It's just over a year since Holmes Chapel Zoo opened – or one of Cheshire's 'hidden treasures' as a visitor described it after discovering it only last week.

The zoo, which is nestled in the countryside on land at The Orchards Farm at Twemlow Green, is home to a variety of animals.

Some are from rescues and would have faced an uncertain future had this 'hidden treasure' not stepped in.

Among them are the Asian mountain tortoises, which are about 30 years old.

"They were originally bred at Glasgow Zoo which shut down many years ago," said Melissa Mews, who runs the zoo with husband Ben.

Since then, they have been re-homed a couple of times, including at a rescue, but now they are finally settled.

"At some point they've not had the right humidity, temperature, diet – that affects their growth rates," said Melissa.

"One hasn't fared so badly, she has got a little bit of a dip in her shell, but the other one has been more affected."

The fallow deer, which are so friendly they eagerly approach visitors to be hand-fed with the special food available at the zoo, also turned up because their previous owner could no longer keep them.

"He was mortified he couldn't keep them any longer because of circumstances, so was looking for somewhere to go and we said we'd have them," said Melissa.

The zoo, which is adjacent to Bidlea Dairy, has a variety of animals including meerkats, two species of giant tortoise, three species of parrot, guinea pigs, kookaburras, three species of owl, skunks, fallow deer, rare breed Soay sheep, wallabies as well as a variety of small snakes, lizards and smaller tortoises.

There's even a hedgehog which, again, came from a rescue.

"He is a wild hedgehog, but he can't be re-released so instead of putting to sleep we said we'd have him," said Melissa, who has a long experience of working in zoos.

She was head keeper at Reaseheath in Nantwich for about three years.

Before that she worked at zoos in Colchester, Cambridge, and even at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo.

Today the animals are safe, secure and well-cared for at Holmes Chapel, but just 18 months ago their very existence was under threat following a dispute over planning permission.

The permission, which Cheshire East councillors had granted in July 2024 against planning officers' advice, was overturned following a legal challenge from campaigners opposed to zoos.

Four months later the council's southern planning committee granted planning permission for a second time and the zoo was allowed to continue operating.

That is all in the past now and, as well as caring for the animals and safeguarding their future, the zoo now offers various experiences to children and adults to introduce them to animals.

These include meeting meerkats, handling reptiles, or stepping into the shoes of a zookeeper.

I asked Melissa what she would say to anyone who argued this could be distressing for the animals.

"We monitor their behaviour very closely, and if we notice that their welfare is being negatively affected by anything, it doesn't have be human involvement, we can quickly adjust how that animal is positioned in the zoo," she said.

"We also have a hands-on approach so, because we know that animals will be exposed to humans in captivity – even if it's a hands-off situation, there's going to be someone looking at them – we like to desensitise them to that type of environment."

She said years ago enclosures in zoos were built for people to come and see the animals.

Now they are designed for the animals and their welfare.

That means the animals can hide away if they choose to – as I found out last week when the wallabies decided they didn't want to meet me!

I had the same reaction from the two skunks too, even though Walter, especially, is very used to human interaction.

"He had to have surgery to fit a plate to his tiny, little bone after breaking his leg and they had to bring a specialist vet in to do that surgery," said Melissa.

"Then he had to live in our living room while he recovered. So that was six weeks."

That operation was expensive and they had to crowdfund to help pay for it.

Melissa said: "We have enormous bills each month just to keep the animals fed and watered and well cared for.

"We are governed by our zoo licence, and rightly so, and that means we have to hit a minimum basic standard of welfare, which we aim always to exceed but that's not cheap."

No visit to this zoo would have been complete for me without a reunion with the meerkats.

They were my favourites when I first visited in 2024 and this time they'd had babies – seven-week-old bundles of 'cuteness'.

These extremely sociable, playful little things love interacting with people.

They climb all over you – and especially love a cuddle with Melissa and her daughter, Sapphira.

And their favourite form of transport is still the back of some of the tortoises they share an enclosure with.

When I visited the zoo in August 2024 Melissa told me: "We have such a strong vision for it being a gem within the local community."

The fact I heard a visitor describe it as a 'hidden treasure' means they might just have achieved that.

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