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United Kingdom IZES annual meeting and zoo ephemera collectors fair

Discussion in 'Events & Meetups' started by Paradoxurus, 26 Feb 2008.

  1. Paradoxurus

    Paradoxurus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    This year the IZES is holding its annual meeting at the Cotswold Wildlife Park on Sunday 9th March.

    Entrance to the park will be free to IZES members on the day, however, Tim Brown will be making a collection of £6 per head during the meeting to make a charitable donation to the Park. The meeting is to be held in two rooms above the Reptile House. Anyone wishing to attend should make their way to the Siamangs and then follow the signs.

    Agenda:

    > 10.30am: Setting up of tables for those with zoo ephemera to sell/exchange

    > 11am: Collector's fair commences.

    > 12pm: A talk about the Cotswold Wildlife Park by a member of staff

    > 1pm: A film and talk by Jim Clubb. This will include footage of Thorney Wildlife Park, Poole Park Zoo and some old footage of London Zoo and Whipsnade etc

    > 2pm: Lunch

    After lunch there will be plenty of time left to tour the Park. There will be two members of staff available during the day to answer questions etc.

    The latest exhibit is a walk-through Madasgar enclosure which includes a friendly Verreaux's sifaka. Other highlights include the group of white-lipped peccaries which now numbers 13 and six baby Morelet's crocodiles, bred at the Park.

    For further information contact the IZES office on 01706 818604 or fax 01706 819280.

    Non-members are welcome to join on the day.
     
  2. Designaka

    Designaka Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Just to clarify the cost of The IZES meeting at the Cotswold Wildlife Park on Sunday March 9th: Entrance to the park will be free. BUT IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER OF THE IZES (Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society) YOU MUST JOIN ON ARRIVAL AT THE MEETING. Membership costs £21 per annum but Chairman Tim Brown will NOT add the £6 charitable donation mentioned to this subscription fee.

    In my opinion The Cotswold Wildlife Park has never been more interesting. I was there recently and noticed striped possums housed with ground cuscus, a nice pair of Great blue turacos, a selection of truly enormous pythons which is quite unusual in the UK these days. The reptile house (which is directly below the IZES meeting rooms) has just been refurbished with cage decor done by the keepers themselves and I was told that giraffes are due to arrive soon.
     
  3. SWA

    SWA Well-Known Member

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    Hi

    I am a member of IZES and plan to go - but how do I prove it?. I have no membership card - just the newsletters
     
  4. Paradoxurus

    Paradoxurus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    SWA, Tim will have a membership list and tick off names upon entry. The membership is a pretty trustworthy bunch on the whole.

    Designaka, as far as I understand it, the giraffes won't be arriving soon. Likely to be next year. Work doesn't start on their house until the Rhino house has been upgraded and work hasn't even started on that yet.
     
  5. Designaka

    Designaka Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Thanks for that. I'm looking forward to the meeting in a couple of weeks (March 9th) and realise now that mentioning the giraffes was irrelavant anyway!! See you there.
     
  6. Paradoxurus

    Paradoxurus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I spoke to Jim this morning. His video compilation also includes Southampton Zoo with shots of the Hippo and Northern White Rhino they had there. In addition there is some footage of London Zoo's old elephant house (not taken by Jim I might hasten to add).
     
  7. Designaka

    Designaka Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The Old elephant house was before my time too! I do remember the big old umbrella thing in the North gardens elephant enclosure that i think sprayed the elephants with water. No indoor viewing then.

    I don't know if this thread makes it clear that anyone planning to join the IZES on the day is also most welcome to take part in the early morning selling, buying and exchange of zoo ephemera.

    Come along and start a collection!
     
  8. Paradoxurus

    Paradoxurus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I've been cataloguing my collection of guidebooks over the past fortnight. I've done about half of it so far and have found 78 duplicate copies that I will be bringing along to swap. Hopefully I'll have double that number when I've completed the recording. They include Windsor Safari Park and Kilverstone Wildlife Park, several foreign guides, one or two rarities and many from the 80s and 90s.

    On top of that I've got about 25kg of annual reports and zoo news magazines that I desperately need to get rid of.

    I hope there will be plenty of attendees to relieve me of this burden!
     
    Last edited: 3 Mar 2008
  9. Designaka

    Designaka Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I've never heard of selling ephemera by the kilo!

    I have 37 spare guides, including some rarities, various annual reports, news letters and postcards. Generally speaking I much prefer to swap than to sell which rules out Ebay as my favourite source for zoo ephemera, it's a pity the Fair is only once a year.
     
  10. Paradoxurus

    Paradoxurus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Considering the level of interest and the amount of material, I think once a year is about right for the UK though I reckon it would be good to spread the meeting over a whole weekend, with one day for zoo-visiting and the other day for talks, videos and, of course, selling and swapping zoo ephemera.

    My surplus box is getting more and more full, I've added about another 30 guides today. My surplus would be good for filling in gaps in anyone's collection.

    "Get your zoo guides here - 50 pence a kilo - everything must go". I'm sure that's patter we'd all like to hear down at the local market! We can fantasize...
     
  11. Designaka

    Designaka Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Well it's Friday afternoon. The weekend starts soon... I agree that an entire weekend would be preferable much like the September Collectors Fair organised in Germany every September.

    Although, as this is the fourth (or fifth?) IZES Zoo Ephemera Fair, I can say that most members tend to make a weekend of it anyway and various groups get together on the Saturday. Birdland at Bourton-on-the-Water is nearby for instance.

    I forgot to mention the zoo-related books I'll be bringing along including biographical books about Herbert Whitley at Paignton, Mary Chipperfield at Longleat, Jacquie Durrell at Jersey and more...

    So, Sunday at the Cotswold Wildlife Park. See you there.
     
  12. Paradoxurus

    Paradoxurus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Indeed, a group has organised a 3-zoo day on Saturday with a guided tour of the Cotswold Falconry Centre, followed by a tour of Heythrop Zoological Gardens, finishing with an afternoon at Birdland and a pint at the Gateway pub in Burford.

    IZES Collectors Fairs so far:

    Twycross Zoo - 2002 (inc. viewing of the American series 'Zoo Time')
    Beale Park - 2004 (inc. a slide show presented by Clin Keeling on Wellingborough Zoo)
    Drayton Manor Zoo - 2006
    Colchester Zoo - 2007 (inc. talk about Colchester Zoo and showing of the London Zoo edition of 'Great Zoos Of The World' series.
    COTSWOLD WILDLIFE PARK - 9TH MARCH 2008 - Talk about CWP and film footage of Thorney Wildlife Park, Poole Park Zoo, Southampton Zoo, Margate Zoo and historic footage of London Zoo, presented by Jim Clubb.

    Its going to be a good one.

    See you there.