THE former chief executive of the Welsh Mountain Zoo reflected on years gone by and made mention of his late father as the site marked 60 years.
The Welsh Mountain Zoo marked the milestone on Thursday, May 18, with a special celebration event - which involved a speech and tours for invited guests - and discounted entry over the weekend.
The zoo began in 1962 when Robert Jackson, his wife Margaret and their three sons, moved from their home in Cheshire to Colwyn Bay and, through the coldest winter in living memory, started building what was then named the Welsh Mountain Zoo and Botanic Gardens.
The attraction was opened by Robert and the mayor of Colwyn Bay on May 18, 1963.
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In an interview with the Pioneer, Nick Jackson, former chief executive of the Welsh Mountain Zoo, part of the founder family [Robert was Nick's father] and now member of the board of trustees, said: "Today [Thursday, May 18] is absolutely fantastic. It is a very special day. 60 years is a long time in anybody's book.
"We have survived through some of the things we have had to go through over the years, not at least covid of course. We have developed. All the ambitions we have achieved, still lots to do of course and I often think of my father who sadly died in 1969 looking down and saying, 'yes you are still here 60 years later' - that has got to be an achievement."
Talking about his earliest memory, Nick said: "Through the coldest winter [1962 / 1963] when the work started to build the zoo, my father and his team, it was really frozen. There was even ice in the sea, it was that cold.
"Through that winter, my father built the zoo and I can remember that I was a youngster of 13 or 14 years and I did my best to assist in that process.
"I remember the opening day, very vividly. There must have been a lot of stress for my mother and father but they didn't pass it on to myself and my two brothers.
"I remember it being a very successful day but there would have been difficulties."
Nick joined the family business in 1970.
"We knew that my father's ambition was to form a charity," Nick said.
"To give it a life beyond the family.
"We eventually achieved that in 1983 when the zoological society was formed."
Talking about some of the highlights over the years, Nick made reference to some of the achievements in terms of breeding such as Australian wedge-tailed eagles and American bald-eagles.
"Things we don't have now but we achieved breeding success with," Nick added.
"And then of course chimpanzees, sea lions and the highlights for me are rearing Tuppence the chimpanzee and Jake the Gibon. They are both still here in the zoo, all these years later. They are memories I will treasure for the rest of my life, rearing those animals and getting them back in the zoo. Not turning them into little people at home, but getting them back in the zoo and living with their own kind as part of breeding programmes."
Tuppence was hand reared by Nick when she was rejected by her mum as an infant. She came to live with Nick and his family for the first two years of her life.
She is mum to Dalasi, Jessie and Nickel (Nickel moved to Ravenna Zoo).
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