Visits to zoos that don't exist anymore

Rob I believe Carrick Green closed c1998

 

Yes true, there used to be so many around, and in private collections too!
In the 90`s I saw them at Howletts, Haigh Hall, Poole Park, Colchester Zoo, Carrick Green, Basildon Zoo, and many other places. They were a common-place species which bred fairly easily. Some of those mentioned did go to private collectors when those zoos either closed or the cats were moved on.
Jungle Cats also have a fairly short captive longevity of course.

 

Poole Park had them, but not in the 90s!

 

Yes they did!! - I visited in 1991 and they had a pair, one of which was being hand-reared by Dave Simmonds the owner.

Then I went back in 1993 and the hand-reared animal was still there.

 

The only collection I've visited that I don't think has been mentioned yet is Padstow Bird Garden. I visited as a child and don't remember it in detail but I do remember enjoying it.

 

Sorry, i thought Poole Park closed in the early 80s for some reason, obviously i'm wrong.

 

No problem at all, it actually closed in 1994.
(I have some photos of them in 1991 & 1993 somewhere, I spent a lot of time there talking to the owner at the time.)

 

Found this clip of Belle Isle Zoo on YouTube, very intresting ! :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nJ66RDWqG4&feature=youtu.be

 

Closed animal collections I have visited include (all in England):

Basildon/Vange Zoo
The original Birdland, Bourton-on-the-Water
Clacton Dolphinarium
Cricket St. Thomas
Cromer Zoo
Gatwick
Kilverstone
Leeds Castle Aviary
Mole Hall Wildlife Park
Norfolk Wildlife Park
Norton Bird Garden
Otter Trust, Earsham
Palms (I think this one has closed)
Peakirk
Poole Park Zoo
Riber Castle
Stagsden bird Garden
Stapleford Lion Reserve
Thorney Wildlife Park
Wellplace Bird Farm
Windsor Safari Park

There may be others I've forgotten.

 

I visited the following zoos:
Basildon/Vange Zoo
Brighton Aquarium and Dolphinarium
Cricket St. Thomas Zoo
Exmouth Aquarium
Exmouth Zoo (my first sighting of an olingo)
Gatwick Zoo (good collection of guans, chacalacas and curassows)
Glasgow Zoo (a nice view of a clouded leopard)
Kilverstone Zoo (the only active olingo I've seen, also many other Latin American rarities)
Lambton Lion Park
Mole Hall Wildlife Park (bat-eared fox)
Norfolk Wildlife Park (with large pheasant collection)
Southport Zoo
Verulamium Zoo (small collection of British species, including bats)

I miss Kilverstone Zoo most.
I visited the zoos in Milan, Brescia and Verona in 1983 and the SERPO reptile collection in Delft.

 

Fenit aquarium in county Kerry, Ireland.

 

Not sure how I missed this thread before. Lowther was one of my favourite places in
the 1970s.

These are the places I can think of:-

Blackpool Tower
Bridgemere Wildlife Park
Bridlington Harbour Aquarium (it was only one tank within a museum)
Brighton Aquarium in the Dolphinarium days if that counts, maybe not as the Sealife Centre is on the same site (just noticed Dassie rat has included it as well)
Burton Constable Hall (it was listed in "Animals on View", but we could not find a zoo or bird garden in the grounds {I think there was a gerbil cage though - Anthony Smith did say the mammals were pet ones})
Cricket St. Thomas (a major let-down in a lovely setting)
Flutters (a butterfly and parrot collection in Bridlington in the mid 1980s)
Gatwick Zoo (the perfect small zoo I thought)
Glasgow Zoo
Hillside (it must count as someone else has listed it)
Hornsea Pottery Mini Zoo
Hornsea World of Wings
Ilfracombe Tropical Wildlife Garden
Knaresborough Zoo (the only collection where I have not felt safe)
Lowther Wildlife Country Park
Morecambe Marineland
Newquay (the children's zoo)
Norfolk Wildlife Park
Rode (my favourite bird garden)
Scarborough Zoo and Marineland
Southport Zoo
Windsor Safari Park

I did not visit it, but I did spot the seasonal Dolphin Show in Blackpool (I was looking out of the window of the cafe in Woolworths).

 

That's a pretty good description of Cricket St Thomas, I always felt they never really made the most of such a beautiful setting. On the other hand, too much development would have ruined the lovely valley. But it never felt over all the years of its existence like a place with any real direction.

Newquay. I went there too- the tiny Children's Zoo was hemmed in a corner somewhere near the Boating lake wasn't it? I thought it strange to have two little 'zoos' just literally a few hundred yards from each other- presumably the children's zoo was there already when they built the little proper Zoo in the 1970's.

Rode. Rode was excellent. Spent many happy hours there as a child.

 

I see what you mean about Cricket St. Thomas lacking somewhat in a form of direction, very nice as it was. Even so I much preferred it as it was compared to when it was completely defaced in the early nineties by turning it into Mr Blobby World in association with that bearded wonder Noel Edmunds. It didn't last long resulting in the venture going bankrupt for the park's owners, the Taylor family. "The Manor is now Mr. Blobby World, really, come along Margery we are going to see that Mr. Edmunds immediately".To The Manor Born, a far superior show!

 

My only visit was in 1966, three months before my fifth birthday, so it was the only zoo in Newquay at the time - there was not much cross-over as the new zoo opened in May 1969 and the children's zoo closed in September of that year. I cannot recall a great deal about it, but I remember being disappointed when we visited - we looked at the animals inside a building and my mother then said "Let's go and see the rest of the zoo," to which someone piped up "This is all there is."

 

That was a bad mistake. The fact they did that indicates they were already having financial difficulties with the Park, but it certainly didn't work successfully for them.

 

Another collection I visited, not long before it closed, was the Tower aquarium in Blackpool, but by then its glory days were well and truly behind it. Still a shame it closed though. The problem with the SeaLife Centres, which have largely squeezed out most of the other seaside-resort aquariums, is that they're all much of a muchness. There is, of course, a SeaLife Centre in Blackpool.

 

Does anyone have any memories of Truro Wildlife Park or Lorna's Mini Zoo both in Cornwall. I have a leaflet from twp dated 1991, but little or no other information.

I found a couple of very old press clippings about Lorna's and I am pretty sure Dartmoor got there first bear (a hand reared female cub called 'Honey') and possibly other animals from there when it closed.

 

Does anyone know what happened with Bideford Zoo or Katharine Tottenham and als where was her collection in Wiltshire prior to moving to Bideford ...she wrote in her book about White Lodge a lot but she also mentioned that was short lived and she seemingly moved elsewhere in Wiltshire but I cannot find out where or what it was called...Can anyone help ...Please