Blobbyland/cricket st Thomas wildlife park

This is my first post so I'll try my best!
Crinkly bottom in Somerset was set up when Mr Blobby was popular, when their 15 minutes of fame was up it reverted back to the wildlife park it once was until it closed in about 2009. This was a very strange site because it's not completely closed off, the park still runs but it's a adult only hotel so none of the attractions exist and all of the animals are gone. The remaining bits of crinkly bottom and the wildlife park are just fenced off (but not very well). So anyways, on with the show.

The entrance to dunblobbin.




The house from the path that runs along side it.




























We also found the remains of blobbys gift shop.


The inside was in pretty bad shape though


The tunnel that the train used to go through is also still standing.


There used to be little mining goblins (or some similar creature) inside, they were all gone but the tunnel is still decorated inside.


Where the lemmas used to be kept we found a enclosure for them, I remember they used to run free in the area so I guess this was just for treating them when they were ill. The hut was just off the track where everyone was wandering around, it seemed odd that all kinds of stuff had been left there given how close it was to where people were walking. They only thing that was remotely stopping us from going in was a small pile of rocks.




Medicine and syringes were left in there as well as sawdust and other bedding.


I don't remember Leopards ever being there. Does anyone else?


We found animal cages in a different park of the park too, we couldn't get into this building but we could see bedding and food left in there. Sorry for the bad pictures on these, they were being taken through the window.




And finally the end of the train line and the bridge it use to travel across. This was near where the big animals used to be kept.


Thanks for looking.

Blimey this brings back some memories, used to "wander" around here early on Sunday mornings after going to the Country Club back in the day.

Welcome to the forum!

good effort, good first post! hope to see more from you!

Brill photos & the graffiti made me laugh! thanks for sharing.

Great first post, I did chuckle at some of the writing on the walls!
Thanks!

The very first custom car show I ever entered was here, but long before Mr Blobby, it was 1985. Wouldn't mind have a look here when I'm passing next
Great photos and thanks for posting

Brilliant first report I remember going here as a kid in the summer hols..used to have a big wooden castle play area..like stealth said the writing made me really laugh.

That looks like a good mooch, Very Enjoyable, Many Thanks.

Whoa! Winning first report!
Cant wait to see more of your finds! Keep it up!

Nice first report! What you got next on your list?!

Loved looking at these pics, reminds me of coming here as a child. Is the wooden obstacle course style area still there?!

The only wooden structure left was a small play castle, was really well tucked in the undergrowth in the sectioned off part of the park. I don't know how we would have even gone about getting to it but it was too small to bother exploring anyway.

Noel Edmonds lived in Norfolk in the 70's and drank in my local. He wouldn't have got away with the Mr Blobby **** there. And his ego was huge for a dwarf. Glad the place is disappearing fast. Thanks for the look-see. Jim

My 1st job was here in the holidays such a shame it went like this blobby land ruined it they got rid of loads of animals to accommodate it and when it failed the park wasn't far behind it! They couldn't afford to replace the animals of pay keepers to care for them if they did it is a shame it was better than longleat at some point and cheaper bit upsetting to see it now I don't wanna go back there I'd cry lol but thanks for taking the time

Cricket St Thomas

I was one of the last 8 zoo keepers here. I was there while we had to crate up and send the animals away, and slowly take the place apart. It was the most heart breaking thing . The reason for the park closure was 100% down to Warners Hotel, who took over the running 10 years before it shut. They refused to give us any money for new enclosures and upkeep etc, and us keepers did the absolute best that we could, often using our own money to give the animals the best we could. The hotel would allow no further development, no money for play areas for the children - absolutely nothing. Thats why it went so downhill.
And for the person who asked about leopards, yes we did have them. We had 2 adult Amur leopards - the rarest leopards in the world. They had several litters of cubs, who went to zoos all over the world. And yet we never got any credit for it, as the hotel just didnt grasp the enormity of what we had achieved, and therefore didnt bother.

You must have been some good zookeepers to spend your own money, this place was amazing when it was the wildlife park. The lemmas were the best I loved being able to get so close to them. It's so sad to see it now, the lake that was once full of fish is now empty and so dirty the water looks almost stagnant. Warner hotels can go to hell for turning this place into what it is, they've obviously done the bare minimum when taking over the park. But everyone loved the place and misses it so you must have been doing a good job.

Jaffa7 post made the topic very poignant, until then, I too, laughed at the graffiti. VERY sad about the poor animals, but well done the zoo keepers that obviously cared for their animals.

Wow, that's awesome, I didn't realised the park had closed as well, been there for classic car shows as well. Remember the lemurs stealing our food. Shame it failed.
Some companies just don't know what they have got.

I have worked up there recently for last 2 years (left now) and they still dont overly care about the place, the historic house leaks and are doing nothing to fix it, they are just letting everything run down and is a real shame as I used to go there as a child and hoped it would still be a great place.. Untill i started working there of course, but hey ho, people now seem to enjoy it but its just a good thing they dont get to see what happens behind the scenes, and the train still runs (its just seasonal)

(Apologies if i have annoyed anyone in posting this, i just feel it is a great shame in what they have done to a place that many people used to love and are just not bothering)

Is this Warners who do the holidays for over 50s?

It is a shame , I remember the "Cricket St. Thomas near Chard" TV and radio adverts from my childhood on the 80s, they got every child in the south west desperate to go. I imagine the ascendency of Longleat in the 90s probably didn't help either.