Puma Walked into a Pub
Letters flood in recalling a bizarre visit to city
IT JUST wouldn't be allowed nowadays... but time was when the
Newcastle Winter Zoo came to town and caused a sensation.
Dying dolphins, pumas in pubs, defecating lions and smelly snakes were
all part of the late-1960s attraction, which we featured recently in
the photograph right.
And the memories came flooding back.
Ann Wood, of Kenton, pictured aged nine, with a macaw on her shoulder,
recalled the zoo in the city's old Town Hall, in the Bigg Market.
"I've always treasured this photo and have it on display on a unit in
my study. Over the years I have asked people if they remember a zoo in
Newcastle and no-one can remember it.
"The only other thing I remember is that there was a dolphin in an
open tank but it wasn't a big tank and I seem to remember someone
telling me it died."
James Short, of Byker, recalled: "A friend and myself were having a
quiet pint in the Old George. What happened next was strange to say
the least.
"A man walked in the bar with a pet on a leash, the pet was a puma and
the leash was a chain.
"He walked over to the bar and ordered a pint. The barman, who had not
seen him come in, served him and the man and the puma settled down at
the bar. Everyone else was speechless."
Marie Lindsay, of Gateshead, remembered the smelly snakes, and said:
"It was a bit unusual to see a winter zoo in the middle of Newcastle."
While Mr R W Van Der Horst, of Gateshead, added: "I remember it well,
as at the time myself and friends used to drink in the front bar of
Robinsons. Sitting on stools at the bar on a Saturday evening, I
happened to look across towards the old Town Hall, just across the
Cloth Market, to see the bizarre sight of a giraffe looking at us
through one of the tall windows."
Mrs Diane White, of Newcastle, said: "My late husband was a city
councillor at the time and he took me and our four young sons to see
the zoo.
"They had all kinds of animals, including at least one lion and a
giraffe, but how they got the giraffe through the doorway I do not know.
"I remember the lion turning his backside towards the people and I
said to my lads `move away quick' and those people who stood still got
sprayed on all over."
Christine Grieves, of Heaton, remembers the zoo well, her mother's
late aunt worked in the box office.
"If I recall correctly, the animals came from Flamingo Zoo, in North
Yorkshire (Now Flamingo Land)."
And Harry Davison, of North Shields, said: "There was a bit of a worry
when it was thought that a ostrich had swallowed a padlock and the
Army was called in with a mine detector."
Norman Turnbull, of Walker, said: "I took my two daughters when they
were about 10 and 11.
"All I can remember seeing were lots of monkeys in cages, one very
large tiger in a big cage and a big water tank with a poor dolphin
just swimming round and round the tank."
Fred Musham, of Blaydon, added: "My wife and I remember taking our
son, who was then about six, and what sticks in our minds is the two
pot-bellied pigs who were named Bobby and Elsie – you see my wife's
uncle was named Bobby and his wife's name was Elsie."
Maureen Broadbent, of Hebburn, said: "I remember seeing elephants,
tigers, lions, camels, zebras and sea-lions among other things."
Send your memories to Ray Marshall, Remember When, Evening Chronicle,
Groat Market, Newcastle, NE1 1ED or e-mail
Evening Chronicle, Newcastle: 16th January 2008
