Belle Vue Zoo

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For other meanings of the term, see Belle Vue.

Belle Vue Zoological Gardens
Main Entrance Belle Vue Zoological Gardens
Date opened	June 1836
Date closed	Zoo: 11 September 1977 Amusement Park: 26 October 1980 Gardens: February 1982 Exhibition halls: October 1987 Speedway: November 1987
Location	Gorton, Manchester, England
Coordinates	53°27′49″N 2°11′15″W / 53.46361, -2.1875

Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was a large zoo, amusement park, exhibition hall complex and speedway stadium located in Belle Vue, Gorton, Manchester, England. The zoo existed between 1836 and was finally closed in August 1977. The amusement park was closed in 1980 and the land sold off in 1982. The site itself was finally demolished in 1986.

Contents 1 Jennison family (1836–1925) 1.1 Early history 1.2 Expansion 1.3 Financial difficulties 1.4 Fireworks 1.5 Jennison's zoo 1.5.1 Maharajah the elephant 1.5.2 Consul the chimp 2 Belle Vue (Manchester) Ltd (1925–1956) 2.1 Funfair 2.2 Belle Vue Circus 2.3 Belle Vue Speedway 3 Trusthouse Forte (1963–1977) 4 Closure 4.1 Zoo 4.2 Gardens and amusement park 5 End of a 140 year history 6 See also 7 Bibliography 8 Notes and references 9 External links

[edit] Jennison family (1836–1925)

[edit] Early history

Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was the brainchild of entrepreneur John Jennison. Jennison, along with his wife Maria, had a small public house in Adswood, Stockport called the Strawberry Gardens (later to be called Jennison's Gardens), where they sold fruit and vegetables. They also developed a small aviary, to which in 1826 they started to charge for admission. Before his purchase of the half-acre of land used for the aviary, Jennison is reported to have worked at Lawton's Pleasure Gardens, on the mill reservoir of Portwood in Stockport. The small collection of animals that was on display there is likely to be what gave Jennison his idea for Belle Vue.

In 1835 Jennison was approached by a businessman named George Gill who suggested that he lease Belle Vue, which was a public house in 35.75 acres (14.5 ha) of open land, as a more suitable replacement venue for the increasingly popular aviary.^[1] The land was situated between Kirkmanshulme Lane and Hyde Road which were also the boundaries of the local townships of Ardwick and Kirkmanshulme.

Jennison realised the benefits of this and in December 1835 took out a mortgage of £300 to pay off the £80 mortgage of Strawberry Gardens and then used the remainder in June 1836 for a six-month trial lease of the Belle Vue property and land. The six-month trial evidently proved to be successful as in December 1836 Jennison took out a 99-year lease with a rent of £135 per annum. He also took on the tenancy of a further area which extended the western boundary down to Redgate Lane close to Stockport Road. This extra land cost him an additional £100 annual rent. His reasoning was that although the main entrance would stay on Hyde Road it would be very useful to have a second entrance on Redgate Lane. To allow for further expansion Jennison yet again remortgaged, this time for the sum of £800.^[2]

When the Jennison family first moved to Belle Vue from the Strawberry Gardens all they brought with them besides their belongings (apparently all contained on just one handcart) were two or three birdcages with a few parrots and other assorted birds. They also brought a woodcock belonging to Ann Jennison, the eldest daughter. As a result of this it was decided that there was a need to expand the zoological collection before anything else.^[3]

The very first advert for Belle Vue Zoo appeared in the Manchester Guardian newspaper in May 1837. It read:

...The Public are respectfully informed that the BELLE VUE GARDENS...are NOW OPEN to the public... (John Jennison) has collected a large number of very beautiful Birds, comprising parrots, parroquets, macaws, cockatoos, gold and silver pheasants, peacocks of different descriptions, swans, Canada geese, and various animals, which he intends placing in the grounds...During the Whitsunweek, a field of ten acres, belonging to the grounds, will be opened for the use of Sunday Schools, free of expense; and a band will be in attendance

There are no existing records as to what the "various animals" meant, but there is speculation that rabbits, dogs, goats, some deer and a fox are strong possibilities. It is also conjectured that there were no 'exotic' animals in the collection yet as it's fair to assume that these would have been mentioned by name in the advert. The admission to the Gardens was 3d for which the visitor received a non-alcoholic drink and some 'milk and butter' biscuits.

Controversy began right from the start of the venture in the form of the wardens of St James's Church nearby. They insisted that Jennison cease serving customers during the times of Sunday services. Jennison's alleged reply was "I am like thee, I make my living on Sundays". Apparently this sufficed as the wardens made no further complaints. Additional problems occurred when regular carting customers arrived to stable their horses at the pub and found them to be full of rabbit coursing spectators. Complaints to Jennison were ignored which caused the carters to leave the Belle Vue forever.

Jennison's first move was to build a cottage on the grounds as a home for his mother. It was on the northern border of the property near Kirkmanshulme Lane and was eventually named "Belle Vue Cottage". The main house was also enlarged, the bar was made bigger and the outbuildings were improved, some of whom were converted into a brew house so that he could brew his own beer.

Initially the animal collection was housed in a shed that measured 36 feet by 70 feet. It was situated to the right of the main Hyde Road entrance. Prior to Jennison's purchase of the lease the 13 acres of pasture lands to the rear of the public house were used for rabbit coursing. During 1836 Jennison allowed this to continue due to the fact that it was lucrative and helped in the funding of the expansion project. In spite of this he had no enthusiasm for the sport as it attracted a class of patron that Jennison was not too keen on. He left the organisation of the coursing events to other staff and family members.

[edit] Expansion

His next expansion consisted of landscaping the gardens and increasing the exotic animal collection. The Gardens were originally created on a disused lime pit which used to be mined by Ardwick Lime. The land was criss-crossed with a system of waterways which allowed the lime to be moved in small boats. The majority of the waterways were filled in, although the result of this was that the land was somewhat marshy in places. The land was drained and fencing was installed around the border at the Longsight end of the property. Four arbours were installed in the two acre garden adjacent to the pub.

In 1838 another eight acres were leased. This new land was in the triangle between Kirkmanshulme Lane and Hyde Road. The land was used to dig out the clay used to make the bricks that were used to build various buildings in the Gardens. As a result of the excavations the land became a large hole. Jennison, being a master of using what was available, decided to fill the pits with water. By May 1841 this land had become the "Great Lake" and was now an add-on attraction to the rest of the Gardens.

[edit] Financial difficulties

By this time the whole Jennison family were involved in the Belle Vue project. Although the zoo thrived in the early years, by 1842 Jennison was having money troubles and on 13 December 1842 bankruptcy proceedings were initiated against him. The money problems were caused in part by Jennison's failure to sell the Strawberry Gardens property and partly due to the new Manchester & Birmingham Railway (the track cut through the plot Jennison had leased in December 1836 and cut off the approach from Stockport Road) and partly to the competition from the new Manchester Zoological Gardens at Higher Broughton. His revenue was further cut when the Police took exception to the crowds of "rough men" gathering at the rabbit coursing events and closed them down for a period.

Initially he was told to sell Belle Vue to enable to pay his debts, but two attempts at the sale failed and eventually his creditors decided the best way to recoup their money was to wait for Jennison to earn it. He paid off one creditor with beer and somehow managed to pay off the remainder with a loan he had managed to get. There was a downside to this though, which was that it cost him the tenancies of the extra land he'd acquired in December 1836 and 1839. A further piece of luck came with the closing down of the Manchester Zoological Gardens. There are confused reports about Jennison acquiring some of the exotic animal stock from the closed Manchester Zoo. There were some reports that he had purchased the animals although the Belle Vue accounts do not show this. What is more likely is that he was given the animals that could not be sold. Jennison capitalised on the closure by introducing new events such as a footrace and the moving of the "Hollow Blasted Oak" from Gorton into the Gardens. On 2 May 1842 the first fireworks display took place. The display was designed by 'Signor Pietro' (aka Mr Richardson of Chapel House, Gorton). A footrace on 17 July 1842 resulted in another minor controversy. The race was for £25 but one of the participants gave up after 25 yards and lost his £25. Later he disputed the validity of the race, sued, lost and went to jail.

1843 was a much more successful season, so much so that the loan Jennison had taken to pay off his creditors was paid back. The fact it was paid back so quickly apparently annoyed the creditor considerably. The new railway that had initially been a thorn in Jennison's side now proved to be a useful asset, as a station had been built in Longsight which made it much easier for visitors to get to the Gardens. Additionally one of Jennison's priorities was to entice visitors using scheduled excursion trips and the proximity of the Longsight railway station helped to this end. The 13 acres of pasture at the western end of the land were now incorporated into the main gardens and one of the ponds was enlarged to form a boating lake. This lake later became known as Firework Lake. An island was built in the middle of the lake and a building created which became a natural history museum.

[edit] Fireworks

After a trip to London to see the Great Exhibition, Jennison's ideas for Belle Vue grew even bigger. He came up with an idea that was to give Belle Vue a reputation for years to come when he decided to implement large, scheduled "fantastic" firework displays. Jennison employed a scenic artist called George Danson to design and create a 30,000 square foot canvas backdrop for the firework display. The theme for the early displays was 'battle enactment'. This proved to be exceptionally popular with the paying public and had the effect of turning Belle Vue Zoo into an all day entertainment venue.

[edit] Jennison's zoo

Although Jennison's original emphasis was for the Gardens to be a relaxing botanical excursion with the animals being a means to support that environment, it eventually became clear that there was enough public interest to warrant them becoming an attraction in their own right. The initial animal collection was brought from the Adswood establishment and consisted mainly of domestic birds with a few exotic parrots. By 1856 the Jennisons had added more exotic animals to the collection including monkeys, kangaroos, rhinos, lions, bears and gazelles.

[edit] Maharajah the elephant

By 1870 John Jennison had handed over the running of the Gardens to his sons, with the majority of the work being handled by eldest son George Jennison. Under his direction, in 1871 the zoo became the proud owner of its first four giraffes. Additionally a new elephant was purchased, his name was Maharajah and he was eventually to become one of the most famous attractions of Belle Vue. He was purchased for £680 from an Edinburgh zoo called Wombwell's Menagerie No.1, when it was closed down. The initial plan was to transport Maharajah from Edinburgh to Manchester by train but unfortunately, Maharajah had not been consulted on this matter and proceeded to rip the roof off the train compartment with his trunk. After this incident it was decided that he and his trainer, Lorenzo, should walk to Manchester. This they completed in ten days with little incident.^[4][5] "Lorenzo", whose real name Lorenzo Lawrence, subsequently became the head elephant-keeper and stayed at Belle Vue for over 40 years.^[6]

In line with the Jennison tenet that everything should earn its keep, Maharajah was not left just to look good in an enclosure and get free meals and for ten years he provided "elephant rides" to the public. He also took part in Whitsuntide street processions and there were reports that he was co-opted into grinding coffee and pulling carts of meat and bricks. Maharaja died of pneumonia in 1882 and in order not to waste a free opportunity, his skeleton was preserved and added to the Garden's Natural History Museum as a large display six years later.^[7] Subsequently, in 1941, when the Natural History Museum was decommissioned, the skeleton, along with some other exhibits, was transferred to the Manchester Museum. ^[8]

[edit] Consul the chimp

In 1893 another purchase was made from yet another of Wombwell's Travelling Menageries, this time in London. "Consul" was a tame four-year old chimpanzee whose party piece was to dress in a smoking jacket and cap and puff on a cob pipe. He frequently accompanied James Jennison to business meetings. Consul proved to be exceptionally popular but unfortunately it was a short-lived popularity as he died of "dropsy" (oedema) a year later on 24 November 1894. His popularity was not lost on the Jennison brothers who immediately obtained a replacement in the form of "Consul II". Belle Vue did not do anything mundanely so, like his predecessor, this chimp also had a party trick, which was playing a violin whilst riding a tricycle, though later Consul II traded up to a bicycle.

[edit] Belle Vue (Manchester) Ltd (1925–1956)

On 27 November 1924 the Jennison family made an agreement with a Harry George Skipp of London to sell Belle Vue for the sum of £250,000. Skipp was rumoured to be an intermediary and sure enough on 6 March 1925 a further agreement was made between 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 actual transfer did not take place until 28 March. The new managing director was John Henry Iles. Under his management the Gardens expanded to include what was to become a world-famous amusement park.^[9]

[edit] Funfair

Under the Jennisons the main priorities for Belle Vue were the zoological and botanical aspects; the amusements were there purely as a distraction for visitors. Iles believed that expansion of the rides and the fun aspect of the park was the way to go. Accordingly, the first thing he did to expand the park was to add additional rides in the form of the dodgems, the "Caterpillar", the "Ghost Train", "Jack & Jill", the "Flying Sea Planes" and the "Scenic Railway". This latter ride was to replace the "Figure 8 Toboggan". It was bought in 1925 but did not become fully functional until 1927. It proved to be one of Belle Vue's most popular rides and was used right up to 1975.

Arguably the most popular ride was called "The Bobs", so named because it cost a 'bob' for admission. This was a rollercoaster that had an 80-foot high drop at a 45 degree angle with the cars travelling at approximately 60 miles per hour. It was built by Harry Traver and designed by Fred Church and Tom Prior,^[10] who had to develop a series of engineering innovations to achieve the thrilling ride. Its distinctive white-painted wood superstructure became an imposing element of the Belle Vue and Gorton skyline.

[edit] Belle Vue Circus

The annual Belle Vue Christmas Circus eventually became a major Manchester attraction, but it did not have an especially auspicious beginning. The first Christmas circus was held in 1922, but it did not prove to be either particularly successful or particularly popular. The new company did not try again until 1929, when the zoo director Gerald Iles, along with his father William, made a deal with Alderman Tom Bickerstaff of the Blackpool Tower Company whereby several of the Blackpool Tower Circus acts and equipment would be used at Belle Vue. One of the first to come to Belle Vue from Blackpool was ringmaster George Lockhart, who was to become legendary in the region.^[11]

Lockhart, known as "Prince of Ringmasters", became synonymous with Belle Vue Circus, and his face was used on countless advertising posters. He was so much a part of Belle Vue that in the 1967–1968 season, to celebrate his 39th consecutive year with the show, the circus was renamed temporarily to the "George Lockhart Celebration Circus". Lockhart was the ringmaster for 43 years, until his retirement in 1970 at the age of 90. His replacement was, for the first time at Belle Vue, female; a Danish-born ringmaster called Nelly Jane. She carried out the job for two years when she was replaced by the ringmaster who was to reign the ring right up until the end, Norman Barrett. It is generally considered by fans of the circus that the end came with the closure of the Kings Hall, which was the traditional venue for the circus. This was in spite of the fact that for several years after Kings Hall closed the circus performed in the car park and in a marquee on wasteland on the other side of Hyde Road.^[12] George Lockhart was posthumously honoured after the Belle Vue site was demolished. One of the roads on the housing estate, which was built in April 1982 on the demolished site, was called Lockhart Close.^[13]

Belle Vue Officials[13]
Chairmen
1925-28		Sir William Gentle
1928-37		John Henry Iles
1938-70		H.F.B. Iles ("Mr Eric")
General Managers
1925-41		George Wilson
1956-58		J.W. Betts
1958-64		W.M. Marshall
1966-73		J.F. Fearnley
1974-76		C. Hind
1978		I. Brown
1978-79		A. Coppin
1979-81		A. Lee
Publicity Managers
1932-38		W. Rubinstein
1938-45		P.F. Chandhor
1945-56		D. Buckland-Smith
1956-60		Johnnie Hoskins
1960-64		H. Wilson Rogers
1964-81		Norman Roland (advisory)
Zoo Superintendents
1925		George Jennison
1933-57		Gerald T. Iles
1957-61		William Wilson
1962-71		Raymond Legge
1971-78		Paul Grayson
Head Keepers
1946-75		Matt Kelly
1975-77		John Christy
Horticultural Superintendents
		Leslie Cook
		J.B. Brook
Managing Directors
1925-37		John Henry Iles
1938-41		George Wilson
1941-47		E.O. Spence
1947-56		Richard Morton Dixon
1956-62		Sir Leslie Joseph
1962-65		W. Morris Marshal
1965-71		K. Paxton
Scenic Artists
1852-94		George Danson & Sons
1894-96		Messrs Caney & Perkins
1896-1912		R. Caney
1912-17		B. Hastain & R. Caney
1918		Charles Caney
1919-22		B. Hastain & C. Caney
1923-33		B. Hastain
1935-39		O. Simpson
1947-68		Syd Lane (freelance)
Speedway Managers
1929-41		E.O. Spence
1941-52		Miss A.S. Hart
1953-60		Johnnie Hoskins
1960-63		Ken Sharples
1964-65		H. Jackson
1966-72		Dent Oliver
1972-73		Frank Varey
1974-81		Eric Boocock
Works Managers
1925-44		C. Wiseman
		W. Ray
		F. Jenkinson
		F. Selby

Another of the circus stalwarts was the resident band-leader, Fred Bonelli. He had started his career as a trumpet player for Barnum and Bailey's circus band and eventually led various Belle Vue Circus bands for 30 years.

The circus was active in the years before concerns became apparent about using animal performances for entertainment. As such, many of the circus acts were animal based. There were such eclectic acts as "Dolas" the lion tamer, "Thorson Kohrmann and his Farmyard Friends", "Willi Mullens Caucasian Cavalry & Ponies", "Miss Wendy's Performing Pigeons", and of course the redoubtable "Harry Belli's Horse Riding Tiger – to say nothing of the Dog!" (the tiger was called Byla, the horse Bulla and the dog Jimmy).^[14]

Although the animal acts were considered to be the crowd-pullers there were of course the usual collection of acrobats, strongmen and clowns. The most popular Belle Vue clown was "Jacko the Clown" (real name Robert George John Francis Fossett) with his small partner "Little Billy Merchant". Jacko was the king of the clowns at Belle Vue for over 30 years.^[15]

[edit] Belle Vue Speedway

One of the activities that ultimately became synonymous with Belle Vue was motorcycle speedway (known at the time as dirt track racing) which was introduced on 28 July 1928 in the recently built greyhound racing arena. By March 1929 it was proving to be very popular. Iles, after buying a controlling interest in the North Manchester Motor Club (NMMC), decided to move the track to build a purpose-built stadium. This stadium was contracted to provide the NMMC with racing facilities for five years. The new stadium opened on 23 March 1929. At the time this was the largest purpose-built speedway stadium in the country, possibly in the world. Eventually it became the first home of the Belle Vue Aces.

[edit] Trusthouse Forte (1963–1977)

In September 1962 Charles Forte purchased the majority share in Belle Vue (Manchester) Ltd. In February 1963 an additional offer was made to the minor shareholders to purchase their shares for the sum of 15/3d (15 shillings and 'thruppence') per share. By the end of 1963 Charles Forte and his company Forte Holdings Ltd had become sole owner of Belle Vue.

[edit] Closure

[edit] Zoo

The closure of Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was announced on BBC Radio at 10:00 am, 4 August 1977. The news report told that the Gardens would be closing their doors for the last time on 11 September 1977. The 24 keepers were informed an hour before the news report went on air. The reason given for the closure was that the company could no longer afford to cover the losses of approximately £100,000 per year. The final kick to the zoo before it closed was at the end of August 1977 when an unknown person or persons stole a number of non-poisonous reptiles from the Reptile House. The only animal to be recovered was a ten-foot python which was later found in some nearby foliage.^[16]

Perhaps the saddest story relating to the closure of the zoo was that of Ellie May, a 15-year old female elephant. Attempts had been made to sell off Ellie May with all the other animals, but unfortunately, and totally undeservedly, she had acquired a reputation of being dangerous. The reason for this was that she was confused with another elephant called Twiggy. This reputation made it extremely difficult for her to be sold. Her food costs were becoming difficult to justify but Peter Grayson, the last zoo superintendent, refused point-blank to have her put down. Although Grayson left the zoo in January 1979 he returned frequently to care for Ellie May who was left as the last animal at the zoo. In the following February Rotterdam Zoo agreed to take her and plans were made to transport her to the Netherlands. When it came to transporting Ellie May she refused to board the transport. Worse, she refused to move at all and quite suddenly, overnight, pneumonia and heart failure set in. Grayson and keeper David Taylor decided that she would not get better. They collectively took the decision to call in a marksman who euthanised Belle Vue's last animal.^[17]

At the end, the public reaction was of relative indifference with only a few small protests. The animals had been slowly sold off for an estimated £100,000. Although the official closing date was 11 September, the doors remained open for a short while after this date and visitors were offered discount admission until early November whilst the animal stocks were being sold.^[16]

[edit] Gardens and amusement park

Initially, when the zoo closed, the company announced that the gardens and the amusement park were to be expanded with "new active leisure pursuits". By 1978 the site was now being called "Belle Vue Leisure Park" and the first thing to happen was the Tropical River House was converted to a skateboard arena as an attempt to cash in on the new craze that had come from America. A few months later the arena was moved to an area outside the New Elizabethan exhibition hall. It turned out to be bad investment as demand was now virtually nil.^[18] In 1977 the closure of the London Festival Gardens in Battersea, London prompted the company to buy the "Jetstream" ride from them and although it had been installed it did not actually open until a year later. An announcement that the long-closed Scenic Railway was to be restored and reopened did not come to fruition.^[19]

There were other non-zoo attractions that closed in 1977 including the boating on Firework Lake, the Lighthouse Bar and MiniLand. The miniature railway was also closed. The locomotive called "Joan" was leased to Sir William McAlpine as he was an enthusiast of miniature trains. A short while later Sir Charles Forte presented the "Prince Charles" locomotive to the Eskdale (Cumbria) Trust. They restored the train and changed its name back to "Synolda", which was its original name. It now resides in the railway museum at Ravenglass who occasionally dust it off and give it a run on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.^[19]

In 1979 the amusement park was leased to the main concessionaire, Alf Wadbrooke, although by then the park was only open at weekends during the summer season and it was patently obvious that it was dying. The long-promised resurrection of the Scenic Railway had not happened and the water chute had closed. In August 1980 Wadbrooke was given notice to close down the park by 26 October 1980 and to have all his equipment removed by February 1981.^[13]

In October 1980 the old Jennison-era "Belle Vue Smithy" (located behind the old aviary) was also closed, as it had seen little use since the zoo closure, and the smithy's 200-piece tool set was sold.^[13]

[edit] End of a 140 year history

The main site is now home to a multiplex cinema, a housing estate, a restaurant, a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall, and a car auction house. The Lake Hotel was demolished after suffering extensive fire damage, and the land was used for the building of a generic motel.

There is nothing left of the original gardens and amusement park after their demolition in 1986, although the ten pin bowling hall and the snooker hall still exist. The Belle Vue Speedway is now part of the nearby greyhound racing stadium, located at the top of Kirkmanshulme Lane.

[edit] See also

• Belle Vue Aces
• George Lockhart

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Special Attractions at Belle Vue
• Belle Vue Zoo at the Rollercoaster Database
• BOBS: George Drew Remembers

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