IWD: The Female Force Behind 100 Years of Drusillas

A Century of Trailblazing Women: The Female Force Behind 100 Years of Drusillas

Ahead of International Women’s Day, Drusillas Park is proud to reflect on some of the trailblazing women in its 100-year history, without whom the Sussex attraction would not be the huge success it is today.

From the very beginning, women have played a pivotal role in Drusillas’ development. In fact, the Park is named after ‘Drusilla’ (pictured below) who co-founded the Park with her husband, Captain Douglas Ann, in 1925.

Drusilla was an ambitious businesswoman, who took a hands-on role in the attraction’s first incarnation as a Tea Cottage and helped empower other women to be independent. She set up a training school to teach women a profession and ran courses teaching skills such as running a smallholding, or tea room. Essential after the death of over 10 million men in the First World War, which meant fewer women could follow the traditional path of getting married and becoming a housewife.

The courses were incredibly popular, and women travelled from around the UK to participate in them, taking Drusilla’s idea of encouraging female independence nationwide.

Drusilla and Captain Ann parted ways in the mid 30’s but his second wife, Elizabeth Orr (pictured above, far left), was also key in the day-to-day running of the Tea Cottage. However, Elizabeth’s interests lay in animals, rather than hospitality and she set about expanding the few domestic animals at Drusillas into a ‘Baby Zoo’ complete with an infant chimp, Tarzan. Elizabeth juggled raising Tarzan alongside bringing up her human son, Michael, who would go on to inherit the Park. She also took charge in the aftermath of a devastating fire in 1954, rallying staff so Drusillas could open to the public again as quickly as possible.

Elizabeth and Douglas were also supported by many formidable women; from manageress Win Bennett, who helped run the attraction and butterfly collection, to head gardener Pat Forrest, who created award-winning landscaped gardens. And Evelyn Alcock, whose efforts contributed to transforming the ‘baby zoo’ to the zoological park it is today by introducing more species and establishing breeding programmes.

Captain Ann’s son, Michael, took over the business after his father’s death in 1958 and when he got married, his wife: Kitty Ann (pictured above), came aboard and made her mark at the Park. With a background in marketing, Kitty quickly took the helm in promoting Drusillas. Setting up a PR and marketing strategy, ensuring Drusillas’ restaurants were more child focused, and establishing a focus on education that continues today.

Kitty’s proudest achievement was the establishment of a junior board of directors, something she felt was crucial to give children a voice at Drusillas. Kitty says: “As a children’s attraction it made sense that children should have a say in what we did. For example, a disabled board member pointed out we should have lower level viewing windows in the zoo, to allow those in wheelchairs and children in prams unobstructed views.”

“The junior board was incredibly influential, in the 90s it was instrumental in organising a conference on environmental issues, which was attended by children from over 80 countries! It was so successful that the children were then invited to speak at a UN conference in the US to put their concerns to world leaders. A real achievement for everyone, which I’m so proud of.”

In 1997, Drusillas was bought by Laurence and Christine Smith. Co-managing a visitor attraction presented a steep learning curve for Christine, who had worked in this industry before, but had taken a career break for 15 years to raise her three children and run a smallholding - complete with pony, donkey, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens and ducks and dogs!

Christine says, “In my previous life, I had been a Divisional Controller managing 20 branches of a recruitment agency in London. But 15 years away from a busy business life left me nervous and lacking in confidence. However I quickly overcame this, and because of my own experience was always passionate about developing and promoting female staff.”

She continued: “My experiences meant I’ve always recognised how crucial it is to give women flexibility and I always tried to be supportive and flexible when staff had children, or returned to work after time off.”

In 2021, Christine and Laurence took a step back from Drusillas, and their children took on leadership roles in the business. With Ollie Smith and Cassie Poland immediately succeeding them as Managing Directors of Drusillas Park, while middle daughter Carrie Steer later joining as Operations Director of Amazon Adventure Tunbridge Wells – Drusillas sister soft play attraction.

Like Christine, Carrie had taken time out to raise her two daughters and embraced the challenge of returning to work after 8 years to establish the new business. She oversaw the renovation of the soft play site to bring it back to life and took the business to profitability in under a year. Keeping an attraction previously earmarked for closure open for local families, alongside championing a largely female workforce:

Carrie says, “We have an all-female management team at Amazon which works incredibly well and is something we are all proud of.  IWD reminds me of how important it is to reflect and celebrate – despite the madness of motherhood and careers. It’s lovely to look up, take a breath and see how far we’ve come. Seeing my two daughters be proud of what we have created and me as a working Mum is something I’m so delighted by. I was so afraid of how upset they’d be with me going back to work – but in fact their pride and resilience has been far greater than I could have imagined.”

At Drusillas Park, Cassie has continued the tradition of strong female leadership, driving and directing millions of pounds of further developments and improvements, including a new sensory attraction, SPARK, several state-of-the-art animal habitats, new ride and play areas, and founding a new conservation charity, Drusillas Conservation in Action.

Cassie says, “Drusillas has been led by women for over a century - a legacy I’m honoured to continue. Strong female leaders, including Drusilla, Kitty Ann, my mother Christine Smith, and now myself, have shaped the park’s success. It’s a history I’m incredibly proud of, and one that I hope continues into the future.”

She continued, “I take pride in leading the development of new attractions at Drusillas. From concept to completion, we invest years into planning, designing, and bringing ideas to life. Seeing visitors enjoy a brand-new ride, an immersive animal habitat, or even enhanced pathways makes all the hard work worthwhile! Above all, my greatest achievement is working alongside my family to evolve and enhance Drusillas - a visitor attraction that has created lasting memories for generations. Being part of this journey, and ensuring its future is a privilege.”