HOME FORUMS PBASE KIDS CONTACT US MICK EDWARDS early EDDY POWELL SONIA REILLY TAXIMAN early TAXIMAN mid TAXIMAN late TAXIMAN final Terry Bobrowicz "Crew" of 76 Terry Bobrowicz Poolside STOCKLIST 1992 GO WILD GO WINDSOR QUICK QUIZ HOME FORUMS PBASE KIDS CONTACT US MICK EDWARDS early EDDY POWELL SONIA REILLY TAXIMAN early TAXIMAN mid TAXIMAN late TAXIMAN final Terry Bobrowicz "Crew" of 76 Terry Bobrowicz Poolside STOCKLIST 1992 GO WILD GO WINDSOR QUICK QUIZ

Terry Bobrowicz's       P o o l     S i d e CONTACT US       FORUMS       PBASE Welcome to the new home for Windsor Safari Park - resited in the summer of 2008 after five years with fasthosts Okay, now we are somewhere else so I recommend that you look to your left at the left hand column menu. This lists the premier areas of the site and if you have any Windsor Safari photos up your sleeve, particularly the Safari Vehicles on site and the Park 1982 - 1992 then PLEASE contact us with your photos!! If you're browsing this page then you must have a good reason to do so! I, presume that it's not just our pretty faces or that you were looking for whale meat in sushi bar? Well then, you must be interested in either, Windsor Safari Park, or more importantly, the animals that we were once privileged to worked with. Which brings us nicely, to the first two shots of the Windsor Safari Park, "Pool Side" page. Ask yourself this... why, oh why! would any one, be daft enough to stick their head in that awesome killer whale's mouth, full of 100 very sharp teeth, for a measly £16.98 a week? Even in those far off days of the seventies, this wage was a pittance. I can remember that I lived on Bachelors packet soup and bread for my first week at the Park, until the other lads showed me the ropes. This generally meant sucking up to the cashier in the Cafeteria, and raiding the "Animal" kitchens, for any fruit or veg. It is true we did live rent free, and I was lucky enough to be billeted in a 1940's trailer with carrier bags stuffed in a gaping rip in the roof to keep the rain out, no lock on the door, no light, and no electricity. I was very lucky really, being a fledgling animal keeper, and wanting to be around animals, I was also given the opportunity of having them around me at night to keep me company, rats! That is. I did get used to them scurrying around. Though I drew the line, when one wanted to get in bed with me one night. Can you imagine, trying to fry eggs over a plate full of candles, believe me it can be done, but if you are mad enough to try it, it will take you about three quarters of an hour to do so, and I really did feel "very" lucky when I saw some of the other guys' accommodation. So why the hard luck story? It's to give you, the browser an idea of what it "really" took back then, to work with animals at the Park. The Park, the dolphinariam and my life were inhabited with wonderful, dedicated people that took poor pay, poor accommodation and dangerous working conditions in their stride. We the people of the Park did this for the same reasons that you are looking at this page. "You" have something in common with all of us that worked in that magical place, "We all love animals", and if that is "REALLY" true, no matter the teeth, no electric and Bachelors packet soup. Such a small price to pay for such a full heart of wonderment and memories. Please do read our "Forum" pages, to see who we were and what we're about, join in, we would love to have you. After all you're an animal lover too, aren't you? Terry Bobrowicz's Personal Gallery Did you know that Tez has uploaded many of his best photos from the golden era of Windsor Safari Park? • View the photos in full size, see Tez's comments • Add comments of YOUR OWN to the photos • Rate the photos • Start your own gallery! 1981: Honey and Dinky at Windsor Safari Park On the 11th of September, 1981 on the 12 noon show Honey decided that she was not going to do that particular show, and just for once the crew and I did not mind one jot. For weeks we had been observing Honey very closely as she was pregnant. Unfortunately, back in 79 she had lost her first baby at birth, and this time we had left nothing to chance. Like four expectant fathers, the pool was paced every day and night, we would become concerned, agitated and fussed over every little thing that was happening in and around the pool. Every night during the last few days of the pregnancy, almost every guy that worked in the Dolphinariam, and a lot that didn't, would casually wander in to the office "just to see like, I was just passing!". each pretending not to be concerned at all, and trying very hard not to look too soft. We had a big crowd in on that show, about eight hundred in all. We politely explained that we would now have to stop the show, but if anyone wanted to stay and see a dolphin giving birth, they would be welcome to share the experience with us, we said that as there was no show we would refund any that wanted. To our delight most of the audience "did" want to see the miracle of life unfold before them. Surprisingly about six families "did" demand there £1.00 refund, one dad of two even told us that it was an outrage that he had come all this way etc; etc; Totally unbelievable. << Honey and Dinky on the 11th of September 1981 The birth took just under an hour, and one of the crew gave a running commentary on what was happening in the pool. At 12.55, the baby, "Dinky" entered our world, we had warned the audience that it is indeed very rare to have a "live" birth, we were trying to prepare them if it all went wrong. Windsor Safari Park LATEST       VIDEOS       SITEMAP Windsor Safari Park .ORG.UK has been running since 2003 The site has seen 150 people join since the start and many friendships have been renewed and memories shared. We are still on the look out for new members even now so PLEASE JOIN US, tell us your stories and upload your photos!

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Cheers and whoops of joy went up and everyone crowded around the poolside to peek a glimpse. Dinky had arrived, and was alive, and five dolphin guys shook hands and beamed with laughter, dam if we had had cigars, we would of smoked them, we did crack open the bottle of champers we were keeping though and all save the night "duty crew" got very, very, very drunk that night.

The press and TV came running for a good story and they got one, and we revelled in the publicity, it was marred a little, as the next day London zoo announced that their panda was regent, we thought this to be sour grapes, just trying to keep their takings up, and nothing was ever heard of it again. No surprises there then?






Knowing that a baby dolphin had been born was one thing, but for us guys it was wonderful, not just because we loved our animals, but also it gave us a very real chance to observe our animals close up in a very rare situation.

After all we were not just animal lovers but "animal keepers" with a keen interest in animal behaviours and we saw things that few humans ever get the chance to see.

John Child cartoons!        LOG ONTO HIS SITE RIGHT HERE for more cartoons and to contact him         view his thread!

We had trained all of our animals to seek out and bring to the Pad (Stage) any thing that they found in the pool.

Just imagine an innocent thing like a crisp packet blowing around in the wind. To us this was a danger, if swallowed by one of our charges, it could be fatal.

This was true of any thing "foreign" that ended up in the water. Now dolphins being crafty critters would at times bring to one of us a stone that they had found, for example, and we would reward them always, with a juicy fish morsel, and so the danger was removed.

Now, there we are in the middle of the show and one of them didn't want to do some show behaviour. We would give the discipline hand signal and not give them a fish.

Like I said crafty critters, they then would go down to there little stash of stones and bring one to the surface, whereby the presenter would have no choice but to give them a fish for bringing back something that could be dangerous, and thus, firmly giving us, the dolphin equivalent of two fingers.

We left Honey in the pool with Dinky over night and the next day allowed Angie into the pool with some anxiety on our part, not fully knowing the outcome. To our surprise the first thing that Angie did was to swim over to Honey and nuzzle her gently, we presumed that this was a comfort or reassurance gesture? The second thing astonished all of us. She started to clear the bottom of the pool for anything that looked remotely as though it shouldn't be there, and instead of bringing it to us, she put all that she found down the main filter inlet at the bottom of the pool, where it was sucked away never to be seen again. The big surprise if you think about this is, that Angie could have had exchanged these items for a reward, but she knew, as well as us, what a danger these seeming innocent stones could be to the baby, and she, obviously wanted them gone for good. One by one, we let a dolphin join Honey and Dinky in the main pool, each in turn amazed us with behaviours we had never witnessed before. They schooled around the pool flanking and protecting Dinky, they fused and looked after him like uncles and aunts, they, including the males, showed great tenderness and carried out their watch over him continuously and constantly.

Dinky and Winnie, our killer whale, were never in the same pool at any time, yet even she showed affection and would take fish from us and then push it through the bars of the pool gate for the dolphins, somehow she too showed concern, totally at odds with how we see killers in the wild! We learnt more than just "Animal behaviour" during that time in the dolphinariam, we learnt that animals, care, show kindness and have affection and love. So how is it then that we humans keep finding it so difficult to do?

Now this is just very silly, who would believe that dolphins, in this case Honey (always showing off to the camera) and Lulu, trying to keep the wet off when it's raining. "You're already wet lady's" OK for all you clever folk out there.... This shot was taken back in 1974, and if you look closely you can see that it actually was raining, but how did we get honey to hold the umbrella while the shot was being taken? If you think you know why not tell us your thoughts in our "FORUM" pages, we would love to have your comments on this picture, and just about anything else on our web site. We promise you will meet lots of really nice folk that would be glad to chat.

In the spring of 75 when I joined the dolphinariam crew, Gary Smart the park director had put a ban on anyone attempting to get in the pool with Ramu our killer whale (Orcinus Orca).

Prior to my arrival there had been an incident with him and the previous trainer Doug Cartridge. No one much wanted to talk to be about it as, being a "Rookie" no one knew if I could be trusted not to talk to the press about the incident. Eventually I got to hear rumors that Doug had had his leg broken by Ramu while doing a show ride. It made me realise quite early in my now job that this was not a "fluffy bunny" line of work, and it also made me realise just how close-knit and dedicated the park staff where. No one as far as I know ever did tell the press, this would have brought the wrong kind of publicity to the park and dolphinariam.

As time went by I was slowly eased into presenting the show. But was not allowed to work Ramu until I had had several months of show presenting behind me.

Gary would often call in to the dolphinariam to see how I was progressing, among other things. One day in-between shows Gary and I were talking on the Pad (Stage) and Ramu was just fooling about in front of us when he rolled over onto his back and floated there with his belly exposed.

"You know" said Gary, "when he does that I have always thought it a good idea to end the whale show by walking out onto Ramu, as he is now, and take a bow". We both agreed that, that really would be a spectacular way to end the show.

Gary's enthusiasm for "showmanship" was infectious, and I always took note on such points, I guess it's in the blood when you come from a traditional circus family?

At about this time a professional trainer (something I was not) was hired for the dolphinariam his name was Wayne. He was a pipe smoking New Zealander and had a good deal of experience from dolphinariam around the world. And needless to say Gary started to come up to the dolphinariam several times each day just to keep an eye on things. He had decided to put the whale ride back into the show again and for safety he alone would do the water and ride work with Ramu.

After some time when he thought it safe again, he allowed Wayne and me to do the same. The first time he put me in the water with Ramu I can truthfully say, that I thought it would be a real great idea to work for Tescos instead. Gary was an ex paratrooper and had a "Gung ho" attitude to danger and he soon made it clear that I should be more frightened of him than the whale. "Gert, yah bloody great wimp, just dive in man, just F****** well do it.

On that day unsuspected by Gary I adopted his "Gung ho" approach and it served me well in all sorts of situations ever since. Its not being brave it just feels better to face adversity than be frightened of it. As time went by Gary tried several times to nail that "walk out and bow" behaviour, but he just never had time to give it what was needed. As time went by Wayne and I took up where Gary left off. It was a difficult behaviour to train as when Ramu was upside down in the water, so was his blow hole, and although killers can hold their breath for 20 minutes or so, Ramu was inclined to be impatient and Wayne or I would end up in the water.

One day during a training session, Ramu rolled over belly up, parallel to the pad, and I gingerly stepped on him to see if he would take my weight and he did and then started to move forward. Wayne blow his training whistle and with that Ramu took off!!

<< Ramu and Tez were a great double act

<< plenty of stripey toothpaste there Tez please !!

As he did I grabbed his pictorial fins, either side of me to steady myself and to our complete astonishment I was doing a tour of the pool, he ditched me about three quarters of the way round and started fooling about as usual.

As time went by Wayne and I refined this new behaviour into a full blown ride and the climax would be, to let go of his fins and ride him as a surfer would a board.

As far as I know this was a first for our dolphinariam, no one until then, had seen it before, and it was included regularly in the shows. Although the "Surfboard ride" was a success in itself, I was always a little disappointed, it would have been nice just to do the "walk out and bow" as Gary had intended, after all, he showed me how, and he deserved a lot more credit than he ever got. He was a tough Para, and had tough discipline, but he made the Park, and the men that worked it, into a very special place.

Thanks Gary!!!

passengers by day, cargo by night!

Transporting dolphins and killer whales (or any animal come to that) from one place to an other sounds simple, but in fact it involves a lot of work and preparation, not just getting the animals ready to travel long distances, but the logistics too, think about transporting a dolphin from one Dolphinariam to another.

If the animal gets sick, or the stress kills it. Imagine the complex logistics of getting Ho Way (peanuts) from Windsor by lorry to the airport having a vet full equipped for just about any emergency. and all the water needed to keep the animal wet. it travels in a stretcher out of the water. then you fly it to Hong Kong. and you CANNOT be delayed and any stop over, then a second lorry to the new pool, with new trainers and new surroundings. transport sounds simple............ it's not!

And add to this what would happen if the Conservationists or the press got a story of us mean folk killing animals coz we keep transporting them around.

And they're right. animals did die.

I have done four killer transports and dozens of dolphin and seal transports. and every one scared the be-jebbers out of me.

so the pics are of us on the plane at Gatwick, on the lorry, handling the stretchers and putting them in the Windsor pool.

the animals we were bringing in were Lady and Prince "The Royals".

Tez: "Now in the shot (right) you can see me looking gormless AND standing around with my hands in my pockets. Err! No change there, then. The guy to the right is David, now this guy carried a lot of "Ocean" knowledge about dolphins and whales, but his specialty was "sharks" not with my dolphins thanks Dave.

"Center of pic is our beloved Curator, ladies and gentleman may I present "Frances Rendell" now his knowledge of Orcas and the like is nothing short of awesome. He really does know his stuff and was the fist guy in the UK to train a Killer."

Tez: "Now in the shot of us unloading the "stretchers" we have on the left yet another awesome legend of Windsor Safari Park during the 70's Sas

To give you some idea on just one of the things that made him a legend, in the pic notice that Doc Taylor (The Zoo Vet) and "Bruce Walton" are trying to lift a 300lbs dolphin and the crate half full of water. On the other end however Sas is doing one of his famous power lifts while all the other staff stand around watching. No change there then, either!

<< Sas doing one of his famous power lifts

<< a golden era of Windsor Safari Park staff for sure

Now the shot below is one of my favorite pic's of the Park because it is a veritable pictorial "who's, who" of the staff. On the far left supporting a mop of golden hair is our "Sas" again.

If you know your "Rocker History" you might like to know that he was also a Hell Angel from the Windsor chapter, if you don't know about such things then you really don't want to know.

Next in line we have Dough from the big cats reserve to his left we have "Bertty Basset" he got that name because he was the "Go for" of the Park and could do just about any thing behind the scenes.

In blue and red we have "Frances" again. Next to him we have "Dough Aldrich" he came to the park in 75 from a big game reserve out in Africa. He was the Parks assistant curator for the rest of the 70's Bruce Walton is next the Dolphinariam number one, and may I add, a great presenter of our shows, he could have an audience eating out of his hand within minutes of starting a show.

Just above yours truly (who's struggling in the freezing cold water) we have Duncan "Splash" Paul another notable member of the Dolphinariam. He had a great down to earth way about him and was one of the best commentators we ever had.

Lastly, but definately not least we have young "Nick the Escort" every summer he would some how end up working as the "fish boy" in the Dolphinariam kitchen. Then one day he just didn't go away for the winter and ended up as full timer. ("Escort" car by the way).

John Child cartoons! LOG ONTO HIS SITE RIGHT HERE for more cartoons and to contact him view his thread!

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