Innovative Leisure has installed DigiWall in many locations so far, including an aquarium, a farm park, a family entertainment centre and now a zoo. The diversity of the interactive climbing wall is undeniable and this latest installation could be its most wild yet.
Manor House Wildlife Park, close to the Pembrokeshire town of Tenby is owned by television presenter Anna Ryder Richardson and her husband Colin McDougall. The couple, along with their two daughters are living the dream of owning and operating their own zoo. With many popular attractions such as rhinos, meerkats and visitor’s favourite Steve and Lisa the Gibbons, the park decided to start adding attractions aside from new animals. With a hay-play barn with room to spare, owner Colin spotted DigiWall at 2012’s EAG Show and had been curious of the product for a while. A few months down the line he had agreed to purchase a six panel model for the zoo which would take pride of place within the barn.
Enter early February and a five hour mission for Team Innovative takes them to deepest darkest Wales and to the idyllic Manor House. Arriving in the pitch dark we were directed by Colin to drive straight into the zoo where we would find our accommodation. As it happens, the family had decided to vacate their cabin on the grounds to allow us to stay on site. Team Innovative had never stayed anywhere so amazing. Initial fears that the parks rhinos would charge the side of the wooden cabin in the early hours soon dissipated as we realised staying in a zoo was quite something.
On day one we awoke to the sound of Macaws and other such exotic species, something we would grow to enjoy and miss upon our return to Leicester. With the install under way it was not unusual to find numerous peacocks introducing themselves to us, the newcomers to the zoo, by pecking at our tools. On one trip back to the cabin in search of tea we encountered two stray pigs, the parks keepers had been struggling to contain in their pen. The escapologist swines were also interested in making the acquaintances of Team Innovative, something we enjoyed.
The install itself took around four days due to light constraints in the barn. Its position directly below the stars meant when the sun stopped shining we had to stop working as visibility became difficult. A slightly longer than anticipated install however enabled us to finish the job to our usual high standard and to make sure Colin and his team knew how to operate DigiWall both safely and efficiently. We wish Manor House Wildlife Park the very best with its new DigiWall and we hope it achieves its intended effect of offering visitors something fun and interactive aside from meeting their fantastic residents.
Written by Kier Lymn – Part of the Innovative Leisure Marketing Team.