By Heather Skull

FAMILIES made a final pilgrimage at the weekend to say goodbye to one of the area's tourist spots.

Rode Tropical Bird Gardens closed on Sunday after almost 40 years.

It was an emotional time for staff as well as visitors.

Some of the parents had visited the gardens when they were children and could remember their holiday treats.

But the garden has found it difficult to compete with high technology and theme parks and now the gardens face an uncertain future as a final decision has still to be made.

The 1,000 birds may be dispersed to zoos and private collections all across the country.

For the family-owned business, it was the end of a dream which began when the late Donald Risdon founded his tropical bird sanctuary 38 years ago.

And for one of its directors, Mike Curzon, it is also the end of an era. He helped Mr Risdon and his wife Betty realise their dream and helped them to make the bird gardens a success.

He does not intend to stay at Rode but is likely to become a consultant and will still have his own collection of birds.

Fellow director Keith Glenn said it was a sad time for them all.

"A lot of people came as children or even as young parents and came back for one last time," he said.

Mr Glenn said the future was still very uncertain. "There are two or three possible offers on the table," he said.

Some of the offers wanted the birds as part of the package, some did not.