Only recently we found out that we have a zoo on our doorstep (…well, when I say doorstep I mean closer than Edinburgh or Chester!) The fabulous Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens are only open during weekends and holidays so be prepared for it to be busy when you visit.
Having opened in 2011 and now boasting over 200 species of animals we knew the girls would love wandering round in the sunshine, thankfully the weather played ball and we had a lovely day including lunch in the Orangery.
Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens offers both an educational and fun day out and we pride ourselves on offering enclosures that replicate all of our species natural habitats. A number of our animals are also part of international breeding programmes, helping to preserve endangered populations in the wild.
We loved that each section had details on the living and feeding habits of the animals alongside free roaming peacocks and plenty of room to maneuver buggies and wheelchairs etc. The only tight section was in the Aquatic centre as there wasn’t much room to move once people were jostling to see the mini tree frogs and Nemo fishes!
We all loved the idea of the bug hotel and having rescued a worn out bumble bee the other day the girls have a new found love of insects. Promising we will call to B&Q for chimney stacks another day we now have a plan of what kind of bug hotel the girls would like to make!
You can tell that the whole zoo is dedicated to education and seeing it from a childs point of view, we particularly loved the stools that children can stand on to see better. This gave Amelia a new sense of adventure since she usually has to ask up to be lifted up to see in the enclosures, this time she was off and exploring herself!
Evie loved the reptile section, filled with snakes, chameleons, lizards and spiders – eek! These two happy souls looked like they were loving the attention…
…and this little fella wasn’t scared of anything! Coming up close to the glass to look outside, the girls loved their hair and I had to explain that it grows like that, not that the zoo keepers cut it!
Our favourites were clearly the monkeys, huddling together and picking at each other, smuggling food to hide away and then swinging from the ropes and branches. There is just something so cute about these little fellas!
As well as all of the animals they also have a play area, picnic areas, a tea room and gift shop, 120 metre zip wire and high ropes.
For lunch we headed to the Orangery where we all had sandwiches, packed up lunches for the kids and fresh orange juice, it came to just under £20 which I thought was very reasonable considering the size of the sandwiches! The girls got slush for the walk back to the car too which they were allowed to fill themselves, I would have loved to do this as a kid!
Overall we had a lovely day out and at only £6.95 for adults and £4.95 for children it really is good value for money! They have a list on the website of upcoming events and seem to schedule lots for children to do so it is well worth checking out the website before you visit to see if you can take advantage of some of the things going on!
XOXO
Debbie
We were provided with complimentary passes to the zoo for the purposes of this review. All views and opinions are our own and genuine.
Cute photo’s! Seems like the perfect time. Children usually love animals!
Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens looks awesome, the monkeys would be my fav too 🙂 x
This looks like such an incredible Zoo, and it’s not too far from us so we’ll definitely have to visit.
Wow I’m shocked at the price. It’s really reasonable!!! I would love to viist with my girls. They’d love the bug hotel.
What an educative zoo. Like the sound and look of it.
What a fun place and educational too. That bug hotel is cool and something kids would love.
It’s always lovely to find you have adventure at your door step and the zoo sounds exactly like that plus it’s educational for the kids too
What a lovely looking zoo, I’ve never heard of Kirkley but it looks fabulous.