Bip 88 Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 !rulez! The Blue Bore at Hucknall also had a small zoo back in the 70s. i beleive the last time i past there the land at the back and side of the said pub is now being built on....houses..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rob237 89 Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 IIRC, that zoo was originally run by some 'odd' circus/ lion tamer type who also tried (and failed) to make a national TV career for himself.........? Lacey? Numerous scandals befell him.....loved by the gutter press of that time. Cheers Robt P. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bip 88 Posted April 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 The reason i knew there was a zoo there is i lived behind the pit headstocks back in the seventys, moved around seventy six, i think by then the zoo had closed but don't quote me on that......... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 !rulez! The Blue Bore at Hucknall also had a small zoo back in the 70s.i beleive the last time i past there the land at the back and side of the said pub is now being built on....houses..... That takes me back Den, I remember it being there Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Caz 25 Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 I don't remember the place but I do remember the Lacey guy,he was on TV a bit wasn't he? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rob237 89 Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 I don't remember the place but I do remember the Lacey guy,he was on TV a bit wasn't he? Yes he was...mainly on kid's TV. Invariably appeared in full length riding boots, carrying a lion tamers whip....spoke with some strange posh Home Counties accent, not much 'Mucky Uckna' about him! Reckon his Christian name might have been Martin? Seem to recall the zoo's demise came about because of lack of patronage, complaints from the supermarket warehouse people next door about the stench - and the eventual intervention of the Health & Safety Mafia. My late father-in-law worked at the warehouse in the late 60's, and was always complaining about the smells and the noise.... Cheers Robt P. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 Could this be the same Martin Lacey? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Caz 25 Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 Hello Mick2me how are you?? Yes Martin Lacey that's him,he did speak with an accent Rob,is he still around the area?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rob237 89 Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 Googlebot strikes again: Yes Mick...that Coventry demo' has to be him.... His present day pic' below. Cheers Gb RINGMASTER and TIGER TRAINER, MARTIN LACEY has over 40 years experience keeping, training and breeding exotic and domesticated animals. Martin is a Government Registered Wild Animal Trainer and is responsible for our lovely animals and the training of our tigers, now into our eighth generation Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rob237 89 Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 Hello Mick2me how are you??Yes Martin Lacey that's him,he did speak with an accent Rob,is he still around the area?? "....The speed of Lacey's fall from respected artiste to persecuted pariah is startling. Less than ten years ago, he was presenting his big-cat act in the centre of Britain's major towns, billed as the King Of The Cage. I remember going to see "The One And Only Mr Martin Lacey", and being entranced by the bow-tied, be-whiskered tamer. Lacey and his big cats appeared on television shows and made TV commercials. His trailer, where he spends nine months of the year, is hung with photographs, not of his sons, but of his lions and tigers - his former glory...." "....The King Of The Cage's favourite feline companion was a lion called Kasanga. "Kass was quite a character," says Lacey. "He was always interested in anything that was going on. Nosey is probably a good way of describing it." Kass and Martin were a team, a partnership. Martin has a heavy gold casting of Kasanga hanging around his neck. Together, they attracted audiences in their thousands. Martin rode on Kasanga's back, kissed him with puckered lips, and put his head in his mouth, earning himself a new nickname - The Man That Fear Forgot. For the few winter months when the circus is off the road, Lacey stays at home in Kasanga Manor in Lincolnshire, where Kasanga, who lived to 19, is buried in the garden....." Cheers Gb Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bip 88 Posted April 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 !rulez! Very interesting rob saves me looking it up... I see from the write up on that site that the protesters were out numbered by the animals.....ironic that........................ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted April 9, 2006 Report Share Posted April 9, 2006 Talking of Performing animals... I recently visited Las Vegas, where we stayed at the EXCALIBUR HOTEL Their famous Tournement of the Kings Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted April 9, 2006 Report Share Posted April 9, 2006 This is where the Horses live! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cali Gal 1 Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Talking of Performing animals...I recently visited Las Vegas, where we stayed at the EXCALIBUR HOTEL Their famous Tournement of the Kings Now that reminds me Mick! Does anyone know of a jousting show (other that the dinner show in London) that we might take the kids to see while we're there? (July 25-Aug 1) They would love that! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 I've got two coconuts? Anyone got a line prop? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flat Cap Driver 3 Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Blue Boar you say...well that "zoo" folded years ago, the owner cleared off leaving a garden shed full of dead baboons ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 He was on Central telly last night telling us how well looked after his animals were! Thanks FCD, no one else remembered that? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cali Gal 1 Posted April 14, 2006 Report Share Posted April 14, 2006 I found out Belvoir Castle has a country fair planned for that weekend. I sent them an e-mail to check out what is included in that. Thanks for the tip!! I've been to Belvoir Castle once many years ago, and my mom has a friend who knows a butler there named Jeffrey! Small world B) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mr rob t 11 Posted April 22, 2006 Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 the game fair at belvoir castle is the largest in the country, expensive to get in but worth it. everything is there relating to the countryside. get there early in the morning to avoid the traffic and give yourself time to see everything Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tutanic 8 Posted April 22, 2006 Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 My Great-Great Gandmother used to be in service at Belvoir Castle in the early 1900's. ne of her sisters was the school mistress's in Bottesford where they all came from originally. There are still grave stones in Bettesford church with her maiden name on them. If ever there was a beautiful place to be put to rest it is the church yard, babbling brook and trees a fantastic place to stay. I'm getting maudling again... A Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rob237 89 Posted April 22, 2006 Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 Bottesford Church and churchyard are certainly one of the most picturesque... The tall, narrow Church spire is visible for miles across the Vale of Belvoir. Regular place of pilgramage for visitors from New Zealand, as there is a section in the graveyard exclusively for NZ airmen who gave their lives in WWII. A New Zealand Squadron was based at nearby RAF Normanton (now a warehouse site) just up the road from Bottesford, near to Staunton-in-the-Vale. Cheers Robt P. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smileysal 3 Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Hiya, The Hucknall Zoo was called the Sherwood Park Zoo. We went there with the infants school in the early 70's. I can clearly remember walking round there and looking at all the animals, we thought it was brill. Few years ago, we went to a car boot sale on the same site, andi was shocked when i realised just how small the zoo was, especially because of the lions n stuff he had there. The same as Riber Castle Zoo. Went there too with the school, (we were only 8 or 9 at the time) thought that was cool too. That one closed in 2000 with reports of ill treatment and neglect of the animals. Looking at pics of the castle a few days ago, the cages n stuff were still there, looking dilapidated now tho. It was shocking again to see the size of the cages and enclosures there too. Riber Castle is now going to be developed soon. Sal Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.... 23 Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 Does anybody remember this tale that was related to The Sherwood Park Zoo? During the mid 1970s' I seem to remember reports in the Evening Post about sightings of a possibly escaped lion in Nottinghamshire. Cananyone else remember this story? There was a theory that it may have come from Sherwood Park Zoo. A funny tale was of a work colleague at that time who lived at Hucknall. Spotting a large light brown coloured object at the far end of a field backing onto his home he called the police, suspecting a sighting of the said beast. The police duly attended and and found a large brown paper bag blowing around the field! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
denshaw 2,871 Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 Just seen Martin Lacey on the Politics show BBC 1, he is still with the Great British Circus. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.... 23 Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 My Great-Great Gandmother used to be in service at Belvoir Castle in the early 1900's.ne of her sisters was the school mistress's in Bottesford where they all came from originally. There are still grave stones in Bettesford church with her maiden name on them. If ever there was a beautiful place to be put to rest it is the church yard, babbling brook and trees a fantastic place to stay. I'm getting maudling again... A Spent a little time around Bottesford whilst walking on the Grantham Canal the past year or two. One day a few friends and I caught a train out to there and walked along the canal to Grantham, stopping off at the 'Dirty Duck' along the way. A great day out in the sunshine. I did something I'd always wanted to do as well - visit The Black Bull at Bottesford. Bottesford's Secret Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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