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Is there truth behind the Bristol Zoo parking attendant myth?
For 25 years, a man worked as an attendant at Bristol Zoo’s car park, collecting £1 for every car parked.
One day, he didn’t show up for work and the zoo asked Bristol City Council, who they thought the man was employed by, where he was.
But the council didn’t employ anyone for the role as the car park belonged to the zoo.
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Instead, the enterprising individual running the car park had made enough money to retire abroad.
It’s a well-known tale, circulating by word of mouth and, in more recent years, via social media.
However, it now seems that there could be truth to the urban myth.
Downs for People, the campaign group protesting against parking on the Downs made a surprise discovery when doing research in the Bristol Archives.
The group were conducting research for their upcoming court case regarding parking on the green space. In August 2020, it was found that the Society of Merchant Venturers granted a licence to Bristol City Council and Bristol City Council granted a sub-licence to the zoo. The Downs Committee approved the grant of a licence.
Bristol Zoo has permission for overflow car parking on an area of the Downs off Ladies Mile. Photo: Downs for People
The group is now preparing for a legal battle against Bristol City Council and the Downs Committee, with the Society of Merchant Venturers and the Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society named as interested parties.
Although the circumstances may not have been ideal, the investigation of Bristol Archives has shone light on the case of the zoo attendant.
“The failure to provide properly for zoo visitors arriving by car goes back a century, to the 1920s,” says Susan Carter, a member of Downs for People. “For almost 30 years, from 1958 until the mid-1980s, and quite likely for 30 years before that, people were able to make their living as parking attendants, collecting ‘voluntary’ donations from motorists parking on rough ground outside the zoo.”
But the group has found a name: Mr S W Barrett of 35 Westbury Lane, who supervised parking from 1978, issued tickets at the zoo’s car park. He introduced his own tickets, which included the words “unpaid attendant “.
The Downs Committee must have realised this was a way of encouraging tips, as the Committee’s minutes explain, ” it is understood that the motorist is never asked to make a donation.”
The group are encouraging Barrett of his relatives to come to the group to tell more of the story. He introduced his own tickets, which included the words “unpaid attendant “.
It is not clear when the system of voluntary donations ended but, by 1982, the Downs Committee were receiving complaints that donations were being requested and one of their proposed solutions was to allow the attendant “to make a hired charge per vehicle for his services” with “the amount to be agreed between the Committee, the attendant and the zoo”.
From 1983 onwards the zoo paid a licence fee and became responsible for the car park and attendants started wearing uniform in 1988, when a system of parking stickers was introduced.
The Clifton site will close by 2022 but Downs for People are still taking Bristol City Council and the Downs Committee to court, with Downs for People facing a bill of at least £30,000 if it wins and £45,000 if it loses.
“Although closure will bring an end to zoo parking on the Downs, Downs for People remains very concerned,” the group say. “The city council and the Downs Committee do not agree that parking on the Downs is lawful only when related to activity on the Downs.
“They argue that they have a power to use any part of the Downs as a car park at their discretion. Downs for People is worried about that. And what is to happen to the North car park?
“This should be restored and go back to the Downs. Downs for People is concerned the Downs Committee may have other plans for the site.”
The court is expected to decide in February whether to grant permission for the case to proceed. If permission is granted, the case will go to a substantive hearing later in 2021.
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: ‘The Downs should not be the subject of secret deals behind closed doors’
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