Peak District Sunday June 6th 2010

Sunday June 6th - Monkey Forest

Okay, today we decided to take a bit of a break from walking.
As well as that it was our 12th wedding anniversary, so we decided to take a trip to Stoke-On-Trent and the Emma Bridgewater Pottery. Sue already has some mugs from there and so hoped to pick some bargains up at the factory shop.

http://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/

We had also seen on a leaflet the Monkey Forest at Trentham Gardens nearby to Stoke, so it looked like a good day, the pottery in morning and then monkeys in the afternoon.

http://www.trentham-monkey-forest.com/information.php?id_cat=1

http://www.trentham.co.uk/

We eventually found the pottery after the satnav postcode took us nearby, but not quite near enough. We expected a more industrial estate area, but it was just off a main road in a small cul-de-sac/parking area. Still, Sue found a few reductions in the factory shop and a few full priced mugs to buy. With that done, we left for the monkeys......

Again, we had a similar problem with the satnav postcode taking us nearby (Trentham Estate golf course) - who's the monkeys?

Went back to the main road, found some signs which took us there. We heard other people complaining too that their satnavs had sent them the wrong way - tip, follow the road signs!

Price was reasonable at £6.50 each (though double this if you wish to visit the gardens - we did not that day as not enough time).

There is a cafe serving food/drinks, a small cinema showing a fim about the monkeys, and then the forest walk itself. The monkeys are all allowed to wander freely, the forest area has a fence all the way around, and entry is via strict staff manned main gateway. A few rules re not taking food into the main enclosure and children are told not to run/ make too much noise.

Once in, you are free to wander around the pathways in a very picturesque setting, the monkeys ( and there are plenty of them!!) are very close to the walkways and wander across the paths in front of you from time to time. The monkeys are all Barbary Macaques (about 140 of them).


There were several staff around so you can ask questions, though they all seemed quite keen to tell you about certain aspects and general information anyway.
The beaming fellow below looks almost cartoon like, and there are plenty of antics to observe, as well as a few young, and it was interesting to see how the parents looked after the babies.

We spent about two hours or so there, though I guess you could spend a little longer, but it's more of a short day out, unless you visit the gardens which I am guessing could make a full day.

We left impressed, and onward to a new B&B, The Samuel Fox Inn at Bradwell.