan Square in Sheffield.

Pride of Yorkshire website

Images: Pride of Yorkshire