Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was a large zoo, amusement park, exhibition hall complex and speedway stadium located in Belle Vue, West Gorton, Manchester, England. The Gardens opened in 1836 and developed into one of the most popular attractions in the north of England. At its peak it occupied 165 acres (0.67 km) and attracted over 2 million visitors each year, as many as 250,000 over the Easter weekend alone. The zoo closed in September 1977, and...
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Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was a large zoo, amusement park, exhibition hall complex and speedway stadium located in Belle Vue, West Gorton, Manchester, England. The Gardens opened in 1836 and developed into one of the most popular attractions in the north of England. At its peak it occupied 165 acres (0.67 km) and attracted over 2 million visitors each year, as many as 250,000 over the Easter weekend alone. The zoo closed in September 1977, and the amusement park closed in 1980. The land was sold off in 1982, and the site was finally cleared in 1986.
Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was the brainchild of entrepreneur John Jennison. Jennison and his wife Maria ran a small public house in Adswood, Stockport, called the Strawberry Gardens (later called Jennison's Gardens), where they also sold fruit and vegetables. He purchased a neighbouring half acre (2,000 m²) of land on which he and his wife developed an aviary, charging for admission from 1826.
In 1835 Jennison was approached by a...
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