The Lion Has Returned
A tale of Two Lions…
The Pattern is made
click here for the Lion's pictorial journey
And the Embankment Lion's journey
Once upon a time a Visionary woman from the Bear Co-op got together a small group of local people and they promised to improve the railway station. They called themselves the Todmorden Station Group and they set about finding others to help them.
The local planting group Todmorden in Bloom. Pledged their support.
Local artist Jeremy Burgoyne remembered the old Todmorden lion he used to sit on as a boy; he drew a sketch and said this would be good to put back on the station.
The challenge was on, big lion needed no money!
The community worker asked Mc Alpines for yet another favour, sketch in hand they in turn asked Weir minerals who asked computer image experts Delcam to help them produce an image to make a pattern.
A long time passed.
One day Billy the pattern maker announced the mould is ready! He asked who will do the casting, Mary the community worker had been known to make a gnome or too and she said she would caste the lion.
A strong man was found to collect the mould , it was a very big lion , bigger than any gnome moulded by Mary.
Many wise people came to view the mould, declared a piece of art work in itself; the casting quest became a desperate mission.
Lion maker on the job. Dean Hooson he was able to make two lions for the station. Mary went to view the lions lying in state at
They had grown again this time in weight! Mary was told of the 6 good strong people needed to lift them and the mysterious lifting gear that maybe required.
Having none of the above, a dark cloud descended, two lions a long way from home, no money, transport or strong people.
Tod Pride man David Storah heard the tale of woe and went out to find some help.
A little local firm KGM with a great big heart stepped in and pulled out all the stops they set forth to bring the lions home, strong men were found and plans made to make resting places for the beasts as noble as any to be found.
Dean Hooson borrowed a special lifting lorry from another
All this was watched over by the line manager Matt Gibson who was wise enough to realize how very good it would be to have a place where people felt involved and proud of how the station looked.
So the moral of the story might be, if it’s a lion you are looking for, you need some magic ingredients.
A good range of community minded companies.
Weir minerals
KMG
Delcam
Mac Alpine
Some strong brave hearted local groups
Todmorden in Bloom
The station group
Todmorden Art group
Todmorden Pride
Todmorden together
A wise Station master
A community worker who won’t give up
A visionary leader who has a Whole food Café.
Dream big and you too can help make a community greener, cleaner and safer.