I remember going there as a kid in the 70's, used to love it, as you walked in the main gates, the water chute was the first thing I remember seeing, then we did the zoo, as kids we were enthralled by it, but looking back I now see how horrendous it was for those poor animals, there were several bear pits, animals who in the wild would roam for miles looking after their cubs, stuck in these concrete pits, we used to laugh at them rocking their heads in figure of 8 movements, not realising that this was a severe mental reaction to the depression caused by being in such a closed area. another one was the elephants on that tiny lump of concrete
. Then you went to the fair part of it, we always had a ride on the on the caterpillar (this was actually a fairground ride, not another case of animal cruelty.) there was actually something you could win a prize every time, there were a load of upturned metal cups, each one had a string attached, then you had to pull a string that lifted a cup, you won what was underneath, imagine kids today getting excited by that.