Calderpark Zoo Paul Veverka 1972

The date is 1972. In the pram, is none other than little old me. Dad obviously trusted the monkeys at Calderpark Zoo to let them as close as this. Not sure i’d do the same today with my little one. A sad day when the zoo closed all those years later. It was a great day out and so handy for Blantyre families to nip across the Blantyre Farm Road to such a wonderful tourist attraction.

The zoo did pale by comparison to the mighty Edinburgh Zoo, and some of the animals always seemed to be in danger of being moved elsewhere. I’m sure many people will remember great day trips to Calderpark.

Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said:

Alison Glen Growing up in Mount Vernon it was right on our doorstep too. First nursery school trip and first primary school trip were both to Calderpark Zoo. We still always refer to the M74 junction as ‘the zoo’!
Helen Lawson Taylor Remember it well ,my mother used to say we are going to see our friends and the Zoo was where she took us lol .
Arlene Campbell And now I live there
Margaret Muir Doesn’t seem that long since I took my grandchildren. Linsey held a snake!
Jeanette Allardyce Ward I took my girls there, was a great wee day out. Remember laughing an one of the parrots copied me, we couldn’t move
- Stephen Allan When did Calderpark zoo close? The nearest zoo to Blantyre that I know of was Glasgow zoo which closed in 2003.
  
  Carol Allan Calderpark & Glasgow zoo are one and the same.
- Garry Lee Used to go there with the Burnbank uthie and jump off the little cliffs in to the water, was it called the Calder? This park is sadly much underestimated😐
  
  Catherine Newell I remember it as a child my father lived in Calderpark crescent just up the road and some of my relatives worked there .Their name was Clark.
  
  Carolyn Patterson Catherine Newell hi cuz this might be a good way to trace your dad xxx
  
  James Sime Used to go with TACT playscheme during the summer, in the council blue buses.
  
  Jiae Jiae Loved it, visited it many times as a child and then with my own youngster, what a great experience it was as a child!
  
  Blantyre Project i remember the depressed polar bear and the concrete enclosure, painted white. Shame.
  
  Kenny Kane Yip that freaked me out even at the age of 11
  
  Dorothy McKay One of my favourite childhood memories was holding a lion cub at Calderpark Zoo.
  
  Manage
  
  Gord Fotheringham Ma maw (granny)only ever walked us overto that zoo once…utterly funtastic…enjoyed every minute…
  
  Alan Baird i visited it many many times when it was there as a child and adult
  
  Karen Corns This was our school trip…every year..
  Remember Kirsty the elephant..
  
  Lisa Hamilton Duncan Karen Corns i was just going to say that. St Johns trip every year. All on the bus with our poly bag picnic! 😂
  
  Karen Corns i was sent went cartons of juice, incase the ginger made me sick 🙂
  
  Karen Corns And having our packed lunch in the monkey house..
  
  Blantyre Project It closed in August 2003 after running up a debt of around £3.5m and failing to renew their zookeeper licence, having been unable to meet new standards on animal welfare.
  
  Alison Walker-Hill I worked at the zoo as an education officer and can advise you that the animals were far from neglected. The keepers were an amazing group of people who would do just about anything for their animals. This was in the early 80s. With little cash, they strived to do the best for all the animals and create a more modern park where the animals could be kept in more acceptable conditions. Where possible, animals were moved to other zoos as part of international programmes, but this was not suitable for all animals (a prime example was/were the polar bears).
  
  Kenny Kane The only animal I can remember being neglected was the polar bear all the rest of the animals looked healthy
  
  Alison Walker-Hill The polar bear was not neglected. It never should have been in captivity. Any animal with a natural range of hundreds of square miles kept in a small enclosure will develop stereotypic traits..The keepers tried their best to provide enrichment for the poor animals to give them the best life they could. No other zoo/collection would take them on. The only other solution was euthanasia, which nobody wanted!
  
  Duska McLeish Alison Walker-Hill well I declare! Cool job!
  
  Alison Walker-Hill Very cool…..used to prepare wee talks and take them out around primary schools…..good times!
  
  Kirstie Harrison Joanna Monaghan remember taking all our siblings on the bus for a day out? Highlight was winning a juicy fruit necklace in the amusements 😏
  
  Joanna Monaghan I remember that so well! I loved the little round toy / sweet shop right in the middle beside the polar bear.
  Was the elephant at the zoo not called Kirsty or have I made that up?
  
  Kirstie Harrison It was, pretty sure I got called that at primary school 🤨🐘
  
  Kerry Tremble Kevan Went numerous times over the years til it closed. Good memories
  
  Joan Anderson Loved the polar bear
  
  Sharon Reid We took a wrong turn one day and ended up in with the rhino. Just a ditch between us. Absolutely amazing!
  
  Marion Jones My mum and my wee auntie Marie used to take me and my cousins.. we would walk the back roads with our Joseph in the pram , great memories 😄
  
  Susan Brownlie A day out to Calderpark zoo was so exciting. I loved it when I was wee. However it really went downhill by the time I took my own children. I had decided that I probably wouldn’t go back when I found a funfair there. Not what I thought should be at a zoo!
  
  Helen Henderson Mclaughlin I worked there up until it closed. Loved it
  
  Georgina Durnans Mackie Loved the place me and my bro would go over with my mum and dad then when mum took ill my auntie Margret Lorimer would take us then it was my bro first job he just loved animals beautiful memories