Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was a large zoo, amusement park, exhibition hall complex, and speedway stadium in Belle Vue, Manchester, England, that opened in 1836. The brainchild of John Jennison, the gardens were initially intended to be an entertainment for the genteel middle classes, with formal gardens and dancing on open-air platforms during the summer, but they soon became one of the most popular attractions in Northern England. Before moving to Belle Vue, Jennison, a part-time gardener, had run a small aviary at his home, the beginnings of the zoo that over the years grew to become the third-largest in the United Kingdom.
Jennison set out a small amusements area in Belle Vue during the 1870s, which was expanded in the early 20th century to become what was advertised as the "showground of the world". Popular rides included the Bobs roller coaster and the Scenic Railway. Other entertainments included grand firework displays from 1852 and the annual Belle Vue Christmas Circus from 1922. Music and dancing were popular attractions in Belle Vue's various ballrooms. The Kings Hall, which opened in 1910, housed the Hallé Orchestra for several years and hosted concerts by artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Nat King Cole, The Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin.
Catering for visitors at Belle Vue was on an industrial scale, ranging from the late 19th century hot water rooms, which accommodated up to 3,000 diners each, providing crockery and hot water for those who brought their own picnics, to more upmarket themed restaurants. Belle Vue became a part of the caterer and hotelier Charles Forte's business empire towards the end of its life in the 1960s. Although he made some improvements to the zoo, Forte's interests lay in developing the gardens' dining and exhibition facilities. The Kings Hall was then the largest exhibition space outside London, but competition from the G-Mex exhibition and conference centre in central Manchester led directly to its closure in 1987.
At its peak Belle Vue occupied and attracted more than two million visitors a year, up to 250,000 of whom visited over the Easter weekend. The zoo closed in September 1977 after its owners decided they could no longer afford its losses of £100,000 a year. The amusement park remained open on summer weekends until 1980. The land was sold in 1982, and the site was finally cleared in 1987. All that remains of Belle Vue today is a greyhound racing stadium and a snooker hall built in the stadium's car park.
Commercial history Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was the brainchild of entrepreneur and part-time gardener John Jennison. He opened the grounds around his home in Adswood, Stockport to the public in 1826, from where he and his wife Maria sold fruit and vegetables. He called his establishment Strawberry Gardens, later Jennison's Gardens. Manchester's increasing urban population encouraged the development of a thriving leisure industry, and public parks were popular. In 1828 or '29 Jennison purchased an adjacent of land on which he and his wife built an aviary, to which they charged admission; its first occupant was a captured thrush. Jennison turned his home into a public house, the Adam and Eve, which he and his wife ran together.
In 1835 Jennison was approached by businessman George Gill, who suggested that he lease Belle Vue – a public house in of open land between Kirkmanshulme Lane and Hyde Road – as a more suitable site for his aviary. Jennison took out a mortgage of £300 to pay off the £80 mortgage on the Strawberry Gardens and spent the remainder on a trial six-month lease of the Belle Vue property, in June 1836. In December Jennison signed a 99-year lease at a rent of £135 per annum. For an extra £100 a year he leased additional land to extend the western boundary to Redgate Lane, close to Stockport Road, where he made a second entrance. To finance further expansion Jennison re-mortgaged the site for £800.
Except for their belongings, which fitted on a handcart, all the Jennisons took with them to Belle Vue was two or three birdcages containing parrots and other assorted birds. At its opening in 1836, Belle Vue contained an Italian Garden, lakes, mazes and hothouses, as well as the aviary. The family decided that their zoological collection had to be expanded as a matter of priority, and by 1839 elephants, lions, and other exotic African animals had been added. Many other attractions were subsequently added, including a racecourse in 1847. The gardens were an immediate success, but the neighbouring St James's Church was offended that they were open on Sundays, and asked Jennison to close while services were being conducted; he "politely but firmly refused".
Admission to the gardens, which were open until 9 pm during the summer, was by subscription ticket priced at 10 shillings for a family and 5 shillings for an individual, beyond the means of most workers. Concerts of "genteel music" were staged, and there was dancing to various bands on a large open-air wooden platform. Initially, the only public transport to Belle Vue was by horse-drawn omnibus from what is now Piccadilly, in central Manchester, but the last departure time of 6:00 pm coincided with the end of most workers' shifts. The first railway station was opened near Belle Vue in 1842, allowing workers easier access to the gardens and their attractions, and by 1848 complaints began to appear in the press that "roughs" in coarse attire were embarrassing middle-class ladies on the dancing platform by attempting to dance with them. There were also complaints about working-class men dancing together, and increasing resentment from working-class patrons about Belle Vue's "forbidding dress requirements, its restricted opening hours, [and] its unwelcoming admission price". In the words of historian David Mayer, Jennison was facing a crisis: "either keep Belle Vue Gardens an exclusive, class-specific, genteel preserve for the gentry and the middle class – who would arrive and depart in their own carriages through the Hyde Road gate – or open the gardens to a popular crowd who would arrive by train at the Stockport Road (Longsight) gate". For a time, Jennison sent carriages to the railway station to collect the first-class passengers, but he also abandoned the idea of subscription tickets, settling instead on a general admission price of 4d, rising to 6d in 1851.
Financial difficulties Although the gardens thrived in their early years, by 1842 Jennison was in financial difficulties, and on 13 December bankruptcy proceedings were initiated. Jennison's problems were caused by his failure to sell the Strawberry Gardens property, competition from the recently opened Manchester Zoological Gardens, and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway track cutting through the land Jennison had leased in December 1836, restricting access to the gardens. Jennison twice tried unsuccessfully to sell Belle Vue, after which his creditors allowed him time to make a success of the gardens; by the end of the 1843 season Jennison was able to repay his debts. The railway that had been a thorn in his side eventually proved to be an asset when Longsight railway station was re-sited closer to Belle Vue in 1842, making it easier for visitors to reach the gardens.
Expansion An additional of farmland at the western end of the site was incorporated into the gardens in 1843. One of the ponds was enlarged to form a boating lake, which later became the Firework Lake. An island was created in the middle of the lake, which housed a natural history museum. In 1858 another were leased, in the triangle between Kirkmanshulme Lane and Hyde Road, from which clay was extracted to make bricks for the gardens' buildings. The result of the excavations was a large hole that Jennison filled with water, creating the Great Lake in 1858. Two paddle steamers, the Little Eastern and the Little Britain, each capable of accommodating 100 passengers, offered trips around the lake for 1d (). By 1905 Belle Vue consisted of of walled gardens, with an additional outside its walls.
War years During the First World War the gardens were used by the Manchester Regiment for drilling, and a munitions factory complete with railway sidings was built.
At the start of the Second World War the gardens were closed at noon following Neville Chamberlain's radio broadcast announcing that Britain was at war with Germany on Sunday, 3 September 1939, forcing the cancellation of an "open rehearsal" by the Gorton Philharmonic Orchestra. The nation's armed forces immediately sequestered the Exhibition Hall, the restaurants and most of the top floor of the administrative offices. They also took over the sports ground to use as a barrage balloon base, and dug several air-raid shelters. The gardens were allowed to re-open on 15 September 1939, and remained open throughout the rest of war, although parts of the site were requisitioned by Manchester Corporation and converted into allotments.
Although the Second World War forced the cancellation of many events, and made it difficult to feed all the zoo's animals, it was nevertheless very lucrative for the gardens. Profits steadily increased, and the company made several compensation claims for the requisitioning of its facilities. It was granted £4,000 in 1941 () and £7,242 in 1942 (); in gratitude for the latter, the company presented the Civil Defence Service with a new mobile canteen.
Changes in ownership The Jennisons had been considering setting up a limited company to administer the gardens since 1895. Most were in agreement except for Richard, John Jennison Snr's youngest son. After his death in 1919, the remaining family members created John Jennison & Co Ltd with a capital of £253,000 (), comprising investments and loans totalling £63,000 (). George Jennison became chairman, secretary, treasurer and joint managing director with John Jennison Jnr, John Jennison Snr's great-grandson. John, William, Angelo and Richard Jennison Jnr were appointed to the board of directors which was reported to be a "very happy board with few meetings and an entire absence of quarrels".
On 27 November 1924 the Jennisons agreed to sell Belle Vue for £250,000 () to Harry George Skipp, but he was acting as an intermediary, and on 6 March 1925 a further contract was signed by the Jennisons, Skipp and a new company called Belle Vue (Manchester) Ltd. The agreement was for the new company to take over from 1 January 1925, but the transfer did not take place until 28 March. Under the new managing director, John Henry Iles, the gardens expanded to include what became a world-famous amusement park.
Later years Belle Vue enjoyed a brief post-war boom between the end of the Second World War and the early 1950s. During the early 1960s, it could still attract 150,000 visitors on Easter Monday, but by the end of the decade that figure had dropped to about 30,000, as the competition from rival amusement parks increased. Sir Leslie Joseph and Charles Forte bought Belle Vue in 1956, but by 1963 Forte was in sole control. Although he made some improvements to the zoo, Forte's interests lay in developing the gardens' dining and exhibition facilities. Fire became an "ever present hazard" during Belle Vue's later years. The most devastating occurred in 1958 and destroyed many buildings, including the Coronation Ballroom. Although the zoo was spared, the fire almost reached the lion house, distressing one of the older lionesses so much that she had to be shot. Vandalism and theft also became serious and recurring problems; intruders killed 38 of the zoo's birds, including 9 penguins, in 1960.
Zoo