Birdland (theme park)

Birdland, a wildlife park in Bourton-on-the-Water, England, was first opened in 1957 though moved to its current location in 1989. It originally existed in the five acre grounds of a Tudor manor house called Chardwar and was started by Len Hill who was often referred to as The Penguin Millionaire.

History

The park's founder Leonard W. Hill was a bird lover who wanted to open a British bird park. In order to do so Len purchsed The Jason Islands which are the most north-western islands in the Falkland Islands and consist of the Grand Jason Island and the Steeple Jason Island. Both islands are uninhabited by humans. The islands were offered to Len for £10,000 including some sheep bred by the islands' former owner. Eventually Len paid £5,500 without any sheep. Len made the islands a private home for the rich species of bird life that visited or lived on the islands. Len would go on to provide species from the islands to various wildlife parks in exchange for different species for Birdland park. Though Len was a successful businessman the purchase of the islands and the costs of the Birdland park took their financial toll. In 1970 Len commissioned a postage stamp by the Jason Island and this helped fund his endeavor. The postage stamp was printed by Harrisons, the British security printer who printed British postage stamps for many years. Beneath the words ‘Conservation Year 1970’ was a portrait of Len and a picture of Grand and Steeple Islands alongside some Gentoo penguins. Len also issued a number of bank notes, purportedly authorized by the Jason Islands. These notes were in five denominations of different sizes and colours. 'Jason Islands' appeared in the top centre, alongside the value (from 50 pence to £20 pounds), Len's signature and portrait as well as a picture of his beloved bird, the penguin.

The penguins illustrated on each denomination were: 50 pence (green)–a Humboldt Penguin; 1 pound (purple)–a Jackass Penguin; 5 Pound (red)–a Rockhopper Penguin; 10 pound (blue)–a Gentoo Penguin; and 20 pounds (brown)–a King Penguin. The reverse of each note contained the words ‘Valid until 31 December 1979’. It is not known when the notes were issued but this condition rendered them useless after said date and is commonly used in production of private banknotes.

The Falkland Islands Government took no legal action over the monies as they considered them a private sector initiative and the Government had complete rights to issue monies for all the Falkland Islands.

After Len's death both Birdland and The Jason Islands were sold by his family. The Jason Islands were purchased by Michael and Judy Steinhardt who in turn donated them to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The Park

The park contains around convert|7|acre|m2 of woodland and the River Windrush, ponds and gardens.

There are around 500 birds contained within more than 50 aviaries, including tropical, temperate and desert Houses.

The current site housed a Trout farm when Birdland took over occupancy and this has been incorporated in to the attraction. Prior to this the site was a Poplar Tree plantation owned by Bryant and May for the production of matchsticks. 150 trees still form a canopy of over 150 trees for the park.

The park contains the only King penguins in England, Wales or Ireland.

Hollywood

Birdland provided the real-live King Penguins for the Hollywood movie Batman Returns [1992] .

Mascots

The Central Flying School is the longest serving flying school in the world beginning in Upavon, Wiltshire, England on 12 May 1912. In February 1962 Len Hill presented CFS with its first official and live mascot, "Patrick" the pelican. Patrick represented the CFS at many events and a BBC documentary was made about him. He died in 1969. On 7 January 1971 'Frederick' became mascot, born in Kenya but trained at Birdland Institute of Zoology at the park in Bourton. Frederick died in 1986 of natural causes. June 26th 1987 saw 'Cedric' become CFS mascot. In May 2001 'Duncan Le Gayt' became mascot and he resides at Birdland leading a relatively quiet life compared to his formers.

Paradise Park

The Milkybar chocolate advertising man, Mike Reynolds [1 February 1931-14 April 2007] , who founded Paradise Park in Hayle, Cornwall, for parrots and was a champion of the chough had the idea for Paradise Park having met Len Hill at Birdland during a family day trip to the park. As a collector of birds, a park where people could pay to see them seemed a great idea and came true in 1971 when he found Glanmor House with its sheltered walled garden by the Hayle estuary. Prior to opening Paradise Park, Reynolds coined the catchphrase "The Milkybars are on me!" and ran a business designing and marketing toys and games. He also founded World Parrot Trust in 1989 and as a fan of Cornish tourism founded the Cornish Association of Tourist Attractions with over 40 members.

External links

* [http://www.birdland.co.uk Official site]