Did Chester produce guide books prior to 1980? When did London and Whipsnade start producing guide books again after World War II ? Can anyone help?
According to Zoo History, Chester produced guides in 1933, the 1960's, 1978 and 1979. London's first post-war guidebook was published in 1951 and Whipsnade's in 1948.
There is a copy of a 1934 Chester guide book in Chester reference library. The first Chester guidebooks I saw were 1977 tiger photo, red cover (also sold in 1978) 1979 tiger photo, green cover (also sold in 1979) 1981 pair of lions photo, blue cover. These guides were just a fold out map inside the front cover and a collection of colour photos. There was very little information inside. The book was completely redesigned for the 1982 season, including a new style map, replacing the previous one introduced in 1971. In 1980 a guide book to the gardens was produced.
