Snare a bite of history in Lions Den sale
NEWSPORT FNQ
The infamous Lions Den Hotel at Helenvale, Cape York, is on the market, with owner Judy Fry listing the popular community and tourist watering hole last week.
Ms Fry, 75, said while she likes the place, the people and work, 12 years running Lions Den was long enough and it was time for her to have some time spent with grandchildren scattered around Queensland.
“I’ve had a lot of support from the locals here,’’ she said.
“After the flood I didn’t know what I was going to do but all the locals turned up and cleaned up the pub and we got back up and running.
“It is time to move on and let some younger people do it. It’s a place where kids can be kids, a real family pub and it would need to stay a family pub.’’
Known for its live music every weekend, the Lions Den boasts no wifi but heaps of free fun in the eclectic pub, where the walls are adorned with signatures of visitors.
Established in 1875 by Welshman Jack Ross and his wife Annie, the hotel was named after the Lions Den tin mine on the nearby tableland.
The Lions Den is no stranger to having a strong resilient woman at the helm, the founder of the pub Jack Ross dying in 1889 at the age of 23, leaving his young pregnant widow Annie and his infant daughter, Louise behind. Annie ran the pub for a few years raising her two children and then married George Watkin. The hotel was in the same family from its establishment in 1875 until 1964.
The signatures that adorn the wall of Lions Den stem from an early tradition begun in the early mining days.
The hotel was frequented for many years by miners working at the various tin mines around the area. In the early days as education and security of personal belongings was limited, some miners began leaving their pay packets at the public house and writing how much money they had spent, or still had, up on the wall. The amount was written and recorded for the next time they returned to the pub and in turn each miner knew how much money they had to spend while on the premises.
Ms Fry says that her customers come from all parts of the country and she says the search for a buyer for Lions Den will extend across Australia.