History
In 1973 Jean & Ivor Wilden, took possession of a run down garden nursery called "Daffodil Way Nurseries" and
established within it a small aquatic shop with a total of about 30 tanks. They knew what they wanted to achieve,
but with very limited funds they also realised that it would be a long, hard slog...
The dream was to create one of the country’s largest and finest aquarium and water garden centres. Few who
visited the site back in 1973 could have imagined just how the business would develop, even Jean & Ivor have
been surprised at some of the changes.
1976 saw a major change, with Wyevale Garden Centres taking on the Garden Centre side of the business. A new
modern greenhouse was erected in place of the old wood framed structure and a new 1000 sq. ft. aquatic shop
with nearly 150 tanks was built within. At this time the name of the garden centre was changed to "Golden Vale
Garden Centre", whilst Jean & Ivor adopted the name "The Aquatic Centre" for the aquatic business.
1976 was a very hot summer, so hot that Ivor had to carry out much of the construction work at night. Once
completed the new shop seemed enormous and spacious, but as trade increased it soon became clear that an
even bigger shop was needed, by 1981 the crowds, particularly at weekends, had grown to the point where it was
almost impossible to move. In 1982 work started on a new extension which would double the shop size to about
2000 sq. ft. As might be expected the new shop resulted in a lot more customers.
In 1998 Jean and Ivor sold the business to their son Rob who ran the business for over 20 years. In that time
there were many ups and downs and many changes, but one thing which didn’t change was a friendly welcome
from experienced enthusiastic staff.
In the Autumn of 2020 Rob too retired, passing the business on into the capable hands of three long standing staff
members who between them have nearly 80 years of practical experience here at The Aquatic Habitat.
We have some exciting plans in store in the coming months and years, but one thing that definitely won’t be
changing is the friendly welcome from our knowledgeable and experienced team.
We look forward to welcoming you soon….
Established in 1973, we are the largest pond & aquarium
specialist in Gloucestershire, and have been providing top
quality fish plants and equipment to fish keepers for over
forty years.
We aim to cover all aspects of the aquatic hobby, with wide
selections of tropical, coldwater and marine fish, pond and
aquarium plants, plus a massive range of equipment.