While looking through some old newspaper articles I came across the following.. So which eight Dolphins in 1964 were these? Flamingoes bound for a Birmingham Pet Store?? That can't be right surely? Does anybody have further information on this which was reported on July 4th 1973? 40 dolphins to Holland? Can that be correct? This article mentions a city Zoo at Newcastle upon Tyne. Whereabouts was this?
Does anyone know any more about what happened at Windsor regarding the sacking of the Dolphin trainers? A chimp AND Dolphins in the swimming baths in Leeds? The mind boggles..! Well here's one advert for a job vacancy that wouldn't be allowed in a newspaper today. lol This was in 1972. For those with an interest in Blackpool Zoo!
The Birmingham Pet Shop was most likely to have been Tysleys which was well known for dealing in zoo animals at the time.
I remember them advertising in 'Cage & Aviary Birds', offering just about anything to anyone with the money, including a Gorilla called Ollie who [I'm sure Pertinax can clarify this] may have ended up with Gordon Mills. Does anyone remeber a tabloid newpaper back in the sixties giving a baby [African?] Elephant as a prize? I don't think I imagined it...
Didn't many of the very young Asiatic Elephants coming into the country in the 1960s come via Tyseley's? Bubbles, I'd wager the small calf on the Flamingo Park postcard came from there. The information on Flamingo Park Elephants I have from RobMV says Sheba went from Flamingo Park to Chester via Tyseley's - not that she was a calf then of course. The winter zoo in Newcastle was indoors like the one in Leeds. Of course APP had Stanley Zoo (closed in winter) handy as a source of animals as well as Flamingo Park. A couple of months ago I did an internet search for "Newcastle winter zoo" and found a cine film and some reminiscences on a local paper's website. The quality of the film was not too good unfortunately. It was interesting that a Giraffe was exhibited though. As far as I know Freddie the Elephant used to go from Flamingo Park to the Leeds winter zoo.
The Newcastle winter zoo was at the old Town Hall at the Big Market, Newcastle,this would be in the late sixties,I can remember a giraffe there, also a keeper going in the cage with some young lions, winter circuses were also staged at this venue which has since been demolished.
Thanks everyone for the extra information regarding the above newspaper articles. Fascinating! I've found an article on line here which mentions Freddie, Andrew..so he was definitely there..along with a whole load of others from FPZ. I'm finding out things I never knew about. lol
yep, Ollie went to Gordon Mills. Orignally advertised as a 'Mountain' gorilla , which he wasn't of course, though he was blind in one eye and a bit stunted.
Yes I do have more on Tysley`s somewhere, they had facilities to hold large mammals as well, I can`t remember whether it was at another site or not without checking but they definately dealt in elephants as Parrotsandrew says. Their name of Tysley`s Pet stores was really quite misleading as they were principally zoo animal dealers.
Good work Debbie. It was only last year I heard about the Newcastle winter zoo (must have been on this site!), I only knew of the Leeds one at the time (I was only young of course!). I wonder if Freddie was at Leeds in 1966/67? I do remember there used to be Flamingos in the small Elephant House in winter. By 1967 Freddie's Flamingo Park career must have been just about over, if it wasn't already, unless he came back again a few years later when there was a constant flow in and out of the new Elephant house.
I think I am correct in saying that the late Sheba, the Chester elephant originated from Tysley's, I do know of a circus that bought a baby Asian elephant from this establishment.
Interesting that in this article the sea lion exhibit is the star of the show, which still applies to this day, also interesting to read that the zoo could have been extended to 100 acres, which was never taken up.
I don't know about a baby elephant as a prize but I do remember in the early seventies The Sun ran a week long competition giving away pets as prizes, ranging from Shetland ponies to Syrian hamsters, if my memory serves me correctly you had to unravel words which spelt the names of pet animals which were printed daily, I tried, but won nothing, not even a mouse!, it was featured in Humphrey Bears column for kids, I recall being told off when I referred to this Bear as a B****** when I read in the list of winners and discovered I had been unsuccessful, giving pets as prizes of coarse now would be unthinkable, however at this time giving goldfish as fair ground prizes was quite common, in fact Mr.Cyril Mills commented in his book on Bertram Mills Circus that at the fairground at Olympia one enterprising showman was giving song birds as prizes on his stall, he was destined for bigger things than a darts stall, his name , Billy Butlin.
As per robmv's information I mentioned above she went from Flamingo Park to Chester via Tyseley's. Did Flamingo Park obtain her from there in the first place? It would seem at least highly possible if not probable. Of course she had only a short Flamingo Park career. I presume she was one of the two Elephants I saw on just one occasion, housed in what is now The Coach House.
The early guidebooks and books about zoos always said the initial 32 acres development was just the first phase. I don't know when this idea was abandoned.
After reading Bubbles's link about the Newcastle winter zoo being in operation in 1965/66 I wondered if Stanley Zoo had opened by then or not, and if not whether the success of the winter zoo inspired APP to open it. A quick check of "The Penguin Guide to British Zoos" told me Stanley Zoo (I wonder how many potential visitors thought it was in Stanley, Co. Durham?) openend in 1966. Mmmm. The book (1970) also mentions that the zoo company operated the winter zoo and this was advertised locally. Does anyone know when the last winter zoo was staged in Newcastle - and Leeds too for that matter?
I also remember the Tyseley Pet Store adverts in 'Cage and Aviary Birds' , I also think it was in Acock's Green , Birmingham . As well as the 'Mountain Gorilla' Ollie , who I think they held for quite a long time , I also remember a 48 inch high baby male Indian Elephant for sale , must have been very young . All sorts of wild animals were openly on slae in those days , Himalayan Black and Russian Brown bear cubs were , from memory , £50 each . I particularly remember a pair of baby Orangs being offered from a Portsmouth address .
Yes, Ollie the One-eyed was at Tysley's a good long time, a number of years in fact, as they couldn't shift him. If he'd been a female however its very likely a zoo would have snapped him up quickly. But Gordon Mills was taking any Gorillas he could find so eventually had him too. I wonder where those Orangutans ended up? I know Bristol's original Sumatran pair 'Henry' and 'Anne' came from the small zoo in Wellingborough, Northants, and am wondering where they in turn got them from- just possily Portsmouth?
