Leeds's Victorian bear pit in Headingley set to reopen to public.

It’s incredibly sad and poignant, but I’m fine with it. It’s of historical importance.
But I can definitely appreciate your view ixion

You are not alone ixion.

I'm guessing we won't be getting a sculpture of this anytime soon?

Let’s hope not. Animals are not here for our ‘entertainment’, to poke fun at.

Indeed, no need to perpetuate that 'amusement' value in this day and age.

I agrée with you ixion, extremely poor taste.

I too understand you feel this is this in poor taste , however............. This pit is of great historical interest. No one is suggesting we put a bear in there for all to see! So I am fine with it.

I would find it in extremely poor taste if it had been used for bear baiting. There's no mention that it was in the BBC article.

As a living quarter for bears as part of a Zoo I can't quite see the problem.

I hated that chimps tea party ad, and am not a fan of zoos or safari parks either. Animals are sentient beings and should not be used for entertainment.

I don’t have strong feelings about the bear pit because it is being restored as a historical monument, and serves as a reminder how we have moved on in our understanding and care towards animals, and humans come to that.

Still room for improvement though!

There always seems to be money available for unusual projects, especially if it is public money!

Learning from history is important but this bear pit was only open for about 10 years so hardly an integral part of the City's history.

And it involves chopping down trees - the more we plant the more some Councillors seem to delight in chopping them down.

That amount of money could have been better spent imo.

Waste of public money. Could be far better spent on domiciliary care, for example.

Callistemon21

And it involves chopping down trees - the more we plant the more some Councillors seem to delight in chopping them down.

My first thought, fill it in and plant a tree leaving behind the horror of it’s original purpose.

Germanshepherdsmum

Let’s hope not. Animals are not here for our ‘entertainment’, to poke fun at.

Hear, flippin', hear !

The absolute arrogance of humans who taunt, maim and kill animals for their own warped sense of 'fun' or sport, makes my blood boil.

I'm feeling rather at the moment, Kalu about the wanton felling of trees in Plymouth, carried out on the orders of one man, by stealth in the middle of the night.

I did attempt to start a thread about it, it took ages with links and quotes but then the post disappeared!

There's no suggestion that this pit was used for bear-baiting, as some appear to have assumed. This cruel practise was first banned in England by the Puritans during the Civil Wars and Commonwealth (1642–60) and was permanently outlawed by act of Parliament in 1835. The "Victorian" pit in Leeds was living quarters for bears as part of a zoo. Whether or not those quarters were suitable is an entirely different argument, as is the whole issue of the ethos of zoos in general. Returning to the "Victorian bear pit", I have no problem with it being restored as of historical interest. I also feel that the trend to remove now "non PC" items from the public domain achieves the opposite of what is imagined, as we actually need to be reminded of where we got things wrong in the past. Simply air-brushing the unpleasant aspects of our social history works against that, so keep those "historic" examples, but clearly explain their context alongside them. The American philosopher George Santayana can be accurately quoted as saying : “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Callistemon21

I'm feeling rather at the moment, Kalu about the wanton felling of trees in Plymouth, carried out on the orders of one man, by stealth in the middle of the night.

I did attempt to start a thread about it, it took ages with links and quotes but then the post disappeared!

Something that angered me too Calli. Job done and dusted by stealth, killing trees. 😡

NanaDana

There's no suggestion that this pit was used for bear-baiting, as some appear to have assumed. This cruel practise was first banned in England by the Puritans during the Civil Wars and Commonwealth (1642–60) and was permanently outlawed by act of Parliament in 1835. The "Victorian" pit in Leeds was living quarters for bears as part of a zoo. Whether or not those quarters were suitable is an entirely different argument, as is the whole issue of the ethos of zoos in general. Returning to the "Victorian bear pit", I have no problem with it being restored as of historical interest. I also feel that the trend to remove now "non PC" items from the public domain achieves the opposite of what is imagined, as we actually need to be reminded of where we got things wrong in the past. Simply air-brushing the unpleasant aspects of our social history works against that, so keep those "historic" examples, but clearly explain their context alongside them. The American philosopher George Santayana can be accurately quoted as saying : “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Well said. History is history and truth is truth whether we like it or not.

I know nothing about this supposed bear pit but presume it must be of historical importance because of what it was used for and, possibly, for its 'architecture', like Roman ampitheatres.

I can’t see an issue. The work is to be carried out and funded not by the Council, but by the Leeds Civic Trust charity, a well-respected organisation run by trustees and volunteers, and one that has carried out a lot of projects for the benefit of Leeds city and its residents. The bearpit is currently in disrepair and the restoration will provide a community space for Headingley and another place of historic interest for visitors. A few overgrown trees may have to be lost, but this is nothing like the situation in Plymouth. And most importantly, the bear pit has nothing whatsoever to do with bear-baiting - it was simply the living quarters of the bears at the short-lived Leeds Zoo.

The link to all this information is in the opening post, so where has all the horror and outrage come from?

Thanks for a couple of sensible and informative posts, Maggiemaybe and NanaDana. I couldn't quite see where the outrage was coming from, either.

No outrage here. Just disappointment that such Victorian customs seem now to be legitimised.

Germanshepherdsmum

Let’s hope not. Animals are not here for our ‘entertainment’, to poke fun at.

Isn't that the point of re-establishing this? Why would anyone poke fun at a sculpture? It's a history lesson, a discussion point and an opportunity for reflection on how those with power can behave toward those less fortunate and in their control.

What on earth is wrong with that?

Callistemon21

And it involves chopping down trees - the more we plant the more some Councillors seem to delight in chopping them down.

Couldnt agree more.