English Rose Hotels

Set amongst the woodland of Dorset lays 65 acres of sanctuary for over 240 primates. Monkey World was set up in 1987 by Jim Cronin to provide abused Spanish beach chimps with a permanent, stable home. Today Monkey World works in conjunction with foreign governments from all over the world to stop the illegal smuggling of apes out of Africa and Asia. At the park visitors can see more than 240 primates of 15 different species.

There are currently 60 chimpanzees at Monkey World, which makes it the largest group outside Africa. Monkey World has rescued chimps from Spain, Greece, France, England, Austria, The Netherlands, Israel, Cyprus, Dubai, Mexico and Taiwan where they were being used and/or abused in laboratories, as exotic pets, as photographer’s props, or as circus animals. Their exact histories vary, but the majority of them share part of the same story. Born in Africa chimps are taken from their family groups as youngsters. Poaching expeditions for bush meat and the capture of young animals results in the slaughter of adults as they try and defend their babies and extended family. It is estimated that the removal of one infant will result in the death of up to ten other chimpanzees. The young animals are smuggled out of Africa and then sold illegally abroad.

In the case of Spanish beach chimps, they are dressed up in human clothes and worked in tourist resorts, often for 16 hours per day as a photographer’s prop. When the chimpanzees reach 4 or 5 years of age they become uncontrollable and are usually killed in order to be replaced with a new baby chimp. Some photographers will try and control their chimps by beating them and pulling their teeth out and/or putting them on drugs. Monkey World in co-operation with Spanish authorities confiscates all known beach chimpanzees. New arrivals are given a full medical check and such examinations often reveal serious injuries such as machete wounds and broken bones. Many of the chimps come to us addicted to drugs. Recovery and rehabilitation is a lengthy process with many of the animals suffering from malnutrition and anaemia.

At Monkey World we rehabilitate the chimps into large social groups but we keep the females on birth control. There are still many chimps that need rescuing and for this reason we do not allow our animals to breed in order that we have the space and funding to rescue others. At present there are 4 groups of chimps at the park; two groups of 20, one of 15 and a nursery group of 5. Each group is given at least 1 hectare of land.

Monkey World is also working in Asia with the Pingtung Rescue Centre for Endangered Wild Animals to try to stop the smuggling of gibbons and orangutans from the wild. We are also conducting undercover surveys of the illegal pet trade in South East Asia.

On site there is a hospital and operating theatre where most of the medical examination and operations on the chimps and monkeys are performed. While we have a local vet and a specialist primate vet, the staff at Monkey World are recognised as experts in primate rehabilitation and health. We also bring in specialists as needed such as paediatricians, dentists, ear, nose and throat surgeons, ophthalmic specialists, and gynaecologists.

Our costs of providing quality and continuing care are high. We operate an adoption scheme to assist in our fund raising, which includes free admission to the park for one year. Our work can only continue with the assistance of our supporters and visitors.

Kingston Maurward House near Dorchester, was built between 1717 and 1720 for George Pitt. Eighteen years earlier Pitt had married Laura, the last of the Greys, who lived in the Elizabethan Manor House at Kingston Maurward. The Greys had owned the Estate for many generations, acquiring it through marriage, from the Maurwards who were the ancient Lords of the area.

Thomas Hardy who lived in the nearby village of Lower Bockhampton was a frequent visitor as a boy during the mid 1800’s and he later referred to Kingston Maurward House as “Knapwater House” in his novel Desperate Remedies. Hardy’s cottage which is owned by the National Trust is located near by.

Between 1918 and 1920 the formal gardens to the west of the mansion were laid out by the Hanbury family, who also owned La Mortola in Italy.

The gardens have undergone extensive restoration since 1990 and are now open to the public all year round, along with the animal park.

Today the Visitor Centre provides information on the Gardens, Animals and the Wildlife that you can look out for in the grounds. The shop sells a wide selection of small gifts and plants.

The farm has been in the family for 3 generations now, farmed by David Palmer all of his life. Lets take a step back and look at the history:

Grandfather William Palmer used to run the Bakery in Organford which is now the Tea Rooms. When he retired in 1956 he bought Organford Dairy Farm, the same year that David (our Dad) qualified from Kingston Maurward’s Agricultural College in Dorchester. When Grandfather fell ill David took over farming 250 acres.

The farm was principally a dairy farm which milked 110 cows and could boast that no outside cows came onto the farm since 1956. Our father worked very hard, 7 days a week making hay, growing corn, maize, silage and market garden vegetables which he sold locally in Wareham. As a child I can always remember visiting him (mum would take him tea & sandwiches) when he was busy making hay bales in the fields in the height of summer.

Farming has become so hard, there is so much more paperwork (all of the cows have to have their own passports) and so little money. In September 1999 he decided to sell the dairy herd to a local family of dairy farmers.

This was two years after Phillip came up with the idea of turning the farm into a visitor attraction for children & their families. It is wonderful that we have been able to keep the farm in the family although diversification was the only way to keep the land & family together.

Dalby Forest is situated on the southern slopes of the North York Moors National Park. The southern part of the forest is divided by a number of valleys creating a ‘Rigg and Dale’ landscape.

Although comprising mostly pines and spruces there are many broadleaf trees such as oak, beech, ash, alder and hazel both in the valleys and on the ‘Riggs’. Clear streams arising in springs run north and south out of the forest. A lake has been created at Staindale.

The forest is a home for birds such as the crossbill and that elusive summer visitor the nightjar. Roe deer and badgers, the symbol of the forest, are a very common but nocturnal resident.

The signs of past settlers are all around. Burial mounds, linear earthworks of unknown purpose and the remains of a flourishing rabbit warrening industry can be found throughout the wood.

A network of forest roads including the 9 mile Dalby Forest Drive provide access to this outstanding landscape. Formed in the Ice Age and shaped by the people from the Bronze Age to the present day, Dalby is very much a forest worth visiting.

Dalby Forest Opening Hours:
The forest is open daily from 7.30am to 8pm.
The Visitor Centre is open daily from 10am to 4.30pm (hours extended during summer months).

Dalby Forest Tree Tops Restaurant

Tree Tops is the on-site restaurant at Dalby Forest and offers a diverse menu of hot and cold meals and snacks. The restaurant can also cater for parties and meetings.

The tree Tops Restaurant is the perfect place to watch the world go by and enjoy good quality and locally sourced food.