"One final roar" Portsmouth's popular lions arrive at Fort Nelson in one more gathering to celebrate centenary
The Pride of Portsmouth lion trail was a roaringly success - and they are reuniting yet again this year
Portsmouth’s pride of lions have again gathered for one more time in a final celebration to mark Portsmouth’s 100th anniversary of becoming a city.
The majority of the 45 uniquely designed lion sculptures have been moved to Fort Nelson until the end of the year. This provides another opportunity for those who missed ‘collecting’ any of the sculptures to see any missing ones. And they will soon be joined by the trail’s unicorn which moved around the city in the summer.
It follows their recent appearance at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard where thousands of people flocked to see the lions who formed the centrepiece of the city’s centenary celebrations.
A spokesperson for Fort Nelson said: “We are delighted to announce the Pride of Portsmouth is being displayed at Fort Nelson.
“The majority of the lions have now come together at the Fort, with a few lions remaining on duty in Portsmouth, and will be here until the end of the year.
“Fort Nelson is free to enter but capacity is limited so we ask visitors to pre-book tickets at https://bit.ly/4eLaK1g to guarantee entry. Please note the site will be busy for half term with our Halloween Half Term event, but the lions will be on site for weeks to come.”
Visitors will also be able to continue collecting sculptures on the Pride of Portsmouth app during the event. However, the trail rewards programme ended when the trail closed on September 13, so no new rewards will be available to claim.
The Pride of Portsmouth story will continue beyond the trail, with many sculptures moving to permanent homes across the city and beyond, helping to create a lasting legacy for Portsmouth100.
Plans are also being developed for a future auction of selected sculptures, with proceeds proposed to support a legacy project focused on opportunities for young people in Portsmouth.
The city’s Portsmouth100 celebrations will culminate in a finale event in January.
Summer trail app statistics
- 11,799 app users - with additional participants via a paper map
- 263,166 sculptures collected
- Most collected sculpture - One Hundred Voices: A Portsmouth Patchwork (7,115 collections)
- Most voted sculpture - Cushty (377 votes)
- 3,040 total miles covered