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United Kingdom Ramsgate Zoo / Merrie England Zoo / Monkey Jungle & Zoo (approx 1926- approx 1965) , Ramsgate, Ken

Discussion in 'Zoo History' started by zoowhosewho, 17 Dec 2019.

  1. zoowhosewho

    zoowhosewho Well-Known Member

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    This establishment was set up in approximately 1926 after Ramsgate Corporation bought a closed and disused railway station and sold it to Thanet Attractions ... a Zoo and Funfair was created at the site called "Merrie England" ( a seasonal attraction only) ...unfortunately not a lot is known about the Animal Collection at the time ... There were Pheasant , Guinea Pigs and Squirrels mentioned but by 1935 Chimpanzee and Lions were at the Zoo .. The Attraction changed hands in 1933 and was now owned by Ramsgate Olympia but still called "Merrie England" ... although the number of visitors was going up the owners wanted to increase the visitors and lobbied Southern Railway to reopen the closed station, which would in turn bring visitors straight to the door , although initially rejected the idea was put into practice that same year and business boomed even more.. 1936 also brought about a tragedy though as in August Edith West was mauled and killed by a Lioness .... Some good news though in 1936 the Lion Tamer Carl Mullings who worked at the Zoo jumped into the sea and rescued Clara Gillingham after she had fallen in and so a good and a bad news story for 1936 .... In 1939 with the start of World War 2 the Zoo was closed down possibly the dangerous animals were killed as per the government instruction ... The Tunnel (s) that the train came through were adapted to become War Time Air Raid shelters.... After the War Merrie England resumed again by 1946 ... It is unclear what animals were present or indeed who had the Zoo at the time but by 1950 the Zoo within Merrie England was known as "Monkey Jungle & Zoo" (so possibly scaled down considerably from before the war). run by Arthur Bean .... Mr Bean passed away in 1961 aged 66 and his Wife was unable to continue with the business ... I believe the Zoo was taken on by Yolanda Keays .... In 1965 the Amusement Park was taken over by Pleasurama and I believe it was at this point the Zoo finally ended.. Pleasurama continued until 1997 but the old / original Railway building had a "mysterious fire" and the building had to be demolished ... Today the Tunnels are a tourist attraction in themselves
    1st image Lion Cubs 1936 Ramsgate Zoo, 2nd Image Ramsgate Olympia , 3rd Image Harbourside Station , 4th Image Railway Tunnel and 5th image Mr Arthur Bean and his Monkey Jungle and Zoo , 6th Image Merrie England
     
    Last edited: 17 Dec 2019
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  2. Tim May

    Tim May Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    As a child, I visited a very small zoo on the Ramsgate seafront several times circa 1964 / 1965.

    In common with many small seaside zoos, the animal collection was not particularly noteworthy but I recall both lion cubs and brown bear cubs; the latter were labelled as the bears that featured in the television advertisement for Sugar Puffs.
     
  3. zoowhosewho

    zoowhosewho Well-Known Member

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    Loads of smaller zoo make that claim about Sugar puff bears.. I guess they just had to be young bears
     
  4. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Pretty sure Colchester said that about theirs too.....
     
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  5. Andrew Swales

    Andrew Swales Well-Known Member

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    There were lots of 'Esso' tigers, too...
     
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  6. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I saw the "ESSO tiger" at at least two places, maybe three, whilst growing up in the early 90's. Pretty sure one of them was at Longleat or WMSP, maybe both?
     
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  7. Tim May

    Tim May Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Indeed. Over the years, more than one bear cub played the part of "Jeremy" in the Sugar Puffs advertising campaign and, consequently, more than one zoo probably gave a home to the bears once they'd grown too large for use in the adverts.

    And, whilst I don't know about Ramsgate, some zoos might have claimed, wrongly, that their bear cubs featured in the advertisement as a publicity stunt.

    I believe that the last bear to be used in the Sugar Puffs advertisement ended up at Camperdown Park.
     
    Last edited: 17 Dec 2019
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  8. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    What happened to Cameron Loch Lomond Bear Park? They must have had a Jeremy or two.....
     
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  9. Ned

    Ned Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Dartmoor certainly claimed to have "the" ESSO tiger.
     
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  10. zoowhosewho

    zoowhosewho Well-Known Member

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    Katharine Tottenham claimed to have Jeremy Bear too. She had it at her Wiltshire Zoo and it went with her to Bideford. That one is a true story as the Co owner of Bideford told me that herself that film crews were there..
     
  11. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Just on the general topic of Loch Lomond, does anyone have any more information? I've only ever seen one guidebook (ZooHistorica 2013) and someone beat my bid in the silent auction so never got to read it fully.
     
  12. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    That's the first mention I've ever seen of her having a zoo before Bideford -- more information please!!??
     
  13. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I remember a few weeks of an enigmatic advert in Cage & Aviary Birds in the mid-70s 'Wanted, Bears'. Thus must have been Caneron Loch Lomond Bear Park, as very view people actually want bears....
     
  14. zoowhosewho

    zoowhosewho Well-Known Member

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    More of a Wildlife garden. Near Braydon Wiltshire. Birds, Bears, Monkeys. Deer, British wildlife. Her book 'Wild Company' was essentially about her place (s) in Wiltshire. She had 2.. I have a photocopy of the rather 'crude' guide I will dig out and place on here.
     
  15. zoowhosewho

    zoowhosewho Well-Known Member

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    Regretfully I sold my guide.. But it was very generic and no real information about the place.. I guess that's why I let it go
     
  16. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I've read Wild Company, always thought it was about Bideford Zoo. But then I didn't know about the other one -- nice to have it in context, looking forward to the guide!
     
  17. Andrew Swales

    Andrew Swales Well-Known Member

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    I only went to Glasgow Zoo once and cant remember the year, but they were busy building for American Black Bears coming from the (closing?) Loch Lomond Bear Park. An indoor house was done and they were moving fencing from LLBP to GZ... I'm sure others will know what happened next.
     
    Last edited: 18 Dec 2019
  18. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    Opened in 1972 as a bear park (basically with bears instead of lions which was the usual Chipperfield safari park animal) but this didn't work out so well and they were declared bankrupt a few months later. The park was reopened in 1975 by the Telfer-Smolletts who owned the land (the original attempt at the park had been on the same land).

    At the time of Anthony Smith's Animals On View (1977) they were receiving about a third of Blair Drummond's visitor numbers. He mentions a mixed enclosure of "Brown Canadian, Brown European and Grizzly Bears" and another of "Himalayan and Black Canadian". These were drive-through enclosures, and there was also a third which was a "Highland Reserve" for Highland Cattle, Red Deer, Yak, and American Bison.

    All the other animals were in a walk-around zoo-type setting rather than safari park drive-through enclosures. These included "a breeding group" of Binturongs, "Roe Deer, Arctic Foxes, Chipmunks, Chinchillas, Badgers, Beavers, Malaysian Otters, Skunks, Seals, Wallabies, Guanaco, Sheep (Manx, Soay, Jacob and St Kilda), Raccoons, Rats, Hamsters and Mice (in their own cities). There are birds: Water Rails, Wood Rails, Peafowl, Guinea Fowl, Eagle Owls, Cranes and others. The grand total is about 550 animals"
     
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  19. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Many thanks Chli, but funnily enough I managed to look through a copy of Animals On View today, and the only collection I looked at thoroughly was this one... But cheers for replying anyway :)
     
  20. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Are you sure it was American Black rather than Himalayan? They got some kind of prestigious animal welfare award for their Himalayan Bear enclosure, which apparently was huge and had lots of enrichment. Then I believe things didn't go quite so well, though I'm hazy about the detail.