Hi everyone. I joined Ciao in the early days and, now I'm back, am delighted to see it's still the s...
Hi everyone. I joined Ciao in the early days and, now I'm back, am delighted to see it's still the same great community. Spellings seem to have got worse though!
Member since:17.10.2000
Reviews:94
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I don’t like paying for days out, which is why we spend a lot of time at Chester Zoo. It is fairly expensive to get in normally, but not if you are a member, which we are. Membership costs us just under £100 a year. It would cost £36 a time for our family of 4 to visit normally though. We visit once a month (no, it doesn’t get boring) to make the most of our membership. So if you have ever wondered why I don’t post on Ciao very often, it is probably because I am busy communing with chimps.
Now is a good time to visit the zoo. Some of it is restricted because of Foot & Mouth so they are offering all visitors what they call a ‘bounce back’ voucher. This gives you half-price admission next time you visit.
To list all the attractions at the zoo would waste a lot of Ciao’s database. This a LARGE zoo. So I’ll just list the top attractions. Firstly, though, a list of what they haven’t got, because when we take friends there that is what they always ask.
There are NO :
Gorillas (Jersey is best for these apparently)
Polar Bears (they used to have them back in the dark ages of animal welfare. They went mad in captivity, it was awful. Now they leave them to specialist zoos which can give them proper facilities)
Pandas (although Chester staff have visited Chengdu Zoo in China to learn about them)
THE TOP ATTRACTIONS ELEPHANTS – they have a large herd of elephants and have recently spent a fortune on their enclosure. Consequently the elephants are very happy and a joy to watch. They have a large outdoor area with toys, a huge shower and trees they can knock down. There is also an indoor area, which is closed due to foot & mouth. They have an excellent breeding record with their elephants (unique in the UK) and there are 2 cute babies at the moment. One of the elephant keepers was killed in an accident with an elephant earlier this year (it was an accident, she knocked him on his head with her trunk, it wasn’t an attack). I thought the zoo authorities would want it hushed up, but instead they have put a beautiful tribute page on their web-site – in a prominent position too. I corresponded with his father
at the time, a lovely man. He said that Richard died doing what he loved, he was devoted to the elephants.
CHIMPS – the chimps whoop it up in their state-of-the-art enclosure. The indoor one is unique. They have huge climbing frames, a mock termites nest, water and dens. Outside they have trees and climbing facilities. The keepers try to have as little contact with the chimps as possible, so they remain proper chimps. There are no chimps tea parties or dressing up sessions here. It is fun to watch the chimps at feeding time.
JAGUAR HOUSE – the newest attraction. This is a massive enclosure, sponsored by Jaguar cars. There are just 2, very well-looked-after, smug jaguars in it. They have fabulous indoor and outdoor areas and there are also interactive displays in there for the humans. Some of these are smells that you have to guess – one is jaguar urine. Lovely! I didn’t guess that one, oddly enough.
ZOOFARI – this is the overhread monorail that covers a lot of the zoo. It is quite expensive (£1.30 for adults and £1 for children) but you do get 2 rides on it for that. It is a good way of seeing the zoo and if you are lucky, you will get a carriage where the commentary is working. Another method of transport around the zoo is the Waterbus. Although a pleasant ride, this isn’t as good value as the Zoofari (it is the same price), as it is a short journey and doesn’t take you past many animals.
TWILIGHT ZONE – the bat house. This is wonderful. You get to walk through their enclosure, where they fly right overhead and sometimes whistle past your ear. It isn’t at all scary, though it is dark. They have excellent senses and never fly into people.
PENGUIN POOL / SEA LIONS – I have put these together because they are side-by-side at the zoo and equally popular. The penguins can be seen swimming as there are huge underwater windows. The sea lions are superbly entertaining, playing up to the crowd by doing fancy flips and turns and skimming across the water. The feeding sessions for these are very entertaining.
OTHER ATTRACTIONS : tropical house (a good place to warm up during Winter visits), orang-utans, camels, giraffes, rhinos, buffalos, monkey house (with some good interactive things for the kids and dads), aquarium (small, not Sea Life standard), parrots, tigers (see if you can find them awake, we never can), lions (almost as sleepy as the tigers, until someone goes past on a bike, then they give chase), flamingos, condors (which try to stalk their keepers), vultures (but they’re keeping a close eye on them, they don’t want any of their escaping and making tabloid headlines) etc., etc.
We particularly enjoy visiting the zoo during Winter. It is much less busy and there are lots of indoor houses and facilities. Christmas is good there. They make a grotto and draft an unfortunate keeper into being Santa (surely the ultimate encouragement to go on a diet must be “Would you be our Santa this year?”). It is rather good. They also give excellent presents, which are very good value-for-money. In previous years they have even drafted some of the resident reindeer in to the fun. They didn’t do that last year though, so maybe the reindeer have found a better union.
They have 2 shops, selling a host of very good gifts, videos, toys, books, etc. These vary from pocket-money bits and bobs to high quality soft toys. Best leave the credit card at home if you are easily tempted.
EATING We always take a picnic and there are plenty of picnic benches provided. They have even thought of bad weather and provided a large indoor eating area. This is next to a collection of unusual poultry, who hop over their fence and wander in to see what the humans are eating. There is also a resident mouse. Actually there are probably hundreds but they seem to only despatch one scout at a time in case there are any silly screaming women around. The indoor area boasts a huge mural which is worth a look even if you don’t intend to eat there.
There are plenty of refreshment stands and restaurants around the zoo. These vary from fast-food standard to silver service (in the swish Oakfield Restaurant). Prices aren’t too bad.
~ HISTORY OF THE ZOO WITHOUT BARS ~ Chester Zoo was founded (under the name North of England Zoological Society – snappy, eh?!) by one man, George Mottershead. He had been upset after visiting a zoo and seeing the animals in cages and resolved to found a kinder way of treating animals in captivity – he wanted a ‘zoo without bars’ (don’t panic, they do have an alcohol licence). He certainly achieved it. Although Chester Zoo has had animals that have gone mad (polar bears), they have quickly realised and passed them on to zoos with more specialist facilities. They now specialise themselves and continually work on better facilities for their own animals.
They are rightly proud of their conservation works and they have an excellent education centre to help visiting schools and colleges.
~ PRICES & OPENING HOURS ~ The zoo opens at 10am each day (and every day, apart from Christmas Day). In Summer it closes at 5.30, earlier in Winter, usually 4-4.30.
Adults - £10.00 Children (3-15) £8.00 OAP’s - £8.00 Family ticket - £36.00 (2 adults/3 children/OAPs) Disabled people do get in cheaper, but they don’t trumpet this information. When we took a friend in a wheelchair she appeared to have to pay to get in but her son, who they called her carer, got in free. Disabled facilities at the zoo are excellent. There are lots of easily accessible toilets, they have wheelchairs for hire (including electric ones) and staff and very helpful. One tip is to book in advance if you want an electric wheelchair, they are very popular. Blind visitors are catered for too. They get free entry to the zoo and get packs with audio tape commentaries to take them around the zoo (free of charge). Guide dogs are allowed in with their owners, but need to avoid certain areas (particularly the chimps) – which zoo staff will help them with.
There is a programme running on Tuesday nights on Granada TV at the moment all about the zoo. For people outside the Granada region, they can watch the chimps and elephants on webcam at www.animal-watch.tv.
I can't talk about Chester Zoo without mentioning the toilet facilities. They really are excellent. Lots of them, clean, well-supplied. They even have a choice of drying methods (for hands, obviously!) - supplying both electric dryers AND paper towels. Talk about thinking of everything!
For people who don't like zoos on the grounds of not liking animals being caged, Chester is an eye-opened. The animals are kept in environments that are as close to their natural habitats as possible - and if they aren't now, they will be one day as they are continually improving.
~ OTHER PLACES TO VISIT NEARBY ~ One of the wonderful things about Chester is that it is so old and rich in history. Its history pre-dates the Romans, but the Romans played a big part in making it the city it is today. They are celebrated at the Dewa Roman Experience (http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/ste_chester_dewa_roman_experience.htm), a very interesting ‘real’ museum. There are reconstructed streets, a Roman galley and sights/sounds of life in Chester during the Roman occupation.
The Grosvenor Museum (Gerald Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, is resident in the region and lots of things are named after/by/for his family). This is your standard town/city museum – very good. Free entry and decent opening hours – Mon-Sat 10:30-5pm and 2-5 on Sundays. There are other museums as well : On The Air – The Broadcast Museum – exhibits the golden age of radio (they also have a vintage television studio) ; and Chester Toy & Doll Museum has a large collection of toys dating from between 1830-1960, including the largest collection of Matchbox Toys in the world; and Cheshire Military Museum, which has memorabilia from 4 local regiments, including the Cheshire Yeomanry.
There is also a Heritage Centre, which is a bit museum-like. It goes through the history and architecture of Chester. It is quite interactive.
Another history-type one is the Chester Visitor & Craft Centre. This has a reconstructed street from the Victorian age, which provides a backdrop for the demonstrations they run. Well worth a visit.
The Cathedral is worth a visit. It dates from the 12th century but is actually a mix of architectural styles.
Shopaholics will love the nearby Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet Village. Apparently it is Europe’s largest. http://www.shopping-centres.com/cheshire-oaks.htm
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Advantages: Massive culture and historical importance, Beautiful sights, Growing all the time Disadvantages: Rising cost of living, The odd vagrant bothering people
mattydalton 24.01.2004 (24.01.2004)
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Review of Chester in General
Aug 4th, 2001
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