I visited Wild Place yesterday, the fifth day after it opened. I was curious because I have heard so much about the Hollywood Towers site which as been owned by Bristol Zoo for many years. Various plans have been made to turn the estate into Bristol’s version of Whipsnade. Wild Place is first phase of the National Wildlife Conservation Park (to use the name of the registered charity).
The park is easy to find, it is a short way along the minor road leading west from the Cribbs Causeway exit of the M5. The entrance is on the left, directly opposite the entrance of Bristol Golf Club. I paid £6.50 at the entrance booth (plus Gift Aid of course) and then proceeded through the neat courtyard. The attractive stone farm buildings have been converted to a Café, Office and Buggy Park, which was buggy free when I arrived, and of course the exit lane goes through the Gift Shop.
The main path goes past two trampolines, the first indication that Wild Place is really designed for groups with young children. At several points around the park, the main path passes a piece of playground equipment standing on bark much. Of course the park looks very new, most of the paths are made of stone chippings and they are still quite rough, no problem for walking but inconvenient for push chairs, wheelchairs etc – the skipper should have asked for the heavy roller.
The first animal enclosure is a large paddock called Edge of Africa. It holds two young eland and three plains zebras. There is a small house for them, which appears to have 2 stories, and a small area of hard-standing. Unfortunately the barrier is very ugly, there are three thick strands of electrified wire on the animal’s side, set in a wide border of chunky stones, with a wood and mesh stand-off fence in front of the visitors. I wish there had been a look-out point and a section of ha-ha to provide an uninterrupted view (I think Sir Peter Chalmers-Mitchell* would have asked for one).
The path follows the edge of some woodland and leads to the Discover Madagascar compound. The first area inside has a pen for pygmy goats, a school room, a market stall and a wonderful trough for handwashing. These are very attractive and appealing, the schoolroom has genuine posters and two bongo drums, which some younger visitors enjoyed enormously; fortunately they were not nearly as loud as the real things and did not detract from my visit. The trough is opposite the entrance and exit of the lemur walkthrough, which is probably the zoological highlight of the park. I saw a family of ring-tailed lemurs, with twin babies, a pair of mongoose lemurs and a red-fronted lemur (there may have been more in the house). The mongoz were the most active, they kept close together grunting charmingly. I missed the Lemur talk (12.30 pm) but the walk-through staff were friendly and helpful. The outdoor area will look much more attractive when some vegetation has grown up; the indoor housing has two main sections, with a meshed area between for new arrivals, nursing mothers etc. There are also viewing windows from the main path. There is a third section of the compound which is not in use yet, but I assume that they wouldn’t have built the fence without a reason.
The next animal exhibit is Secret Congo, two chainlink enclosures for a pair of okapis. Visitors walk along one side of the fence and there are ropes providing a stand-off on the animal’s side. The pens are not particularly large, but both have stables and some fair-sized trees, which is nice. As only a few of the lower branches had been stripped, I presume that the animals have not been in their enclosures for very long. I could see that the young bull’s favourite leaves are oak, followed by apple.
The final animal exhibit is Birds of Australasia, another pair of chainlink enclosures for cassowaries. I only saw one, but I assume this is the pair of birds that was at Bristol.
There are other features in this part of the park. The Sanctuary Garden is a large kitchen garden built around an old air-raid shelter. The Tower Meadow looks like a nice place for a picnic and has archery butts too (for an extra charge). I had a short walk along the woodland path and I watched several family parties enjoying the Barefoot Trail, fathers leading confidently across the different surfaces, children getting into the spirit and mothers treading cautiously – if I were six, I would want a go. There is also the Chelsea Garden, a small plot with stone, water and fancy planting in the spirit of the Flower Show. A party of people was working on the paths nearby and another party was clearing an area near the café.
Work on a play area under cover behind the office is well under way, but the toilets are one of those portaloo pantechnicons. The signage around the park is very good.
If you have young children to entertain in the Bristol area and you would like to see a few animals as well, I would recommend a visit. If you just want to see animals go to the Zoo. However Wild Place has a lot of potential; I was pleased to see that the car park was quite full and the visitors seemed to be enjoying themselves, with a decent income it can develop into a major collection in a few years time.
Photos on the way.
Alan
* the founder of Whipsnade
The park is easy to find, it is a short way along the minor road leading west from the Cribbs Causeway exit of the M5. The entrance is on the left, directly opposite the entrance of Bristol Golf Club. I paid £6.50 at the entrance booth (plus Gift Aid of course) and then proceeded through the neat courtyard. The attractive stone farm buildings have been converted to a Café, Office and Buggy Park, which was buggy free when I arrived, and of course the exit lane goes through the Gift Shop.
The main path goes past two trampolines, the first indication that Wild Place is really designed for groups with young children. At several points around the park, the main path passes a piece of playground equipment standing on bark much. Of course the park looks very new, most of the paths are made of stone chippings and they are still quite rough, no problem for walking but inconvenient for push chairs, wheelchairs etc – the skipper should have asked for the heavy roller.
The first animal enclosure is a large paddock called Edge of Africa. It holds two young eland and three plains zebras. There is a small house for them, which appears to have 2 stories, and a small area of hard-standing. Unfortunately the barrier is very ugly, there are three thick strands of electrified wire on the animal’s side, set in a wide border of chunky stones, with a wood and mesh stand-off fence in front of the visitors. I wish there had been a look-out point and a section of ha-ha to provide an uninterrupted view (I think Sir Peter Chalmers-Mitchell* would have asked for one).
The path follows the edge of some woodland and leads to the Discover Madagascar compound. The first area inside has a pen for pygmy goats, a school room, a market stall and a wonderful trough for handwashing. These are very attractive and appealing, the schoolroom has genuine posters and two bongo drums, which some younger visitors enjoyed enormously; fortunately they were not nearly as loud as the real things and did not detract from my visit. The trough is opposite the entrance and exit of the lemur walkthrough, which is probably the zoological highlight of the park. I saw a family of ring-tailed lemurs, with twin babies, a pair of mongoose lemurs and a red-fronted lemur (there may have been more in the house). The mongoz were the most active, they kept close together grunting charmingly. I missed the Lemur talk (12.30 pm) but the walk-through staff were friendly and helpful. The outdoor area will look much more attractive when some vegetation has grown up; the indoor housing has two main sections, with a meshed area between for new arrivals, nursing mothers etc. There are also viewing windows from the main path. There is a third section of the compound which is not in use yet, but I assume that they wouldn’t have built the fence without a reason.
The next animal exhibit is Secret Congo, two chainlink enclosures for a pair of okapis. Visitors walk along one side of the fence and there are ropes providing a stand-off on the animal’s side. The pens are not particularly large, but both have stables and some fair-sized trees, which is nice. As only a few of the lower branches had been stripped, I presume that the animals have not been in their enclosures for very long. I could see that the young bull’s favourite leaves are oak, followed by apple.
The final animal exhibit is Birds of Australasia, another pair of chainlink enclosures for cassowaries. I only saw one, but I assume this is the pair of birds that was at Bristol.
There are other features in this part of the park. The Sanctuary Garden is a large kitchen garden built around an old air-raid shelter. The Tower Meadow looks like a nice place for a picnic and has archery butts too (for an extra charge). I had a short walk along the woodland path and I watched several family parties enjoying the Barefoot Trail, fathers leading confidently across the different surfaces, children getting into the spirit and mothers treading cautiously – if I were six, I would want a go. There is also the Chelsea Garden, a small plot with stone, water and fancy planting in the spirit of the Flower Show. A party of people was working on the paths nearby and another party was clearing an area near the café.
Work on a play area under cover behind the office is well under way, but the toilets are one of those portaloo pantechnicons. The signage around the park is very good.
If you have young children to entertain in the Bristol area and you would like to see a few animals as well, I would recommend a visit. If you just want to see animals go to the Zoo. However Wild Place has a lot of potential; I was pleased to see that the car park was quite full and the visitors seemed to be enjoying themselves, with a decent income it can develop into a major collection in a few years time.
Photos on the way.
Alan
* the founder of Whipsnade
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) no lovable rodents, not even any meerkats.