Welcome to Tiggywinkles
The Visitor Centre is open to everyone to provide education and information on our specialist work. Through the use of interpretation boards, leaflets and videos, visitors can learn about the history of the Hospital, the type of animals we treat and some of the innovative techniques we employ.
The educational trail takes you around the gardens, pond and to the deer paddocks, allowing you to discover some of our elusive British wildlife, along with information about the species you will see plus an insight into their treatment by our specialist veterinary team.
This sanctuary area gives the wild animals who cannot be returned to the wild a chance to live a near natural, but protected life. We have a large variety of habitats for a vast range of animals, from the large pond for our water birds (plus many visiting birds); numerous gardens for hedgehogs, rabbits and many other creatures; large paddocks for our deer; a bog pond for the amphibians, plus a rockery, water fall, butterfly garden and flight aviaries.
Our large Red Kite flight aviaries are home to numerous red kites and a couple of ravens too. You can see these magnificent creatures up close, watch them swoop around and in the Red Kite Information Centre you can find out some more about these majestic birds.
If you want a quiet area for contemplation, then visit our beautiful Remembrance Garden where we have a permanent memorial to those animal lovers that decided to make a bequest to benefit wildlife.
Come inside now and and see into two of our busy hospital wards. Our Bird Nursery and Mammal Nursery wards have viewing windows to allow you to see some of our patients being fed and cared for, without disturbing them. In the spring and summer time, these wards are full of orphaned babies of all sort of wild species, being fed, toileted and looked after. The baby garden birds get fed every 15 minutes from dawn until dusk so it is well worth coming back several times to see what is going on.
Next door to the nurseries, we have our new Bone Exhibition, plus a live link to our X-ray suite. Here you can find out more about some of our amazing British wildlife. See the x-ray
|
|
suite in use with a newly admitted casualty into the hospital, or view some of the previous x-rays taken of some of the wild species which have come through our doors.
Upstairs we have the World's only Hedgehog Memorabilia Museum. Explore some of the extraordinary history of how hedgehogs and their designs have been used throughout the military and domestic world.
If you want to make a little bit more of your visit, why not purchase Activity Sheets from our shop. These age appropriate educational activities will send your children hunting around the centre to find out more about wildlife and the work of the Hospital.
Your day would not be complete without a visit to our Tiggywinkles Gift Shop. We have a wide range of clothing, bags, gifts, books, cards and toys - with all profits going to support the work of the Hospital.
Visit our Coffee Shop - we sell sandwiches, snacks, hot and cold drinks plus ice cream too, with covered outdoor seating or why not take your snacks down to our large Picnic & Children's Play Area, where the kids can run around and let off steam, whilst you sit and enjoy the view of our Red Kite aviaries and deer paddocks.
We have a large classroom for the educational work that we do, from adult or school Tour Groups, to specialist experience days, to our own students' lessons.
Many of the permanent animals in the Visitor Centre are available for sponsorship to help maintain the work that we are doing to care for all British wildlife. Check out our Help Us and Adoption pages.
As a Member you get unlimited free entry to the Visitor Centre for a whole year, which is great to see the seasonal changes to the gardens and animals undergoing care here.
The Visitor Centre opens 7 days a week between Easter and the end of September,
the rest of the year the Visitor Centre is open Monday to Friday. We look forward to seeing you.
 |
