Newham City Farm and Plashet Zoo employees

Following a series of break-ins, LB Newham was no longer able to justify the costs of keeping Plashet Zoo secure, the Zoo closed and the animals were transferred to Newham City Farm on the Beckton and Custom House border.

Several employees worked across both Plashet Zoo and Newham City Farm. Bill Sanderson – Head of Play Services within LB Newham Leisure Services, Jill Cameron – Play Services, Reg Evans – Plashet Zoo and Newham City Farm employee and Jenny Mwangura – HR Officer for Play Services all have entertaining tales to tell some of which can be read or heard in these extracts.

Reg Evans worked predominantly at Plashet Zoo. He loaned this treasured photo to the “Straight from the Horse’s Mouth” project. It shows him driving a trap pulled by Joe, a horse which came to Plashet Zoo from Newham City Farm. Reg and Joe would give cart rides around Plashet Park but ever enterprising Reg also used to offer the opportunty for newly weds leaving the Passmore Edwards Registry Office to have their photo taken seated in the cart in exchange for a a donation to Plashet Zoo.