South Woodham Ferrers, Essex Tropical Wings World of Wildlife Review

Overall Rating

Tropical Butterfly House open all year.

None that I know of

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting one of the largest Butterfly Houses in the country. It's part of the Tropical Wings World of Wildlife at South Woodham Ferrers in Essex and I have to admit that it came as a complete surprise to me. I say that because I must pass it at least once a week and, although I knew it was there, I had absolutely no idea of how big it was or what creatures inhabited it.

For those not familiar with the area I should perhaps explain that Tropical Wings is actually situated behind a Farm Shop and in fact, started life in the yard at the back. Although I visit the farm shop regularly - and well remember the few animals they used to own in their yard - this was my first visit to the wildlife centre.

The first surprise came with the size of the car park, or perhaps I should say parks as they have a main car park and at least two overflows. Parking is free and the walk back to the entrance is very pleasant. The first thing you come to at the entrance is a large well stocked gift shop with all types of gifts from pocket money toys upwards. As this is before the actual entrance no fee is required if you wish to shop without going into the park. The same applies to the Butterfly Tea Room where you can enjoy everything from breakfast through to cream teas.

Having paid your entrance fee you are issued with a wrist band allowing you to come and go as you please for the entire day. As there are several picnic areas, this allows you to return to the car park for your food rather than carrying it around with you which is much more convenient especially when you have children with you. We had not considered this as we only live a few miles away but would certainly think of doing so for future visits as you can happily spend a full day there.

There is no particular route through the park so our first visit was through the Butterfly House. This is where the name "Tropical Wings" originates. Once through the doors you are transported into a tropical rain forest and immediately you start to see huge butterflies in all sorts of colours. I think the largest is the Owl Butterfly, so named because with its wings spread the markings resemble the face of an owl. As its wingspan is 12-15 cms (approximately 4.5 - 6 inches) this is quite impressive. There were quite a number of these creatures flying about and further along some feeding on rotting bananas. One of the smaller butterflies, but very noticeable, was the Zebra Butterfly - named obviously for its markings. The house, as I said, is in the style of a rain forest with corresponding plants and flowers. There are seats in sheltered areas should you wish to linger - one being the area where the Owl Butterflies are regularly fed. There are plenty of information boards telling you about the various butterflies. I should also mention the caterpillar corner - a kind of nursery area! About half way along there is a pond well stocked with Koi - which the children have fun feeding. The food can be purchased for these in the gift shop, although most indications are that animals should not be fed unless with permission. The exceptions are the Koi, chickens and ducks.

Leaving the humidity of the Butterfly House, you head into gardens surrounded by aviaries containing all kinds of parrots, owls and birds of prey. There is also a walk through aviary with many smaller birds: finches, doves and touracos. Out in the garden there are several peacocks including some albinos, their white feathers like the finest lace. Past the owls and birds of prey aviaries the path leads you to the Flying Display Lawn. Tropical Wings are very proud to have Kaptain Kook - a tame Kookaburra who often features in displays. Also in this area is the Pets corner where we were in time to see the guinea pigs fed the Adventure Playground and a Snack Bar. There is a covered picnic area adjoining a play green for the toddlers. British butterflies are also catered for with their own garden full of buddleia and other plants that attract our home-grown species.

Further on you come to the Chicken Run, the Duck Pond, Shetland Ponies and the Wallaby Paddock. The chickens and wallabies quite happily make friends with visitors by leaving their enclosures whenever they please.

Making our way back we found that we hadn't seen the Reptiles and Bugs - another tropical house - which is also home to some marmosets and polecats. We made one more visit to the butterflies before leaving - the heat of the house managing to steam up my glasses even on a rather warm day.

Visitors are well catered for even on wet days as extra entertainment is usually laid on in the covered areas. The centre is wheelchair friendly and there are toilets for the disabled. Because of the nature of the place no dogs are allowed with the exception of guide dogs.

Hours of opening are: April - September 9.30 to 5.30 and October - March 10.30 to 4.30. In both cases last admissions are one hour before closing time.

2005 Prices: Adults - £5.25, Children (age 3 - 15) - £3.50, Senior Citizens - £4.25. There is no charge for children less than three years. There are other rates available for groups and the information and map showing the location can be obtained from their website: www.tropicalwings.co.uk

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and I'm sure I shall be going back before too long. I hope that this will be of interest to you and I thank you for reading.

Members' Comments onMagnetic's Review

• MIBS on 1st Mar 2009

  I disagree with this review because the attraction is OK, but so overpriced its just not funny. For example, we are a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 children) and it costs over £27 (for a family ticket), whilst it takes less than a hour to complete, if we take our time. In these current economic times, value for money is key.

• Magnetic on 10th Mar 2009

  I was sorry to read the comment by MIBS. I have to say that it is some years since I wrote the review, although I have visited again since then. On each occasion I could happily have spent several hours there but must admit that relatives visited last weekend and said that a lot of the animals had already been fed and bedded for the night, leaving little to do. I can only think that it must be because of the early time of year and not general practice.