It dwelt among tropical trees and baking heat – for the land was close to the Equator.

This is the secret history of the north Leeds playground being brought to life by the Friends of Roundhay Park.
They have published 5,000 copies of A Walk Back in Time, a glossy guide to the geology of the parkland.

A trail with nine marker stones has been created and will be launched
officially on Wednesday, July 2.

The Friends will gather at the Education Centre in the Mansion at 2pm
to hear a talk by expert geologist Bill Fraser, a teacher in Garforth, before walking the trail.

Mr Fraser has a collection of fossils from Roundhay Park and has provided the scientific basis for the guide book.
Bob Reid, one of the Friends, was the driving force behind the creation of the trail.

"The dates given in the guide are not fictitious – they are real, based on the evidence of radioactive decay," he said.


"At different times, Roundhay Park has been under both freshwater and sea water. We tend to think the park is as it has always been but over millions of years it has been continually changing.

"The V-shaped ravine was formed by meltwater from a glacier.

"And a geological fault runs in front of the Mansion and is said to form the northern boundary of the Yorkshire coalfield."
Bob visited viewing site No. 6 – Dog Mouth Spring – which is found in the woodland. The rock here is sandstone which is porous and allows water to bubble from it.

At marker No. 9 by the banks of the Waterloo Lake, visitors can look back to the head of the lake where the fault crosses the valley.
And the last marker, No. 10, also by the lakeside, reveals sandstone rock where burrowing worms have left their imprint.

* A Walk Back in Time costs £1 and can be bought at the Roundhay Park visitor centre, City Stationers at Oakwood, and at the tourist centre in Leeds City Station.