# Blobbyland/cricket st Thomas wildlife park



## QueerBait90

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.


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## krela

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!


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## mockingbird

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


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## flyboys90

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


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## Stealthstar79

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


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## cunningplan

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


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## Mikeymutt

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.


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## smiler

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


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## UrbanX

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


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## DirtyJigsaw

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


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## Whitey

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


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## QueerBait90

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.


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## jmcjnr

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


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## Kaz12

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


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## jaffa7

*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.


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## QueerBait90

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.


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## Ace5150

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.


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## dairylicked

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.


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## crozzers3

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)


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## krela

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.


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## QueerBait90

They do adult only holidays, don't know if it's over 50s or not but me and my mates are in our 20s and we were certainly out of place there. Warner sound like a real money grabbing company, but they will get what's coming to them when nobody wants to visit their leaky hotel. The train must have completly stopped running pretty recently because they've pulled up all the railway sleepers, you can see the dents in the gravel where they used to be.


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## jaffa7

*Cst*

Thanks for all your nice replies. As keepers, we were never in it for the money, as the money was only at minimum wage, and it was only our passion for our animals that kept us there. As for the train - well thats a joke. For the first time in YEARS, the hotel actually gave us £100,000 to spend on the wildlife park - on the proviso that we ONLY spent it on the train! At that point, we had no idea that they were thinking about shutting us down. So - we duly got in the professional and had the train and tracks overhauled, and spent the entire amount on it. 10 MONTHS later, they informed us they were shutting us down. They then told us that they would keep the train running, in season, for their hotel guests - although what the hell there was to look at from the train i have no idea. They also told us that they were turning it into a 'gardens', where there would be fantastic flower displays, and that it would remain open to the public, long after the animals had gone. Well that was a lie too, because apart from the odd weekend, there is no obvious sign that it is open to the public. What they also failed to realise, was that the majority of their guests (we know, we asked them), only repeatedly went back to that hotel BECAUSE of the wildlife park! One regular hotel visitor even stood up in the middle of the dining room, and absolutely ripped the manager to pieces (verbally) for doing such a disgusting thing. For that, we KEEPERS all got into trouble for letting the guests know what was happening (it was still supposed to be kept quiet). For that, we were told we had to sign what was effectively a 'gagging clause'. Well, you can imagine how that went down. So - I went straight to the press! What did I have to lose?? After the story was printed, I was hauled in to the managers office and told that if I spoke out again, I would lose my redundancy pay. Nice.
Now I know some of this may sound like bitterness or a bit far-fetched, but I can promise that every single thing I have said can be corroborated. I have nothing to gain from lying. And I am sure that most of you will not be in the slightest surprised by Warners behaviour - like so many companies, what goes on behind the scenes is appaling. Thanks for reading - its good to know that members of the public also miss it, and it wasn't just us keepers x


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## brickworx

Trippy place you found there...nice one.


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## bertie97

Never been to Cricket St Thomas, but the blobby part is just plain creepy. After seeing the video of it open on youtube, im glad i wasn't taken there as a kid i probably would of fainted from fear.


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## Richard Davies

I didn't realise there was another Blobbyland. I remember the one in Morcombe opening, after Mr Blobby's popularity had peaked.


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## forker67

That's ACE!!!!


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