Dragon Quest: Search for the Lost Eggs hatches at Lotherton

Here’s a taste of a brand-new Easter experience which has hatched at Lotherton near Aberford. Could you be a Dragonologist?

Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm Maria Akers. I'm one of Leeds' senior estate managers. I'm based at

00:05Tampinesum and Lotherton and welcome to Lotherton and the Dragon Quest.

00:10This is the first time we've done this event. The idea is to get people coming

00:14and exploring Lotherton, so hopefully we've got some people coming for the

00:17first time. We're doing a lovely sort of meet and greet at the gate. We've got a

00:22base camp where you start and you can pick up your trail leaflet and then the

00:27trail leaflet encourages you to explore the whole estate, the house, the zoo.

00:32So hopefully a lovely day for everyone. I am Professor Aelfraith Penn-Dragon,

00:38dragonologist. There's been something in the air. I can tell you that energy's

00:44changed, you can smell the sulphur and it means only one thing, dragons are near.

00:50Now there's not much I don't know about dragons. Of course I'm still learning.

00:55It's a learning process. So I'm looking for trainee dragonologists I suppose.

01:01You know, the wee folk who think they can find some dragons, maybe some eggs, evidence

01:06of them and they're here all over the estate you see.

01:09It's got a lot of variety to it, so the chance for the kids to hunt down the eggs,

01:15crack the code, work out the secret message. We've got a new creature in the

01:20zoo so there's certainly a nice little treat to look out for in there and then

01:28there's lots of sort of crafts and things to do so if you feel like having

01:31a beautiful dragon painted on your face you can do that or maybe you're just

01:36kind of a creepy dragon eye. We've got some amazing dragon puppets that you can

01:41make and or decorate a dragon egg down in the base camp.

01:46I've got my list here about what you need to be a dragonologist.

01:50So now you're going to need a wee pencil, all right, so you can write down clues as you're going around.

01:56You're going to need to be brave, aye, brave, and you need to be inquisitive,

02:03have an inquiring mind to find out all these different, well, strange creatures and their habits.

02:10Lozerton's a really great place to get the kids outside. It's quite a

02:15petite country park, it's not the hugest of the ones in Leeds, but it's

02:20great for kids in that it's quite level, it's got great pathways, it's great for

02:25anyone who needs to, whether you've got a pushchair, a buggy or a

02:29wheelchair, very accessible site. We do have some more traditional Easter-based

02:34activities which are happening in our beautiful chapel which is next to

02:39Lozerton Hall. There are some fierce dragons, there are some more gentle dragons, you see.

02:44So really you need to come and see for yourself and find out about the

02:49different kinds of dragons. I mean, of course, we have got the Aberford Ashenback

02:53here, which is, well, you'll learn all about that when you come.