Once a familiar site near the waterfront, the Royal Floral Hall was a place for wildlife and nature to flourish.
The Hall opened on May 14, 1959 at a cost of £21,000, and had been visited by more than a million people in its first three years.
When a heating system was installed in the winter of 1960-61, it was possible to grow a wider range of plants, with an array of flora and fauna adorning the Hall’s garden.
A variety of tropical and foreign birds also found homes there, enjoying free flight.
On June 8, 1960 the Hall was visited by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, after which it adopted the name Royal Floral Hall.
After later passing into the hands of private ownership and becoming the ‘Butterfly Jungle’, the building was sadly demolished in the early 1990s, never to return.
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