Edinburgh Zoo in the 1950s and 1960s

Historical footage of Edinburgh Zoo. Former elephant keeper and now hilltop safari driver, Charlie Hewat, reminisces about the Zoo’s early days when, in the 1950s, a tram was running from the city centre to the zoo gates. He talks about Sally the Asian elephant that took many children for a ride sitting on her large howdah for a shilling a ride. Charlie loved the zoo and - as a 19 years old boy - became an elephant keeper. He remembers how the zoo director at the time, Gilbert Fisher, would walk a young cheetah, Scrap, around the zoo and even along the main street outside the zoo, Corstorphine Road, until one day a motor bike back fired and the cheetah took off. This is a clip from the 2013 BBC documentary ‘Animal Magic – 100 Years of Edinburg Zoo’, narrated by John Hannah (Scottisch actor).