Final work begins on iconic chairlift at Dudley Zoo

Work on the iconic chairlift at Dudley Zoo has reached a milestone ahead of it opening to the public for the first time in 12 years. Scaffolding has now been erected on the lift ahead of final painting work being carried out.

It is expected to reopen in late July after more than £100,000 has been spent on the project, which included shot-blasting and painting of the 42 chairs and refitting all 76 wheels in the roller mechanism. The scaffolding will allow the chairlift to be painted in its original cream colour.

It follows the removal of 16 layers of paint.

The painting work is expected to take six weeks, when the scaffolding will be removed and the final repairs are carried out.

The chairlift was the first passenger-carrying aerial ropeway to be installed in England, and transports visitors from the zoo's lower zone to the 11th century castle on the upper level, within a two-minute journey, offering panoramic views across Sandwell to Birmingham, and travelling directly over flamingoes, llamas and rare breed sheep grazing below.

Zoo chief executive Peter Suddock said:?"We have all the original drawings, and despite its age the changes mainly centre on cosmetic refurbishment where the chairlift has suffered exposure to the elements, and slight modification to the T-bars on the chairs. It's a fantastic piece of machinery."

It comes as the zoo invests around £3 million in projects to improve the 40-acre site over the next four years.

A new £40,000 walk-through Penguin Bay attraction housing the zoo's 60-strong group of rare Humboldt penguins has already been launched.

The chairlift was opened in 1958 by comedian Richard Hearne, who played the madcap character Mr Pastry and John Price, was one of the first to ride it.

The design is similar to those in ski resorts and one of three in the UK with the others in Derbyshire and the Isle of Wight. Although there were no accidents, there were fears someone could fall out of one of the single-seat chairs or tamper with the mechanism.