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.

[7] In 1828 or '29 Jennison purchased an adjacent 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) of land on which he and his wife built an aviary, to which they charged admission; its first occupant was a captured thrush.

[5] In 1835 Jennison was approached by businessman George Gill, who suggested that he lease Belle Vue – a public house in 35.75 acres (14.47 ha) of open land between Kirkmanshulme Lane and Hyde Road – as a more suitable site for his aviary.

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.

[10] 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".

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.

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.

The gardens were allowed to re-open on 15 September 1939, and remained open throughout the rest of war,[21] although parts of the site were requisitioned by Manchester Corporation and converted into allotments.

The initial collection had consisted of domestic birds and a few exotic parrots, but Jennison probably also acquired those animals that could not be sold after the Manchester Zoological Gardens closed in 1842.

The four-year-old chimpanzee, Consul, was dressed in a smoking jacket and cap and puffed on a cob pipe; he frequently accompanied James Jennison to business meetings.

Although the zoo's administrators succeeded in convincing the local authorities that any danger from the animals was minimal, primarily because the perimeter walls were so high, the keepers were replaced in their sharp-shooting role by soldiers who patrolled the grounds armed with tommy guns.

[21] Wartime interruptions in the supply of gas for heating resulted in the deaths of all the zoo's tropical fish and several other animals, including a lioness called Pearl and her litter of cubs.

The Scenic Railway was hit by an incendiary bomb and the Reptile House was damaged by shell splinters from ack-ack guns, which also caused the death of a bull bison.

The doors remained open to visitors at a discounted admission price until early November, a little beyond the official closing date, by which time most of the animals had been sold for an estimated £100,000.

[c] John Henry Iles, who took over control of Belle Vue in 1925, believed that expansion of the rides and the fun aspect of the park was the way forward, and added attractions such as dodgems, the Caterpillar, the Ghost Train, Jack & Jill, and the Flying Sea Planes.

By 1978 the site had been renamed Belle Vue Leisure Park, and the Tropical River House had been converted to a skateboard arena in an attempt to cash in on the new craze from America.

A larger structure, the Music Hall, was built in 1856, underneath the firework viewing stand, capable of accommodating 10,000 people on its 27,000 square feet (2,500 m2) of dance floor.

The hall was designed to stage "Demonstrations, Exhibitions, Social Gatherings, etc",[65] and was a popular concert venue until the 1970s, with appearances by artists such Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Nat King Cole, The Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin.

News of the sale had triggered the formation of local action groups, who organised a petition signed by 50,000 people in an unsuccessful effort to save the hall.

Families were catered for at lunchtimes by the hot-water rooms, each of which could accommodate up to 3,000 diners, providing hot water for drinks and crockery for visitors who brought their own picnics.

He decided to implement large, scheduled "fantastic" firework displays employing a scenic artist, George Danson, to design and create a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) canvas backdrop.

The theme for the early displays was "battle enactment", which proved to be popular with the paying public and resulted in Belle Vue becoming an all-day entertainment venue.

Reflecting contemporary events, the theme for the 1915 display was "The Battle of the Marne"; in 1916 it was "The War in Flanders", during which one spectator got so caught up in the action that he waded across the lake to join in with the "fighting".

[88] As the speedway bikes ran on wood alcohol (known as dope), they were unaffected by fuel rationing during the Second World War and racing was able to continue, although many other attractions in the gardens were forced to close.

[90] Bouts were held in the Kings Hall, and although popularity declined in the years following the war, Belle Vue staged a televised world championship fight in 1964 between Terry Downes and Willie Pastrano.

[91] The speedway stadium became the home of rugby league club, Broughton Rangers, who recruited international players including Frank Whitcombe (who also worked in the zoo as a zookeeper), Billy Stott, and James Cumberbatch.

The first Anglo-Australian Test match of the 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was played at Belle Vue,[92] with the home side's victory attracting approximately 34,000 spectators.

[94] After a fire at Manchester City's Hyde Road ground in 1920, the club considered a move to the Belle Vue athletics stadium,[95] but it was deemed too small.

[101] In the aftermath of Manchester's failed supercasino bid in 2008, local groups began to lobby for the construction of a "linear park" in the area, building on "the legacy of Belle Vue".