Veteran visitor joins celebration

A veteran visitor who queued for hours to visit Dudley Zoo on its opening day 70 years ago has shared her memories of decades of trips to the popular tourist attraction.

Pensioner Muriel Thatcher was just 10 when she first visited the Castle Hill attraction in 1937 and was invited as guest of honour for the zoo’s 70th birthday celebrations yesterday. A

fter cutting the cake and bravely posing with a snake for photographs, the 80-year-old from Wednesfield enjoyed a flute of champagne as she relived that memorable opening day when the zoo opened its doors for the first time.

“I was only 10 years-old and I thought I was in paradise,” she said. “I was nearly in tears with the excitement because I was seeing animals I had never seen before.

“There were no televisions in those days and we all thought it was absolutely marvellous. 

Muriel was accompanied by her mother and four-year-old sister Greeta and remembered the bustle and excitement of the zoo’s first day

More than 50,000 visitors crowded to see the animals, while 250,000 thronged outside trying to gain entrance to the attraction.

“We lived in Wolverhampton and I couldn’t understand why the bus didn’t go into Dudley but, of course, there were more crowds than a Wembley football match and we had to walk because the bus couldn’t get into the town centre,” Muriel said.

“There were camels out in the streets and also lots of donkeys, plus lots of posh men in top hats who were the dignitaries of the town.

“We nagged our mum to go in despite the queues and when we finally entered the zoo I saw the biggest cage full of monkeys,” she added 

“There were chimps and gorillas, polar bears and brown bears and the biggest tortoise you’ve ever seen in your life that you could sit on and go for a ride – I’ll always remember it.

“I think the zoo is better now, we are all more educated. 

“We used to feed the animals anything and some didn’t really have enough space in times gone by.”