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June was only four years old when her father founded Chester Zoo and still clearly remembers growing up alongside the exotic animals.

The animals were like family pets

After starting a bird collection in Crewe, her father George Mottershead moved his family to Chester and in 1931 the zoo was founded.

Struggling against considerable local opposition the family run zoo persisted and went on to create what is now one of the world's top zoos.

"It was a big struggle to start the zoo" said June, now 82. "The rural district council wouldn't let the zoo open. There was a public enquiry at Chester Town Hall".

After a few months and a series of inspections the zoo was finally given the go ahead but no advertising or road signs directing people to the site were allowed.

It didn’t stop the family however who were determined to allow visitors access to the animals.

"My Grandfather looked after the gardens, my Grandmother looked after the pay boxes. Mother did all the catering and looked after the animals and my Father was the businessman".

“We lived with the animals, they were pets more or less. Lion cubs, chimps, free flying birds wandered around the zoo”.

June with one of her father's birds

The animals at the zoo had come from a number of sources as June recalls.
“Lewis’ department store sold animals on the top floor and when they got too large they sold them to us”.

Animals were also brought in on ships to the docks at Liverpool. “People used to buy the animals as pets and when they got too large they wanted to give them to someone”.

June’s father George had always dreamed of breeding elephants at the site and June recalls the elephants arriving at Chester railway station as 'war refugees'.

June, aged 14, walked them from the station through Chester city centre to the zoo. The elephants went on to breed and the first elephant in Britain was born at the zoo.

“There is nothing quite as thrilling as breeding animals because they are happy and in the right environment. It was a great thrill when the first elephant was born at Chester”

June has spent the last 10 years gathering information and photographs of the zoo and has worked closely with local Cheshire writer Janice Madden to produce the book ‘Reared in Chester Zoo’. She wants to make sure that the very difficult early years of the family run zoo are not forgotten.