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Martyn
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Denby Dale
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23-Feb-2007 13:26:36
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116 posts
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wsmith
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wsmith
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drapesy
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Burley, Leeds
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24-Feb-2007 21:20:32
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I dont think they would have actually been made to fight. Although Victorian menageries kept animals in very poor conditions by todays standards some of the more brutal barbarities carried out on animals were at least made illegal in the first half of the 19th century. By this I mean things like dog fighting, bear and bull baiting (i.e setting dogs on a tethered animal) etc - all of which really belong, and were practised in the 18th century and before. I believe cock-fighting was the last to be outlawed, in 1849 if memory serves me correctly
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mourning_belle
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Location:
leeds
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04-Mar-2007 21:44:07
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28 posts
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There was a very interesting talk given on the zoo by a historian last year, lots of lots of info, there was a station built around the same area burley park station is now which was called royal gardens station which was open for about four years. Cardigan road didnt exist then and cuts right through what would have been the middle of the zoo, and it was in the agreement for the sales of the plots for houses that they had to be built well away from the road preserving the asthetic of the grounds and preserving the unusual tree specimins, many of which remain to this day. The ticket offices are visable just off the top of chapel lane? Also you can still see the fountain for the zoo in one of the gardens of the big houses on the left hand side going up towards headingley.
It did get shut down because it was a financial nightmare due to the way it was subsidised and the different views of the people who jointly ran it. They wanted the working class to be improved by it but that was when sundays were the only day of rest and they charged too much for entry and some of the people involved felt that sundays should be spent in church rather than enjoying themselves. And the working class felt that getting pissed in hyde park was a far better idea than any of that.
There was only ever a very small zoo, one bear and a couple of monkeys. Apparently you could feed the bear bananas when it climbed to the top of the tree in its enclosure.
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RFarrell
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04-Apr-2007 18:49:51
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20 posts
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I found, in the book 'The Illustrated History of Leeds' a map of the Botanic gardens though it was very difficult to work out where it actually was. However, I did so in the end and have superimposed the map onto a Google Earth image of the area. The bottom left hand corner is where the gardens just reached the current Burley Park railway station.
Hope this helps!
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simon2710
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Location:
Leeds, West Yorkshire
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11-Mar-2007 17:44:57
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149 posts
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Is this the one in Headingley???
If it is on the wall/gates there was a plaque telling people how the bears were treated.
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Martyn
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Denby Dale
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23-Feb-2007 13:26:36
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Where would we be without Google Earth?
And People like RFarrell.
What a great image, good work!
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RFarrell
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Thank you! I've redone the image now and posted it on Photobucket. This one is a fair bit larger and I've done the overlay semi transparent and with Cardigan Road marked on it as well. Shame that Photobucket doesn't let you post PSDs or I'd have posted it in that format (but I can change the transparencys if anyone wants a copy with different emphasis).
The plan I have used is as below - showing the design of the main buildings and the dodgy North pointer!
Anyway, no wonder it was hard to locate it - I noticed that on the plan of the gardens, North was out by about 7 degrees. I am pretty sure I have it right though - one clue is the little lane behind Norwood Terrace (just outside the Garden area, top right) - this appears to be a perimeter path of the Gardens.
Also interesting is that, if I have it right, the bear pit must have been on the island in the lake. Can anyone confirm this?
Edit - looks like I can't post it at a sensible size - can zips be posted here?
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zoospud
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Location:
Chester
Joined on:
12-Apr-2007 18:02:14
Posted:
2 posts
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Dear All
< http://zoohistory.co.uk >.
Several members of our Society are visiting Leeds this Sunday. We are visiting Harewood House Bird Garden, Lotherhall Hall Bird Garden and Tropical World ( Roundhay Park ). After which we are going try and find your old Bear Castle. Not being from the Leeds area ( I am from Chester ) we are at the mercy of my 'sat nav'. Does anyone know a nearby Postal Code for the Bear Castle ?
Best Wishes, Paul Murphy ( The Bartlett Society ).
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Martyn
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Location:
Denby Dale
Joined on:
23-Feb-2007 13:26:36
Posted:
116 posts
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It's not far from the Co-op and the postcode for that is LS6 1LU.
Further up the hill on the other side of the road.
As 'castles' go, it's fairly modest.
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munki
Administrator
Location:
Leeds
Joined on:
25-Jan-2007 09:46:31
Posted:
866 posts
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Hello zoospud! Check out mourning belle's message above in the same thread, which mentions some additional surviving features of the zoo.
The bear pit is pretty easy to find!
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mourning_belle
User
Location:
leeds
Joined on:
04-Mar-2007 21:44:07
Posted:
28 posts
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| RFarrell wrote: |
Thank you! I've redone the image now and posted it on Photobucket. This one is a fair bit larger and I've done the overlay semi transparent and with Cardigan Road marked on it as well. Shame that Photobucket doesn't let you post PSDs or I'd have posted it in that format (but I can change the transparencys if anyone wants a copy with different emphasis).
The plan I have used is as below - showing the design of the main buildings and the dodgy North pointer!
Anyway, no wonder it was hard to locate it - I noticed that on the plan of the gardens, North was out by about 7 degrees. I am pretty sure I have it right though - one clue is the little lane behind Norwood Terrace (just outside the Garden area, top right) - this appears to be a perimeter path of the Gardens.
Also interesting is that, if I have it right, the bear pit must have been on the island in the lake. Can anyone confirm this?
Edit - looks like I can't post it at a sensible size - can zips be posted here?
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that plan btw was only the proposed plan, most of it couldnt be funded so only modest structures were completed. Also the placing of the bear pit may be off. Its still ace though 
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zoospud
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Location:
Chester
Joined on:
12-Apr-2007 18:02:14
Posted:
2 posts
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Dear All
Many Thanks for your help.
We located the Bear Castle easily - thanks to the postal code !
Full credit to the folks of Leeds for restoring this icon of past times.
I promise if we find any further information about Leeds Zoo we will report back to you.
Best Wishes, Paul Murphy, The Bartlett Society.
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dERvXeroX
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Location:
Armley, Leeds
Joined on:
30-Mar-2007 19:26:52
Posted:
29 posts
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I was out Sunday (in the rain, with a hangover) and I took a few pictures in the vicinity of the old zoo/park.
I jumped the fence to the bear pit and took some inside.
On the corner of Cardigan road and Chapel lane there is a fenced off piece of woodland. This, according to the diagram would be near the Northern tip of the park. A lot of the trees are definitely old enough to have been part of the park.
I also got some pictures of a wall which traces the West perimeter. Some of it is stone, some red brick. Ill see if they match the bear pit.
The wall seems to have had a gate facing the station that was bricked up.
There's a few more random ones.
I couldn't find the ticket office or fountain.
Check the link below:
http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p80/dervxerox/zoo/?start=all
Cheers
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myslef
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Location:
LEEDS
Joined on:
26-Jun-2008 11:49:29
Posted:
2 posts
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The dis-used woodland you refer to in pic's 1&2, the council has been to trying gain ownership for several years as its known as no-mans land, not sure if they have just got the ownership or in the very near future, so they have plans to renovate the area into a park.
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Tasa
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Location:
Headingley, Leeds
Joined on:
08-Oct-2007 15:41:52
Posted:
328 posts
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raine
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Location:
leeds
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26-Mar-2007 23:05:55
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5 posts
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i know this thread is a bit old now but i found this old plan of the gardens here: http://www.mctague.co.uk/details/maps_plans/newsam_zoo.html
I also walked round as much of the perimeter as i could today. There's quite a few entrances still visible including one on the corner up the hill from the bear pit where a later victorian building in brick has been built on top of the original entrance. Makes me wonder if this was some form of ticket office building or similar?
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Chrism
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Location:
24 Aristophanes Street
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20-Jan-2008 12:56:28
Posted:
1114 posts
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Those maps aren't cheap!!
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Tasa
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Location:
Headingley, Leeds
Joined on:
08-Oct-2007 15:41:52
Posted:
328 posts
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| raine wrote: |
| There's quite a few entrances still visible including one on the corner up the hill from the bear pit where a later victorian building in brick has been built on top of the original entrance. Makes me wonder if this was some form of ticket office building or similar? |
I think that building post-dates the zoo, although a ticket office has been mentioned somewhere on this thread. The main entrance was exactly where Cardigan Road runs through the site now, but traces of the wall, which is Grade II listed I believe, can be seen at the bottom of Spring Road (the one you saw) and on the opposite side of Cardigan Road on the continuation of Spring Road before it turns into Chapel Lane.
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