I try to make my reviews as varied as possible so hopefully you'll be interested in reading at least...
I try to make my reviews as varied as possible so hopefully you'll be interested in reading at least one of my reviews!
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Dudley Zoo first opened in 1937, and now stretches over 40 acres. The zoo is located a short walk from Dudley town centre (located in the West Midlands), and is not far at all from the bus station. There is no train station in Dudley but there are buses that run to and from many different places in the West Midlands located near by, including Birmingham and Wolverhampton. There is also a small car park next door to the zoo.
Located on a hill, the castle is the remains of what was once a great building. The zoo is built around the castle and you automatically get free access to the castle upon entering the zoo. As it is located on a hill, there are some steep ramps and climbs in places which will make it difficult for wheelchair users to access. There used to be a cable car which you could take up to the castle grounds, however this has been inactive for a few years.
Opening times are:
The zoo is open 7 days a week, the only day of the year it is not open is Christmas Day.
The general admission prices are as follows:
DAILY ADMISSION PRICES valid from January 1st 2008 Adult (inc £1 donation) £10.95* Adult (without £1 donation) £9.95* Children (3-15 yrs) £6.95 Concessions £7.95 Child with Disability £5.00 Under 3s Free One Free Admission for Carer with Disabled Visitor Car Parking (all day) £3.00
There is also the following special rates available:
GROUP RATES* (For groups of 10+) *one free adult per 10 paying visitors Adult £7.75 Concession £6.25 Child £5.25 (one free adult per 10 paying visitors)
SPECIAL NEEDS VISITOR GROUP RATES (Groups of 6+) Adult £5.25 Child £4.25 Concessions £4.75 Accompanying Carers £2.75 One Carer Admitted free with each paying disabled visitor
EDUCATIONAL GROUP RATES* (For groups of 10+) Adult / Leader / Teacher £5.00 Child / Pupil / Student £4.00 Concessions £4.50 * Applicable only to educational establishments. One free teacher/leader per 7 paying students
Upon paying admission, you are given a map of the zoo which shows where everything is located. It also gives you the feeding times of the animals so you can arrange to be at their enclosures at the right times. There are also a few tours and talks arranged at set times of the day, their locations and times are also on the map.
The Aesthetics
The zoo itself seems a little run down in places. It has a slightly dated looking green turnstile entrance at the front which isn't in use, the entrance which is in use is actually a small door to the side of this which leads into the back of a gift shop. This can be slightly misleading, indeed when I went past the zoo on the bus I thought it was closed as it appeared to be all bolted up! The entrance should certainly be jazzed up and reopened as it gives off quite a bad impression from the front. Although the zoo is old, a bit of modernising in places would definitely benefit the visitor's experience.
The zoo looked very clean throughout, all the picnic tables and benches were spotless and there were plenty of bins dotted around. There were a few small, dishevelled looking disused buildings, and some of the viewing stations, animal houses and enclosures looked like they could do with a lick of paint to say the least! However, the actual inside of the animal enclosures and cages seemed well cleaned and looked after so at least the animals weren't suffering in miserable environments.
The zoo is quite hilly in places, there are slopes nearly everywhere rather than stairs but I can imagine it’s quite hard going pushing pushchairs and wheelchairs around certain areas of the park.
The Animals
The zoo houses over 1000 animals and 200 different species. Everyone has their own favourite animals, but the ones I enjoyed seeing the most were:
Meerkats.
There are two different meerkat pens, one is in the Monkey Tails House, the other is outside and at the back of the castle. They are described as being sociable animals but slightly vicious.
Red Panda
These creatures are quite shy so you may not be lucky enough to see them the first time you approach the enclosure. They are really beautiful so are worth going back to to make sure you see them. They don't look like 'normal' black and white pandas at all, they are much smaller, more like raccoon size. They are very striking looking animals, they have really shiny, red / orange coats and white faces with bright eyes.
Lynx
Really beautiful and unusual looking cats. I don't remember ever seeing lynx at any other zoos I've visited and didn't even know what they looked like so it was a treat to see something new. These animals have spotted bodies, almost like leopard print. They have similar faces to household cats but are much bigger and have extra black fur sticking out from the point of their ears and short black tails.
Other notable animals you are able to see at the zoo are:
You are able to 'adopt' an animal and in doing so you get your name on a plastic plaque amongst others next to the animal enclosure.
The Castle
Dudley Castle is in the centre of the park. The Castle is very much ruined but in it’s glory days was a very large building and dates back to around 1086. The castle holds the honour of being the site of the first solid evidence of condoms and their use! There is a visitor centre which you can visit in the castle, this was closed when we visited but we were able to see most of it by joining a ghost tour which takes you into the castle. I enjoyed having a quick look round the castle’s ruins but after visiting places like Dover Castle and Warwick Castle, I wasn’t that willing to spend too much time looking there.
Other Attractions in the Zoo
There is a nice big cafe at the back of the castle which is open all day and sells hot and cold food and drinks, as well as having an ice cream selection. You can choose to sit inside or outside depending how sunny it is. There is additional seating in a room to the back of it which means it doesn't get full even at lunchtime. I found the prices to be quite average compared to other cafes.
Towards the middle of the zoo, there is a visitor centre. This is mainly an area used for children visiting on school trips and so we didn’t enter this area. The activities that take place in there though involve interaction from the children.
There is an adventure playground quite near to the entrance which has your usual climbing frames and also has ropes to swing on so you can pretend to be a monkey! Obviously I didn't have a go on these (though I would have done given half the chance), but I do remember playing on them when I was in my early teens and they haven't changed much since then.
Next to the adventure playground there is also a small fairground. There is a funhouse, dodgems and a few other small rides you'd expect to see at a funfair. This added a nice touch to the zoo but I didn't have a go on anything sadly. There is another foodstall here selling chips and hotdogs, it also sells candy floss!
There is a gift shop at the front of the park which you have to go through when you enter the park. I didn't look round at all but it looked fairly large and was selling all kinds of stuffed animals and other toys.
There is a ghost tour which runs at the end of every day, which takes you around the grounds of the castle, around by a garden and cottage, before going inside the castle itself. I found this really enjoyable, whether you believe in ghosts or not as you get to learn about previous inhabitants of the castle and surrounding areas, and the interesting stories behind how they died. There is also an overnight ghost tour you can do! This costs around £40 and includes dinner and breakfast the next day, it’s best to ring the zoo directly to inquire about this.
Overall Impression
The zoo didn't get very crowded at all, by 4 o'clock there was hardly any visitors left and it was just us and the zoo staff! We did go on a Sunday but the weather was fairly nice so that shouldn't have put people off. I would recommend going to visit this zoo if you live in the local area as it is a great day out. We managed to find things to do which lasted all day, and there were still a few things we didn't manage to see by closing time.
For more information on the zoo, you can visit: http://www.dudleyzoo.org.uk
Pictures of Dudley Zoo
The Castle ruins, taken from the back to show the cannon
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Advantages: Cheap shopping, no end of places to go for shopping, top restaurants. Disadvantages: Street crime a plenty, *incredibly* rude locals, overcrowding.
badongism 23.12.2005 (23.12.2005)
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