My mum and dad used to take 14 double decker bus loads of kids from Ferranti Wythenshawe to the Belle Vue Circus every year. I got to meet Charlie Carolli one of the greatest clowns of the time. If anyone remembers the wrestling from belle vue on the telly, my gran was one of the old ladies who used to bash the wrestlers with her umbrella. I was told the telly people bought her ticket as it was good telly. Like so many people we were moved from Gorton to Wythenshawe. Gran lived in Oxford street until she died in 1970.

“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams..

I would have been 3 years old when this was filmed. My Mum and Dad used to take me to Belle Vue in the 60's and early 70's - have some great memories. Pity it eventually closed. Also many happy memories of watching the Aces and getting spattered with gravel - great riders like Ivan Mauger and Peters Craven and Collins. Happy times

@Bigsbeee

3 жыл бұрын

We lived on the same avenue as Ivan. Used to play with his kid's.. He used our telephone for his driving school ! Before he made it big time of course.

Brought back many memories. Some sad for the poor animals. We used to go with the school for the circus I think at Christmas. Thanks for posting.

I could write pages of my experiences in Belle Vue in fact my ex father inlaw was given parts of that train & carriages when it closed plus many other bits, I spent so much time in belle vue as a kid and often we would go over the gates at the back, great days. Also the ten pin bowling next door, the Lake hotel next door, the dog track and the speedway, all gone now but thanks for the memories.

we used to bunk off school and sneak in , spent many happy days in there getting on the rides for free it was my favourite place in the world , used to feel sad for the animals they never looked happy poor things .

I used to be in The St John Ambulance here. We covered the gardens, Wrestling, The Circus, Stock Car racing and Speedway. If I remember rightly. they used to play Good Night Kathleen when it was closing. Happy Days, but the poor animals

@paulmason6474

3 жыл бұрын

I was in Belle Vue at least 4 days a week. I remember the Wax Works and they had hand prints outside on the wall I remember Gracie Fields but no others. The Bavarian Bar. They also had a machine where you could record your voice on a record. I sent mine to my pen friend who lived in Nebraska. Did they have a type of Wild West show with a shoot out?

I remember going to belle vue in its final years, so sad to see its decline. Even as a small child I remember the horrible zoo and seeing all the miserable animals and the effect it had on me.

What a GREAT PIECE OF MEMORIES. bloody fantastic, so glad i found this!!! brings back so many lovely memories, thankyou

so many happy memories of belle vue from when i was tiny right up to the time it closed, shameful that they knocked it down instead of updating, the people of manchester have to go miles and miles for anything similar now

Oh my god lovely memories I used to live right facing Bellevue

i should imagine the lovely lady who stars in the film has probably gone now and her children will now be pensioners like myself , if my parents couldn't afford a day in Blackpool , Southport or New Brighton we'd end up in Belle Vue or Heaton Park and once we went to Tatton Hall , those were the day's my friend

My late grandad was a cornerman for the wrestlers in the 70's and also worked on the speedway. I remember him taking me to the pits to meet Ivan Major, who was my favourite rider. Fond memories of Belle Vue. Great video.

In 1961 I was Spider Lady in a side show,I remember just outside was the flee circus,well that's what he called it! He had flees walking a tight rope,I remember he had flee bites all over his arms from feeding them.. .I also used to do the Globe of Death with my then fiance...He and a pal used to ride their bikes,criss crossing in the globe and I would stand in the middle.Both of these shows cost 6 pence...Happy days.

@paulmason6474

3 жыл бұрын

I went to the flea circus once it was magical. I remember Spider Lady near ShootThe Rapids. The firework display on a Saturday. The one record I remember them playing was The Fire Brigade by the move. I did First Aid there when I was 15 or 16( St John Ambulence)

@user-xq6se9uc1g

Жыл бұрын

I remember spider lady but only the wall of death. I think I left the area before the globe.

@joycefinney2735

Жыл бұрын

@@user-xq6se9uc1g Thanks for your reply.Belle Vue was a great place to go in our day wasn’t it? Take care God bless.

As a Gorton lad this brings back happy memories when me and our kid spent hours in Belle Vue.

@simonbradshaw3993

3 жыл бұрын

I'm a Gorton lad too I live near Ryder Brow station.

@user-xq6se9uc1g

Жыл бұрын

@@simonbradshaw3993 I am also a W Gorton lad, I lived on the other side of Hyde road on Birch st. The Corona picture house was on birch st.. I went to St Marks school.

I played cello in the king's hall with the gorton philharmonic , a summer season of 6 months.

Went to the Lancashire zoo in 1964. Loved it. I was only young but remember the rides.RIP Belle Vue.😥

thank for the memory xx

Manchesters own pleasure beach, greatly missed. Bank holidays never the same when it went.

@cookiebasket

5 жыл бұрын

Amazing Im on this at the bus stop (7 to 9 seconds through) with my mother with the blue quilt flamboyant coat I was 12 years old at the time and remember the chap filming us.

Thank you for helping me relive some happy memories.

Pure nostalgia I remember my very first ride on the Bobs

Thanks for Sharing v nice

Remember the schools sports day, where to had to go and cheer on your class mates in there races. Left Manchester in 1963....

Lovely film and well done on the sound edits

I REMEMBER my mum leading me by the hand on frosty mornings across the ‘rezzers’ to Alexandra Park Primary School, from our two up, two down home on Petersburg Road. It was the later part of the swinging sixties and the world was changing faster than ever before. I remember my brother - a real local hero because he was playing for Stockport County at the time - sending me to Mina’s shop, five doors down from where we lived, with a glorious thre’penny bit to buy Spanish and pop. For us kids, Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds and Batman were the things to watch on telly; Dr Doolittle and The Jungle Book were the hits of the big screen, oh, and England was still wildly euphoric from their 4-2 victory over the Germans at the Empire Stadium and closer to home, Stockport was still reeling from the after effects of the terrible air disaster. At four-thirty the Sykes’ Bleach Works cannon would boom, signalling the end of the twelve-hour-shift. Kids would race through the warren of passages with duffle coats tied at the neck, flapping about their shoulders in an attempt to emulate the heroic caped crusader. On hot summer afternoons, we’d catch sticklebacks, newts and grasshoppers from the reservoir at the back of Edgeley Park and make dens in the trees that surrounded the long-disused freight depot at the end of Moscow Road East. On our way home, we’d pop with our fingers, much to the dismay of our parents, the sticky tar-bubbles that oozed their way up from between the sun-baked cobble stones. Horsefall’s, on Reservoir Road, sold delicious ice cold Jubblies and home made Vimto lollies and the paper shop on the corner of Berlin Road was the purveyor of lucky bags and home to a hugely popular ‘thre’penny drawer’. During the winter months, when the nights drew in, we’d make lanterns from jam jars and candles and when Bonfire Night came we’d collect pennies for the guy and knock on doors, sparklers in hand, singing: “Bonfire Night The stars are bright Three little angels Dressed in white One with a biscuit One with a pipe One will go a courting At ten o’clock at night” Edgeley, her passages and surrounding parks were all we knew and there was endless adventure contained within. When the power cuts came in the early seventies and the streets were plunged into darkness, dad would make egg and chips by candlelight on our rickety old gas stove, whilst we kids raced around the stygian streets in our 7 and 6 Woolworth’s sandals with our dads battery powered torches. A huge favourite and an even bigger treat, was a trip to Belle View Zoo and Amusement Park, where my best mate Tim and I would gasp in amazement at the sight of giant giraffes, elephants, hippos and the fabulous big cats. This would be followed by white-knuckle rides on the Bobs, Scenic Railway, Water Shoot, Caterpillar and Shooting the Rapids. All finished off with the dazzling spectacle of the Belle View Circus and an exhausted ride home on the bus back to those Victorian streets and passages we called home - what memories!

@Caskchap

7 жыл бұрын

Brilliant memories and so well recalled and related thanks. I lived in Ancoats to the age of 6, and later went to Openshaw Tech.

@allenfairhurst5777

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you all. It's very sad that it had to close. Nothing but happy memories of a time we shall never see again.

@Caskchap

7 жыл бұрын

It is sad but at least we had such days, our innocence and freedom (within limits), unlike today's youngsters.

@jimmorrison5402

6 жыл бұрын

Great post, brought up myself on Derwen road 1970

Wonderful. I was brought up only a few mins from Belle Vue. Great memories. Thank you so much

@user-xq6se9uc1g

Жыл бұрын

I was as well, Birch st on the other side of Hyde road.

OMG...What a trip down memory lane. Thanks so much for posting !

this where i met my wife tobe 32 years ago on the bingo stall.happy days

thank you for posting this,went to the wrestling there,boxing matches works doos and the circus and with the family for days out ,great family film ,

Fantastic footage of a wonderful place, now sadly gone. The cars at 3:08 were identical to ones at Skegness and Great Yarmouth ( me and my bro's fave ride as kids). Remember riding on mini railway thru woods on infants school trip circa 1971.

As has been said "Lots of Happy memories" Whit Weekend 1963 was probably the last time I was there. Thanks for posting.

Bah eck. I remember being take here many a time by me Mam and Auntie Marion. My Dad had a shop on Hyde Road just round corner from here. I was a year old when this was filmed and me Gran was still about too.

Lived on kirky lane so l remember it well parking lots full of buses every day in summer fireworks every night sister was a trainer at dog track across the street. Saw eartha kitt in the round at theatre there all that’s left is memories

I well remember the Top Ten Club on a Sunday evening. Jimmy Savile was the d.j. and used to play the Beatles new releases, so we got to hear them first.

Went once on a School trip, in the 1960's I can only remember the smell in the animal house and how dismal it was. Glad to read some better memories for other people.

@user-xq6se9uc1g

Жыл бұрын

When it was closing the elephant refused to move and they had to kill it.

@TonyKitchen471

Жыл бұрын

@@user-xq6se9uc1g What an awful end to it

@user-xq6se9uc1g

Жыл бұрын

@@TonyKitchen471 It was in the papers for days, they tried everything but she wouldn't budge I lived just across Hyde road which is the main road you see in the video. I could sneak in without paying so I spent a lot of time there when I was a kid.

Great times thanks for posting

year of my birth, I was born just over the road from Belle Vue, remember going to the zoo in my pram! my dad worked the speedway, remember lying awake listening to the bikes, knew that when they stopped he'd be home soon. my mum and gran worked in the bar there too .. I got bitten by a giraffe when I was about 3, took my ice cream .. looking now, the zoo is terrible, that poor elephant, just broke my heart, thank God they shut it down! West Gorton was a slum, they were demolishing the streets one by one, we got rehoused when I was 6 to Wythenshawe of all places! half of Gorton were sent there, most of my family, although bit more spread out! in gorton, my auntie lived next door, my nan across the street, my gran bit further down etc.. it was awful, bricks and glass everywhere - I remember the sound of houses being knocked in, the bubbling tarmac in the Sun and the sound of kids playing all day long! .. two streets down were where the 'Tinkers' began, we weren't allowed to go near them [think they were Irish families] sounds awful now .. I ended up with an Irish man! thanks for spurring all my memories, sound and vision!

Happy memories. I worked at Pepinos miniature circus during the summer holidays when I was a boy

@paulmason6474

3 жыл бұрын

I remember that it had a red and white facade. It was tucked away near the rockery and the train used to go behind it. I remember the Boating Lake too. Happy memories

@joycefinney2735

3 жыл бұрын

@@paulmason6474 You have a good memory.

It was situated on Hyde road at the top of the street where I lived. Birch St. I used to sneak in for free. It wa a zoo and a pleasure park and had a speedway track. At night time it had cluubs and bars. I remember the queen giving a speech at the speedway stadium.

I remember being about 5 or 6 and going on the Waltzers with my dad and my cousin and being absolutely terrified. Then went on the Caterpillar with my mum and not feeling so bad on the caterpillar lol

A great funfair and day out that I remember fondly shame about the lifers behind bars.

In 1963 Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were regular visitors to Belle Vue, as they lived in nearby Gorton.

@chrisjones3901

5 жыл бұрын

Pity they werent fed to the lions

Used to have crackers cafe on Lynn street ,belle view staff used to come in for their dinners

@flyingfox7854

11 ай бұрын

I can remember a bench outside a pub that had “ For Cracker Cases Only “ on it ! It was somewhere on Hyde Road …. Possibly opposite Slack & Cox the beer bottling factory …. I think Belle Vue got a lot of their bottled beers and soft drinks from Slack & Cox ….. also when they had to cater for Jewish Weddings in the banqueting suites they had Ben Shaws Kosher beers and soft drinks delivered.

@johnschofield8159

11 ай бұрын

@@flyingfox7854 That was the Pub on Hyde road Gorton,the landlord opened the cafe and we bought it later on but a few people had it before us.👍

@flyingfox7854

11 ай бұрын

@@johnschofield8159 my older brother used to drink in that pub … ( he lived on Coping street just passed the Hobart shop) I was too young at the time … but I always thought that the bench for cracker case only was funny 😄 …. I can remember when they demolished all the old houses and shops all around Stockport Road and Hyde Road it was one big adventure playground for us kids at the time … I used to be in the Sea Cadets ( T.S. Trafalgar ) on Grey Street …. I also remember the Sarsons Vinegar Works … I used to get the bus on Hyde Road to visit my friends that had been moved out to Hatersley …. Ahh the memories …

they are rebuilding Belle Vue speedway stadium and it will reopen next year as the new National Speedway Stadium it is on Kirky lane past the Greyhound track............

@simonbradshaw3993

3 жыл бұрын

And now its the best speedway track in England.

@humantruckjack423

Жыл бұрын

Excellent

I could well have been in that film somewhere as my mam and dad took us there a lot. I loved Belle Vue both the zoo and the fun fair. My favourite ride was the water splash and I quite liked the Bobs. We lived in Weaste where the street lights were yellow so I was struck by the bright white street lights on that side of town or is my memory playing tricks with me?

I was taken there as a five year old nearly seventy years ago. All I remember of it now was the zoo with roaring hippos and lions and trumpeting elephants. This is obviously an old 16mm film shot silent with anonymous background sounds added in more recent times and, in an odd attempt to make it appear modern and give it a fake wide screen look, it's been cropped from its original 4 x 3 shape to 6 x 3, losing a lot of the image area in the process.

People dressed so much better back in the day.

Does anybody remember my uncle, Granville Bertenshaw who worked with the animals there around that time?

The animal compounds were grotty and the elephant is showing up in obvious signs of distress.

@susanrochford1906

Жыл бұрын

My sister went on the elephant with other kids! Elephant ran off fast! Poor thing, l love elephants "free" not confined! Everytime I think about that day, makes me laugh that it ran off and my sister Sandra was on it!

20 years later i was born

There was a cafe there with an Italian name, I’ve forgotten the name now...

Hi I have a funny tales about Bellevue Manchester in the late 60s what to Bellevue with my mates Ramon Barry Dennis news my self John Rooney. After going around the place we ended up in the camels &hippopotamus where a camel turned it's back to my back it blew a big massive fart in which it covered my neck head shirt collar plus it stank. My mates were killing them Selfridges laughing, must admit it was funny plus it was warm.John Rooney st

used to bunk off school and sneak in there many many times i loved the place ,but how sad and awful for the animals ,the elephants showing classic signs of depression its shameful to look at now .if only they,d have known back then .

Animals look so sad, no room to move and filthy green water.

@barbaracrickley6191

5 жыл бұрын

Sam, the poor animals kept in such squalid conditions and nobody seemed to care.its terrible that people actually paid to see that cruelty.

@annoldham3018

3 жыл бұрын

My dad called ot an animal prison. I went circa 1976 or 77 with school. On coming home I knew what he meant.

to see animals, birds and the like kept like this disgusts me

Went to belle Vue as a kid got the bus from hattersley coke with paper straws ha 😂🤣😆

OM G some animals are painfully thin

That should have been Flea Circus,sorry for the misspellings.

Bloody hell, for a second there I thought that ruddy train driver was on a mobile phone at 1:13 😄

@jayaybe1

3 жыл бұрын

Ahead of his time!

Very nice babe alert @ 1:20.

@simonwpb

3 жыл бұрын

At age 86, my mother will appreciate your compliment

Than you for reminding me that I hate zoos like this, that poor elephant.

@johnhankinson1929

Жыл бұрын

it'll be dead now more likely and it probably lived a lot longer than being speared to death in the wild by some tree dweller

I hate Zoos! Animal Prisons...I'm glad it shut down.