After the first episode of the highly-anticipated drama Our Zoo aired on BBC1 last week we invited readers who may have known the Mottershead family to share their special memories of the zoo and asked them what they thought of the TV adaptation....

SUE HOLLERON's father Harry Prandle worked as a zookeeper at Chester from the early 1950s until he retired at 65 in the mid 1970s.

She also worked there as a young girl, looking after the small mammals, and has fond memories of the Mottershead family.

Sue, now 71, says: “We lived across the road from the zoo in Caughall Road. Everyone else in Upton back then worked in the cafe at the zoo but I worked with the animals, and occasionally babysat for the gatehouse curator Reg Bloom’s children.

“I really enjoyed watching the show, but of course, the time period covered so far was way before my time, I’m looking forward to seeing how they portray later life, at the time when I was there.

“Mrs Mottershead was just lovely, we used to have a chat every day when I cleaned the animal cages. But when I left school and wanted to train as a secretary, she begged me to stay. I didn’t know George as well as I knew her.

“To this day I love animals just as much as I did then and have a house full of them- I couldn’t live without them.

“My dad had to feed the animals every day, even Christmas Day. We grew up with the zoo, and the Mottersheads were a lovely family. I didn’t know Muriel as well as she left early on to travel, but June was always lovely.

“People often tell me I should write my experiences down in a book but it was just part of my life, I thought nothing of it at the time. I had no fear of the animals, they trusted me.”

SANDRA SAER, 79,  was the zoo’s first press and public relations officer, working with George Mottershead for about 16 months from 1951, and after watching the show last week, said she was ‘very proud’ to have played a part in Chester Zoo, and shares her story here:

“What a beautiful, moving, lovingly-acted programme! It told me a lot about George, whom we called ‘Mott’, that I didn’t already know (although my connection with him goes back a long way). His determination, despite family pressures against and local disdain, won through and he fulfilled his dream.

“I spent 15 months working as Editor’s Girl, then as a reporter on the Chester Chronicle and through this, I attended several of the zoo’s Tuesday press lunches. I think Mott fancied me as I was very beautiful at 19, as he poached me to go and work for him!

“As what?” I asked. “I don’t know,” was the blunt reply.

“But I was just fascinated by the chance to do something different, and after a week of doing a daily round, chatting to the keepers, I netted a fantastic scoop: Stella, the sea lion had disappeared from the pool she shared with her mate Sammy!

Sandra Saer, former press officer to George Mottershead at Chester Zoo in the 50s

“Immediately, I asked Mott to let me be the Zoo’s first press and public relations officer, and he gladly agreed. Then I set to work. My stories, specially tailored of course for different newspapers, magazines, radio and television, went out to media worldwide. The phones rang constantly with queries, for updates, and so on. The whole place was agog with excitement. Photographers had a field day. The coverage we received was phenomenal. Mott was delighted.

“I ran a simple, four-line ad in The Chronicle - ‘Come to Chester Zoo’, and in they came, hundreds of them, to gaze, paying to get in of course, and filling the cafe for refreshments.

“Several weeks went by, with people ringing in to say they thought they’d seen Stella in their garden. Finally, it was decided to drain the pool. It was like a film set, as clear to me now as it was all those years ago. Cameras and floodlights surrounding the water, journalists with pads and pens at the ready, watching and Sammy looking on, deadpan. Sadly, she was discovered drowned at the bottom of the pool. One last story to put out, then it was finished.

However, we doubled the gates that year! After that, I left, irked by the jealousy of the older ladies in the office – but in something of a blaze of glory and off I went to London to try something completely different.

As we all know, George Mottershead’s zoo continues to go from strength to strength. I am very proud to have played a small part in that."

Carmella De Lucia reflects on the debut episode of BBC1's Our Zoo

‘Absolutely brilliant’, ‘loved it’ and ‘best thing I’ve seen on telly for ages’ were just some of the rave reviews the people of Chester gave to Our Zoo after its first airing on primetime TV last week.

Viewers loved the fact a story so close to home had been retold for the rest of the world to see, and even the usually hard-to-please critics gave it the thumbs up.

‘It’s hard not to like this sentimental, animal-happy period drama, full of familiar characters,’ wrote Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian. ‘I found myself rooting for George’s idealism, scoffing at his cynical mother and hoping they wouldn’t shoot the monkey.’

The Telegraph gave it 4/5 stars, describing it as ‘winningly warm, with heaps of charm, lump-in-throat moments and adorable wildlife’, while The Independent said it was ‘different enough to be interesting’.

There were only a few small criticisms, mainly from Chester residents complaining there wasn’t a true Cheshire accent to be heard in the show.

Despite the Mottersheads originally coming from Shavington near Crewe, the majority of the Our Zoo cast appear to speak with strong Lancashire dialects. Others asked why the BBC chose to air it at the watershed time of 9pm, and why none of the drama was filmed in Chester itself.

But although you won’t spot the city in any of the series, you may still be able to spot a familiar sight or two, since the production teams used several key filming locations around Cheshire.

Walton Hall in Warrington was used as the exterior of the stately home Oakfield Manor, which became the Mottershead family’s new home as they left Crewe for their new life. Other filming locations you might recognise throughout the series are Rochdale Town Hall, Lyme Park and Stockport Town Hall which doubled as Chester’s council offices. Scenes were also shot at the caves in Frodsham, at the church on the Arley Estate, Great Budworth and The Swan with Two Necks in Stockport.

Generally, the debut showing of Our Zoo can be hailed a great success, and that’s set to continue in the next few weeks, as we see George get injured attempting to rescue a bear, face the wrath of the local press and the Upton community rallying together to conspire against the Mottersheads.

The second episode of the six-part miniseries Our Zoo airs on BBC1 tonight at 9pm.

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