Hopwood Hall College - Greater Manchester’s First Zoo in 45 Years

Zoofan15

Zoofan15

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Plans to Open Greater Manchester’s First Zoo in 45 Years

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/greater-manchesters-first-zoo-45-25398520

A new zoo featuring meerkats, flamingos and owls could open in Greater Manchester.

Hopwood Hall College created livestock and horticultural zones at its Middleton Campus nearly 10 years ago - allowing it to offer an animal management education course unique within the city region.

Now it wants to open up the various animal enclosures to the public outside of study time - creating Greater Manchester’s first zoo since Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, which closed in 1977
 
Zoofan15 said:
Plans to Open Greater Manchester’s First Zoo in 45 Years
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ews/greater-manchesters-first-zoo-45-25398520
Greater Manchester's first zoo in 45 YEARS planned with meercats and flamingos

A new zoo featuring meerkats, flamingos and owls could open in Greater Manchester.

Hopwood Hall College created livestock and horticultural zones at its Middleton Campus nearly 10 years ago - allowing it to offer an animal management education course unique within the city region.

Now it wants to open up the various animal enclosures to the public outside of study time - creating Greater Manchester’s first zoo since Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, which closed in 1977
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This is good news obviously, but it is certainly not correct that this is the first zoo in Greater Manchester (a metropolitan county which no longer exists) as there have been zoos in Wigan and Bolton Districts, maybe others since 1977?!
 
So much for the 'Manchester Zoo' meant to open in 2020...
I wonder if this place will have much interest for animal-nerds - flamingos meerkats etc are common with public but I wonder if it will have much 'interesting' fauna !
 
dillotest0 said:
So much for the 'Manchester Zoo' meant to open in 2020...
I wonder if this place will have much interest for animal-nerds - flamingos meerkats etc are common with public but I wonder if it will have much 'interesting' fauna !
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I feel like they would have to have very unique or immersive exhibits as many people may just go to Chester as it isn’t far
 
pipaluk said:
This is good news obviously, but it is certainly not correct that this is the first zoo in Greater Manchester (a metropolitan county which no longer exists) as there have been zoos in Wigan and Bolton Districts, maybe others since 1977?!
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For that matter, the vivarium at Manchester Museum has a zoo licence!
 
I am interested in this because I worked at Hopwood Hall College from the time that it opened in 1992 until I retired in 2011. The article refers to the Middleton campus, which was previously a Catholic teacher training college. It is also the site of the original Hopwood Hall, an Elizabethan stately home which had fallen into disrepair. Since I left, an American businessman has started to restore the Hall, and the area nearby has been developed by the Animal Care team. This part of the campus is shown in the photo in the MEN article.
I was one of the lecturers in the original Animal Care team, teaching Aquatics and IT key skills on the BTEC courses, as well as Chemistry and Science courses. It has been many years since I visited the College, and things have obviously changed a great deal. I think my former colleagues have been very busy.
 
How far would it be from the old Oldham collection (the details of which I can't immediately call to mind - but it was a long time ago!)?

EDIT: Chadderton Hall 1896-99.
 
SHAVINGTONZOO said:
How far would it be from the old Oldham collection (the details of which I can't immediately call to mind - but it was a long time ago!)?
EDIT: Chadderton Hall 1896-99.
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I'm not old enough to remember that one. But I think the sites would be about 1½ miles apart as the crow flies, or to put it another way, they are both less than a mile to the west of successive junctions on the A627(M).
 
I'm sure at the right entrance price and with the correct facilities (a food kiosk and toilets, basically) it could have that small zoo charm for younger kids/families and locals who just want a pleasant couple of hours entertainment.

Probably not aimed at the rabid Zoo enthusiast on here. But the whole ethos of training future zoo staff and those interested in animal husbandry is to be applauded.
 
GaryA said:
I'm sure at the right entrance price and with the correct facilities (a food kiosk and toilets, basically) it could have that small zoo charm for younger kids/families and locals who just want a pleasant couple of hours entertainment.

Probably not aimed at the rabid Zoo enthusiast on here. But the whole ethos of training future zoo staff and those interested in animal husbandry is to be applauded.
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In fairness, they have plenty of space, I think they could create good quality unique exhibits if they wanted to and could create a unique attraction
 
gentle lemur said:
I am interested in this because I worked at Hopwood Hall College from the time that it opened in 1992 until I retired in 2011. The article refers to the Middleton campus, which was previously a Catholic teacher training college. It is also the site of the original Hopwood Hall, an Elizabethan stately home which had fallen into disrepair. Since I left, an American businessman has started to restore the Hall, and the area nearby has been developed by the Animal Care team. This part of the campus is shown in the photo in the MEN article.
I was one of the lecturers in the original Animal Care team, teaching Aquatics and IT key skills on the BTEC courses, as well as Chemistry and Science courses. It has been many years since I visited the College, and things have obviously changed a great deal. I think my former colleagues have been very busy.
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I worked there too what seems like many years ago. Might have just missed each other though as I think I was working at SCC in 2011.
 
So is this being done by the same people that were planning the "Manchester Zoo". If so, it seems interesting they have gone from council support for a 150 acre zoo, to sharing a site with a College, which is around 8 acres.
 
Alwaysevergreen said:
So is this being done by the same people that were planning the "Manchester Zoo". If so, it seems interesting they have gone from council support for a 150 acre zoo, to sharing a site with a College, which is around 8 acres.
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No, the posted news story at the head of this thread clearly states the zoo is being proposed by the college, as an extension of their animal management activities. As the Manchester Zoo was nothing to do with Hopwood Hall College, there is no link. I'm actually struggling to understand how you've managed to link the two.
 
Well seeing as the guy behind “Manchester Zoo” is and always has worked at Hopwood Hall College in the animal management department, I’m pretty sure it’s just a scaled down version of the original vision.
 
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Ah well that wasn't stated in any of the above - makes a bit more sense. Even so, its still a bit of an assumption to make, I reckon.
 
NigeW said:
Ah well that wasn't stated in any of the above - makes a bit more sense. Even so, its still a bit of an assumption to make, I reckon.
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Yes, certainly a leap in logic there, I agree.

2 + 2 ALWAYS = 5 on Zoochat!
 
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