TIME TRAVEL

Chessington Zoo celebrates 90 years

In 1931 entrepreneur Reginald Goddard was looking for a place to house his exotic animals. He bought land in the grounds of Burnt Stub – a country mansion in Surrey, which was destroyed by Cromwell’s forces during the Civil War in 1642 – and opened Chessington Zoo.

Back then it included bear tea parties and tightrope-walking monkeys and had a circus, funfair and miniature railway.

To avoid the Blitz, the animals were moved to Devon Zoo, before returning in 1946, but Reginald died that year and Chessington registered as a company.

The Ape House opened in 1967. At this point the zoo had 335 mammals, 800 birds, 51 reptiles and 200 fish.

Needing investment, it was sold in 1978 to Pearson’s Group, which went on to purchase Madame Tussauds, and it transformed into theme park Chessington World of Adventures.

The first rides included Dragon Falls, Safari Skyway, Toadies Crazy Cars and The Magic Carpet. The Millennium saw the opening of Beanoland and Hocus Pocus Hall in 2003.

In 2007, the merger of the Tussauds Group and Merlin Entertainments created the Merlin Entertainments Group, the second largest attraction operator in the world. Holiday Inn Chessington opened its doors, SEA LIFE was introduced and conservation work included the first binturong, also known as a bearcat, born for over 10 years.

Major investment in 2010 saw Wild Asia open and Wanyama Village and Reserve were then created to expand the zoo area and integrate the hotel.

In 2013 ZUFARI: Ride into Africa!, a safari truck expedition, began, giraffes returned after an 18-year absence and a white rhino was introduced. The resort then invested £15million into AMAZU Treetop Adventure and Azteca Hotel. Lions Kamal and Rani had three cubs, a success for its breeding programme. The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure arrived in Wild Woods in 2017. Multimillion-pound Land of the Tiger, home to a family of four endangered tigers, came soon after.

A new 82ft drop tower, Croc Drop, took off this spring, in its 90th year.

chessington.com

A fine way to spend a sunny afternoon is nosing around other people’s gardens, made possible by the Open Gardens movement. Its website lists around 200 communities nationwide where green-fingered residents are flinging open their gates to the public for the day. Find out if an event is being held near you at opengardens.co.uk