Zooman Dec, 8 day UK tour 2015

zooman said:
Hello,
Yes in and out of Manchester.
Very much looking forward to Chester and the Islands developments. This new development was definatley a significant contribution in my decision to make this quick trip.
Click to expand...

Get your dates for Chester out there as as soon as you can, i made my first trip to Chester a few weeks ago in the company of a mob of zoochatters and believe me, what was a special visit, became much more, walking round with fellow enthusiasts.
You will LOVE Chester!
 
There are no great general bird collections in the UK, but perhaps on your travels, fit in a wildfowl centre on your way through.

WWT
 
kiang said:
There are no great general bird collections in the UK, but perhaps on your travels, fit in a wildfowl centre on your way through.

WWT
Click to expand...

mmm interesting, would Slimbrige be the best of the 9. It is the only familiar name.
 
zooman said:
mmm interesting, would Slimbrige be the best of the 9. It is the only familiar name.
Click to expand...

Slimbridge has the largest and most interesting collection of the nine, but the Martin Mere and Washington Centres are closer to Manchester and Newcastle. Caerlaverock and Welney haven't got captive collections.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like a nice adventure you have lined up. :)

I would not bother with Knowsley just now. It's weekends only as mentioned which is limiting your time I guess. However more so in the last 12 months or maybe a bit more its has gone into a bit of a slump. Number of animals are very much down on previous years, ground keeping isn’t as good as it had been in previous years. Also, some of the hoofstock maybe inside if it is a cold day and off show, the Roan’s, Oryx and Belsbox. If you where travelling in warmer months and it was 3 years ago I’d say really worth a trip.
One place not mentioned so far and in NW England is Liverpool Museum, it has in addition to a good collection of zoology artefacts, a bug house and an aquarium.
 
zooman said:
Thank you Macaw, much appreciated. I have a growing interest in small collections and will definatley look into visiting several of our recommendations :)
Click to expand...

Hi Macaw,

I will be keeping your suggestion in mind and on my satnav, will let you know where i end up.
 
My tentative plans.

Chester Zoo i have not included as i am going to go with family friends a day or so after my solo tour.

Day 1
1.45min
Manchester to YWP
Drive 3hours
Colchester Zoo

Day 2
Colchester Zoo
Drive 1.5 hours
Whipsnade

Day 3
Whipsnade
Drive 2 hours
Marwell

Day 4
Marwell Zoo
Drive 3 hours
Paignton Zoo

Day 5
Paignton Zoo
Drive 3 hours
Dudley Zoo

Day 6
Dudley Zoo
Drive 45 min
Twycross Zoo
Drive 2.15min
Blackpool Zoo

Day 7
Blackpool Zoo
Drive 3.30min
Edingburgh Zoo

Day 8
Edingburgh Zoo
Drive 2.40min
Newcastle


24 hours driving
1350 miles
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2015-11-04 at 10.16.01 pm.png
    Screen Shot 2015-11-04 at 10.16.01 pm.png
    468.6 KB · Views: 11
zooman said:
mmm interesting, would Slimbrige be the best of the 9. It is the only familiar name.
Click to expand...

I haven't been to many of the others but Slimbridge is the original one, and original is often the best. Slimbridge is also quite close to Bristol...(half hour+ drive apart)
 
zooman said:
mmm interesting, would Slimbrige be the best of the 9. It is the only familiar name.
Click to expand...

It is indeed, but Martin Mere gives it a good run for its money and is not too far from Manchester.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
It is indeed, but Martin Mere gives it a good run for its money and is not too far from Manchester.
Click to expand...
Could probably be added to the Blackpool day , if you get there at opening?
I think overall the list contains some good choices and plenty of variety in terms of both the animal collections and the zoo types.
It includes all those that I would personally consider to be the best 5 in the UK.(plus another that may well break into that group in a few years time)
 
zooman said:
My tentative plans.
Click to expand...

I think you are being overambitious. In early December you will only have daylight from about 7.30 to 16.30 if the weather is good, which is possible but unlikely for the whole trip, and many of the zoos will only be open from 10.00 to 16.00 or thereabouts (if you haven't already done so, you should check them individually).
In addition, your estimated timings for the journeys are optimistic: I think they are minimum times under good conditions. We have had a lot of fog this week, if you are unlucky it could add 50% to any of your journey times; likewise rain, sleet, hail and snow are not unknown at this time of year. Your itinerary involves motorway trips around London, Bristol and Birmingham which can be very slow between 0.700 and 10.00 and again between 16.00 and 19.00. Then there are roadworks - I encountered 3 sets on the motorways between Manchester and Birmingham last week, two of which were complicated by accidents or breakdowns, so my average speed for this trip was about 26 mph (around 40 kph). Early December is a busy time for roadworks as there is a rush to get things finished before the busy Christmas holidays and the worst weather in January.
I quite understand how you want to see as much as possible in your limited time, but I think a shortened itinerary would probably let you enjoy your zoo visits more and reduce your frustrations on Britain's crowded motorways. I would suggest that you reconsider your longest distance trips to Colchester, Paignton and Edinburgh: visiting one of them should be fine and two should be OK, but I think trying to do all three might be just too much.

Alan
 
Hi Alan,
UK roads...
I was thinking of doing the long drives after 8pm to avoid peak hours, roadwork fingers crossed.

The weather actually I have a healthy fear of as the OZ road hazards are Kangaroos, wallabies and wombats (who cause the most damage!) not normally the weather!

The "rain, sleet, hail and snow " have the potential to completely halt my trip and I hope to find the traditional English pub with hearty food and a open fire to wait out these conditions.

I will definitely keep in mind flexability on the longer trips.
 
Just may add a flight from Southampton to Jersey!

Just realised it's very doable :)

Maybe swapping Paignton for Jersey.
 
Ive got to agree with a lot of the road works, early evening comments best will in the world you will probably have at best 6 hours each day for any attraction (s). If Chester is being taken out of the equation add a bit of gorillas and architecture then i would probably go this way.
1. Blackpool
2. Dudley
3. Twycross
4.Bristol
5 Whipsnade
6. London
7. Colchester
8. Yorkshire .
That way there are other smaller collections en route if you have time to go and see .
Staying in Newcastle you are nearer to Edinburgh Zoo than Chester.I would take Dublin off the list unless you were going to have a few days in ireland and add Belfast too.
In fact looking at it and trying to sort out a trip we are rather spoilt here in the UK
 
garyjp said:
Ive got to agree with a lot of the road works, early evening comments best will in the world you will probably have at best 6 hours each day for any attraction (s). If Chester is being taken out of the equation add a bit of gorillas and architecture then i would probably go this way.
1. Blackpool
2. Dudley
3. Twycross
4.Bristol
5 Whipsnade
6. London
7. Colchester
8. Yorkshire .
That way there are other smaller collections en route if you have time to go and see .
Staying in Newcastle you are nearer to Edinburgh Zoo than Chester.I would take Dublin off the list unless you were going to have a few days in ireland and add Belfast too.
In fact looking at it and trying to sort out a trip we are rather spoilt here in the UK
Click to expand...


Thx Gary,
London and Bristol I have visited in the past couple of years all your other recommendations are on my list for Dec :) + Jersey where I have always wanted to go and only when planing this trip realised it was very doable after Marell.
 
Version 2 UK Tour 2015 with allot less driving and Jersey Zoo included!

Day 1
1.45min
Manchester to YWP
Drive 3hours
Colchester Zoo

Day 2
Colchester Zoo
Drive 1.5 hours
Whipsnade

Day 3
Whipsnade
Drive 2 hours
Marwell

Day 4
Marwell Zoo
Drive Southampton
Fly
Jersey Zoo

Day 5
Jersey Zoo
Fly
Southampton
Drive Dudley 3 hours

Day 6
Dudley Zoo
Drive 45 min
Twycross Zoo
Drive 2 hour Manchester
Fly Edinburgh

Day 7
Edinburgh Zoo
Fly Manchester
Drive Blackpool 1 hr


Day 8
Blackpool Zoo
Drive South Lakes 2hr

Day 9
South Lakes Zoo
Drive Newcastle 3hr
 
Could the weather forecast for the next two weeks get any worse! Snow, rain and of course 4pm sunsets....

Mm mm Spain
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top