Does anyone know if there was ever a zoo in Sheffield? I seem to recall going to the zoo in the early 1960's when I was a little tot and am pretty sure it was in Sheffield. Can anyone clarify please?

I don't know about a zoo but there was the bear pit in the botanical gardens, I have heard that they used to have some animals!!

Yes, thanks for that littleboo, the bear pit rings a bell and along with a few other animals probably seemed like a zoo to me as a child! I think I remember some parrots and peacocks aswell!

Does anyone know if there was ever a zoo in Sheffield? I seem to recall going to the zoo in the early 1960's when I was a little tot and am pretty sure it was in Sheffield. Can anyone clarify please?

there is a digital zoo in Sheffield here (http://www.zoodigitalgroup.com/article.asp?id=76694&sec=3) :hihi:

Sheffielders used to go to Belle Vue near Manchester in the 60s and 70s, where there was a zoo, I was taken by my mother when i was very small , and for years I thought that it was Sheffield... Maybe this is the same thing..?

I don't know about a zoo but there was the bear pit in the botanical gardens, I have heard that they used to have some animals!!

You're not thinking of the parrot-type beast in the Botanical Gardens, are you? They used to have a bird that would **** back to you. Not sure now if it was a mynah bird?

Sorry - pesky forum editing! That **** word was t a l k !

The Botanical Gardens used to have an aviary and an aquarium.
There were two parrots that you could hold and feed.
I remember a mynah bird that used to say hello and then
started to meow like a cat. I don't know why they got
rid of them though.

Yes, thanks for that littleboo, the bear pit rings a bell and along with a few other animals probably seemed like a zoo to me as a child! I think I remember some parrots and peacocks aswell!

There were never any bears in the Botanical Gardens bear-pit in my lifetime, nor in the lifetime of my father. And I’m now 77! It would be nice to know when there were bears there, though?

Are the Botanical Gardens open all year round? I have a date on Friday and have arranged to have a picnic there. Fingers crossed the weather will be warm and sunny as well as dry!

Interesting reading here.

http://www.sbg.org.uk/bear.asp

Are the Botanical Gardens open all year round? I have a date on Friday and have arranged to have a picnic there. Fingers crossed the weather will be warm and sunny as well as dry!

Open all year round. The restoration has made the Botanical Gardens an interesting place to visit. Have a nice day.....and an enjoyable picnic. :thumbsup:

Ah, right, I think I've got this sorted now. It was Manchester zoo (thanks for the memory jog, Jabberwocky!) that I remember seeing bears and loads of other animals and, it was at the Botanical Gardens that I particularly remember the parrots and the aviary also the speaking minah bird (thanks SHsheff and flashbang for that info!). Don't remember the aquarium though but then I was only 3!

Still is at Bramall Lane, they have every imaginable species of pigs.

The macaws and parrots used to be free to fly and walk around in the Botanical Gardens, but at some time in the late 1970's some yobs knocked them about (so a keeper told me). This made them nervous and they had to put in a cage. We have not been for a long time, so this might not be the case now.
Is the bear pit still there or has it been converted into apartments? :D

Is the bear pit still there or has it been converted into apartments? :D

Oooh artisan's being sarky:hihi: :D

I would say the nearest zoo to us would be the zoo that used to be at Riber Casle, at Matlock? Maybe that is the one you remember?

The aviary and the aquarium in the Botanicals were shut down quite a while ago. I believe the birdhouse went, because of the birds carrying a disease called Psittacosis...

PT

Yes, thanks for that littleboo, the bear pit rings a bell and along with a few other animals probably seemed like a zoo to me as a child! I think I remember some parrots and peacocks aswell!
To the best of my knowledge there was never actually a bear living in the pit, not in living memory anyway. The birds to which you refer were in an avairy within the botanical gardens that has now been restored to house tropical plants, as indeed it did in the 1950's. There are however no longer any birds.

The Botanical Gardens used to have an aviary and an aquarium.
There were two parrots that you could hold and feed.
I remember a mynah bird that used to say hello and then
started to meow like a cat. I don't know why they got
rid of them though.

I seem to remember the two macaws getting stolen - must be getting on for 20 years ago.

The Botanical Gardens used to have an aviary and an aquarium.
There were two parrots that you could hold and feed.
I remember a mynah bird that used to say hello and then
started to meow like a cat. I don't know why they got
rid of them though.
In the aviary section they used to have tanks with tarantulas and other insects etc. Quite exciting for small kids!

There were never any bears in the Botanical Gardens bear-pit in my lifetime, nor in the lifetime of my father. And I’m now 77! It would be nice to know when there were bears there, though?
The bear pit dates back to the days before the Civil War when Oliver Cromwell banned it, along with Bull baiting etc.
If it is still there you will see the niches in the wall where the dogs could hide from the maddened Bear. the people above would goad the poor creature, and the dogs would savage it, until the unforntunate animal died

Oooh artisan's being sarky:hihi: :D

is he ever anything else? :rolleyes:

I remember that, I think the macaws and mynah bird were originally on perches in the open area of the aviary but someone stole the macaws which were later recovered but had become very nervous and a bit aggressive and then had to be caged.

There was then some tale about them having pitticosis and having to be destroyed along with the mynah and the other birds. I never believed it myself ..... think they were just victims of cost cutbacks :( And now the aquarium's gone too.

The Gardens are boring now, there's nothing to see there unless you like plants to the exclusion of everything.

is he ever anything else? :rolleyes:

I remember that, I think the macaws and mynah bird were originally on perches in the open area of the aviary but someone stole the macaws which were later recovered but had become very nervous and a bit aggressive and then had to be caged.

There was then some tale about them having pitticosis and having to be destroyed along with the mynah and the other birds. I never believed it myself ..... think they were just victims of cost cutbacks :( And now the aquarium's gone too.

The Gardens are boring now, there's nothing to see there unless you like plants to the exclusion of everything.

I don’t wish to appear sarcastic, and I’m not trying to be sarcastic, but what else, apart from plants, trees and lawns, would you expect to see in a garden? It’s not boring when you look around and see wild birds and squirrels, etc. And sometimes it’s nice to enjoy nature and the simpler things in life.

I don’t wish to appear sarcastic, and I’m not trying to be sarcastic, but what else, apart from plants, trees and lawns, would you expect to see in a garden? It’s not boring when you look around and see wild birds and squirrels, etc. And sometimes it’s nice to enjoy nature and the simpler things in life.

An aviary and an aqarium for a start :D

... the things that made it an interesting place to take little children ... we used to love going there, and then our children used to love going there too. When they closed the bird house and then the Aquarium and as other people have said, all the little nooks and crannies that made it somewhere where you could spend hours, have gone. All it is now is plants ... and pretty boring ones at that.

I can enjoy nature in my own garden, after all, I have wild birds and squirrels in abundance here ... too many sometimes, when they're nipping all the buds off my fruit trees! :)

I'm not saying it won't get better, but it's hard to see where the millions that were supposed to have been spent on it have gone. Go and take a look for yourself and then come back and tell me it's as much fun as it used to be.

An aviary and an aqarium for a start :D

... in my own garden, after all, I have wild birds in abundance here ... too many sometimes, when they're nipping all the buds off my fruit trees! :)

I'm not saying it won't get better, but it's hard to see where the millions that were supposed to have been spent on it have gone. Go and take a look for yourself and then come back and tell me it's as much fun as it used to be.
I dont know Rubydazzler, always the wild birds, no wonder the blokes cant stay away!:D

I dont know Rubydazzler, always the wild birds, no wonder the blokes cant stay away!:D

*gives artisan a stern look ....:rolleyes: