Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2014
Belle vue zoo, founded in 1836, both celebrated and replicated the industrial surroundings of Manchester. Looking at the Zoo from a distance, people in the mid-nineteenth century would have remarked upon the establishment's dazzling grounds, illuminated either by Belle Vue's own gas works or by the electricity powered by its robust generators. They also would have caught sight of the zoo's buildings, humming with the action of the steam-driven machines within. By utilizing the most up-to-date technology, Belle Vue was an extension of its neighboring manufacturing city.