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Dudley Zoo

took my grand daughter a few years back and the one thing i remember was the gorilla all on it's own and showing real signs of stress ..
 
The one thing I did enjoy was the nice young lady showing me & Kris where they filmed for 'Most Haunted' in the grounds of the castle. Scared our Laura witless
 
stepping down from the midland red single decker about 1953, looking across to the flower bedecked enterance and up to the castle ruins, listening to the sounds of wild animals echoing round the street, on a blazing hot day with my mom and dad and a picknic basket I thought the world could get no better. my first time and sight of dudley zoo aged 6yrs, never forgotten the thrill.
 
Paul you are right it was a midland red and now i remember the flowers ..thanks for bringing back the memories
 
When going there as a lad,we used to have to change buses at the boundry,in West Brom.
My granny was born in Dudley,and she told me she used to play in the caves there when she was a girl.
The zoo opened in 1934,I think.
 
stepping down from the midland red single decker about 1953, looking across to the flower bedecked enterance and up to the castle ruins, listening to the sounds of wild animals echoing round the street, on a blazing hot day with my mom and dad and a picknic basket I thought the world could get no better. my first time and sight of dudley zoo aged 6yrs, never forgotten the thrill.

Paul that is lovely - I can just imagine you standing there taking in all the sights and sounds.
 
Thanks maggie and polly,for your reply's strange how some things remain fresh in your old mind whilst others diminish but it seems our generation relished in the simple pleasures.
paul
 
While scanning some old 35m negatives found these, I believe they are from Dudley Zoo, long time ago
 
Hi All

has anyone been to Dudley recently and seen how much work as been done by the management and staff then I would recommend a visit as the zoo is now moving forward at a very good pace.
What we should all remember is that the zoo is being held back by the lack of investment by English Heritage on the Tecton Buildings (these are now getting a fresh coat of paint in its original colour).
The chairlift is still standing and not in use but thier are plans to use it again soon. Many of the small outdated enclosures and cages have now been removed and replaced by new ones, the old ape house is now home to 2 pairs of Orang-utans (baby born 8 weeks ago) and the old walk through area as been refurbished into a great indoor area for the Orang-utans. Thier are many new species at the zoo these days some extremely rare in the wild and some we all love to see I have attached just a few of my many pictures of the species kept at the zoo these days hope you enjoy
 
hi adrian and many thanks for your pics they are great...its lovely to hear that dudley zoo is now picking up pace in its efforts to bring it up to date....quite right too as this used to be a must visit for a lot of families when i was a kid and will hold memories for a lot of us....i beleive you are still on the lookout for any old pics of the zoo so please folks if you have any could you post them on here for adrian....

cheers

lyn
 
Adrian, are you still looking for old pics of Dudley Zoo. I was a keeper there from 1978 to 1984 and have hundreds of pictures from those years.
I have always meant to scan them all into the PC but will be quite a job. Were there any specific subjects you're interested in.


Cheers

AndyZoo
 
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Andy many of us would love to see those old photos as they will contain and trigger off many memories. I guess the choice is down to you as to which you place here as Adrian has not logged on since July 15th.
 
Hi Bernie.
I'll sort through and dig out a couple of dozen of the best ones and get them posted up. I have really fond memories of the zoo, my first real job, and it would be good to let the pictures get viewed rather than getting lost in a box in the attic. There should be some of when the BBC were filming 'One by One' there, great fun.
Probably take a week or two, but I will get some posted.

Cheers


AndyZoo
 
Hi Andy

I would love to see the collection if you could upload them it would be great or if not perhaps we could meet up and I could have a look at them


Regards

Adrian B63
 
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