THE excitement is building at Upton Heath Primary School as 30 children from the school choir tune up for the Queen’s first ever visit to Chester Zoo today.
Speaking yesterday, in advance of the visit by the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, choir co-ordinator Catherine Gibbs said: “The children are extremely excited. We’ve had a practice every day at school and the children have been practising at home, singing to their parents, their grandparents and even the milkman if he’d listen!”
The youngsters, from Years 2-5, will sing songs with an African theme, including the Zulu song Siyahamba (We Are Marching), at the rhino enclosure after the official opening of the zoo’s new £2m Diamond Jubilee Quarter at about 10am.
Miss Gibbs added: “It is such an honour to be asked to sing in front of the Queen and I know the children will do the school proud.”
Other performers include dancers from the Sanjhi Indian Association of Chester.
Junior members of the zoo Krisztian (Kit) Nemeth, 13, of Chester, Lloyd Antrobus, 16, of Alltami and Sara Lloyd, a student of Reaseheath College, will demonstrate the making of a chilli fence – a technique used in the zoo’s conservation programme in Assam.
Hundreds of well wishers are expected to pack the car park at the tourist attraction in the hope of catching a glimpse of the monarch when she and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive as part of the nationwide Diamond Jubilee tour.
The royal couple will be the first people through the zoo’s new Diamond Jubilee gates after the Queen hax officially opened the new quarter and they will take a trip on the zoo’s monorail, which will be wrapped in a Union Flag for the occasion.
The Queen will also visit the rhino enclosure, accompanied by the zoo’s director general Dr Mark Pilgrim, whilst Prince Philip, accompanied by managing director Barbara Smith, will view the elephant enclosure.
Dr Pilgrim’s nine-year-old daughter Ruby will have the honour of handing the Queen flowers.
Community groups including soldiers from the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 14 local Olympic torch bearers, representatives from the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Hospice of the Good Shepherd, Bank of America volunteers, and Ellesmere Port air cadets will join pupils from Upton High School, Mill View and Acresfield primary schools and schools from Blacon and Ellesmere Port, who have all been invited to the zoo for the occasion.
Barbara Smith said: “We are very much looking forward to the visit by the Queen and the Duke and we will have thousands of people, including some of our members, celebrating with us.
“We also appreciate that some people may not be able to make it on the day and to thank them for their support and to enable them to share in this special occasion, we will be broadcasting live on our website.
“This is the first time we will have streamed an event of this kind live.”
Chester Zoo’s new £2m gateway to conservation means that for the first time in its 80-year history, the zoo’s main entrance – the Diamond Jubilee Quarter – will be a public space where people can meet without going into the zoo.
Dr Pilgrim said: “The Diamond Jubilee Quarter marks the start of a new, exciting period for Chester Zoo which will see significant development and change.
“To have Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh join us on this most special of days and in Her Majesty’s special year is fantastic and a wonderful testament to what we are achieving through our passionate and dedicated staff. We are very much looking forward to this wonderful celebration.
“The Diamond Jubilee Quarter is aptly named and brings a sense of community as it is the first zoo public space. This event will be a celebration of this as we unite the zoo, our neighbours and local communities to mark the occasion.”
The quarter includes a new retail complex and coffee shop with sculptures of an Asian elephant, Rothschild giraffe and black rhino by Cumbrian sculpture Chris Bramall.
During their visit, the royal couple will meet key zoo staff and representatives from the zoo’s in-field conservation work. The Queen will also meet some of the zoo’s 12,000 junior members and education presenters during her tour of the black rhino exhibit.
“The opening of the quarter is the first phase of our Natural Vision project which will be closely followed by the development of Islands, a £30 million conservation expedition which will see us develop the islands of the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Bali, Sumatra, Sumba and Sulawesi right here in the heart of Cheshire,” added Dr Pilgrim.
The Duke of Edinburgh last visited Chester Zoo on April 24, 1972, to open the lecture theatre. On that occasion, young aquarium keeper Mike Crumpler was served a cup of tea by Prince Philip.
Mike, the longest serving member of staff at the zoo with 45 years’ service under his belt, has been chosen to help the Queen open the Jubilee gates.
The visit will be streamed live on www.chesterzoo.org and on Cheshire West and Chester Council’s homepage www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk. You will also be able to connect to the link from our website – www.chesterchronicle.co.uk
Visit www.chesterchronicle.co.uk for an online gallery of reader photographs from the royal visit. If you are at the zoo, don’t forget to tell us all about the day via Twitter @ChesterChron or on our Chester Chronicle Facebook page.
