Went on this first time in the early evening prior to a stock-car race. I'd always "chickened-out" when a kid and kept to the Scenic Railway or the Water Splash. As we were ascending the first climb, the brakeman announced that "the last time this thing crashed there were 3 people killed in Hyde Road!" That REALLY had the desired effect. A far more enjoyable ride than Blackpool's Big Dipper! You never felt at serious risk of decapitation but hell....what a buzz!

Had a ride on the Bobs in 1965. I have been on faster and taller coasters, but for bone shaking excitement - this was the best.

OMG...I'm watching again.!!!

I rode on this several times, it really was THE white knuckle ride of the time.

And I'm here again.!!!

went on this when I was about 10, put me off rollercoaster's for life!

Always watching this video...love it. thanks Red Ricky

If this had been around today, I have to wonder what an RMC conversion of it would have been like.

The Scenic Railway was also good fun !!

i was on this c 1961/2, age 9 or 10. it was behind the stock car stadium, and because my dad was a 'star' driver he got me on. the fish and chips and the flower garden clock were great.

Bobs:. I'm the most intense coaster ever. Crystal Beach Cyclone:. That's cute.

I have so many memories of Belle Vue, the first 20 years of my life was lived just down the road from it, whether it was the zoo the circus the speedway with Jack Parker Peter Craven Tink Maynard Go the Aces, or the Ballroom what a lot of wonderful times I had, I even met my husband there. Sad things have to change where do the kids of Gorton and West Gorton go now for the fun.

oh im here again.....i love it.!!!!

Wonderful memories tinged with sadness. I remember riding the Bobs in the late 1950s with some friends. A very jerky bumpy ride. On bank holidays it was so busy they had two cars running. Thanks for posting this.

Thanks for sharing v nice

Tame it was not. It was the only one of it's kind back in the day and therefore the fastest and most frightening. The structure was made of wood and it was very fast. It is nothing like the ones they have today but the feeling is completely different. Wooden structures like The Bobs were much faster than the metal ones of today and the sound and feel of the ride is more enjoyable. Thanks for taking us round the Bobs again, I recall every twist and turn I rode it that many times. Great film.

I wish I could have rode this Coaster it must have really been fast especially for its time

I lived close to belle view,, been on the bobs loads of times, we used to sneak in by the lake hotel to avoid paying the entrance fee,, or attend the speedway when after the racing you got free entry to the amusement park . that was some seriously scary ride, especially the first drop down toward hyde road, it used to rattle your teeth or bang your heads together on the first bend if you sat too close to somebody,, those were the days !!!

A fantastic track! Thumbs up! Yessi

@Wnoronz This is the video I edited and posted on KZfaq in April 2008 in its correct aspect ratio 4:3 (16mm film). All my videos were lost to KZfaq in May 2010 when my original channel, ricardo266, was closed. So this Bobs video has been reposted, but unfortunately in the wrong aspect ratio, which as George points out makes it look rather stretched and lame. I still have more footage from this 1970 film showing Bobs from different positions which I may edit into a new video in the future.

"Ah, would you like another cup of tea, Dear?" "Thank you, I think I've had enough.' (from Tull's War Child recording.) THAT was TERRIFIC. This was a Church/Traver design distant and far different from the Revere Beach Cyclone in Massachusetts that I rode 4x as a young boy (11, 12 years of age,) but the similarities are profound. The track ahead of you much of the time was hidden around corner turns and drops, though I believe that was only true sitting anywhere except the first two cars where you might see better what was coming at you (which I couldn't - a kid is too short.) The Cyclone was lengthy enough that after riding even four times I still couldn't memorize it well enough to foretell the layout ahead. Both of these, by design had the memorable golden moment toward the end, a staple of the master who allows you to breath on a finally calming and lengthy straightaway rolling along only very slightly down hill that most wouldn't even notice - (note, it's the first time our trusted front-seat cameraman here wasn't freaking out. lol) It was the oasis, finally, after the dramatic drops and climbs of the previous absolutely thrilling madness (terror for some,) so kind, only to bank sharply downward once again, back to more of the hidden-frightening continuation. As a boy, I held on for dear life to the parallel black-painted steel safety bars thinking 'which one do you hold - maybe both?' It would take a weekend 45 years later and about 100 rides at three different parks with multiple goes on 25 or 30 different coasters in Penn State, USA (Knoebels, Dorney and Hershey,) to finally transform the terrified reaction you would typically tolerate (more than gladly,) into sheer bliss and new-found relaxation. And that helps - BIG time, lol as we begin to venture to the real monster gems our future unfurls - Boulder Dash and el Toro.. The new ones - they're more vicious than ever - a terrain coaster that jerk-rattles a heat-sprain into your neck, beating you up REEEL GUD TOO - with ease - and a 200 foot monster-smooth as they get, but still! Try Boulder Dash in the dark sometime, it's has to be akin to the Kong movie. YOU LIVE IT - a 200 foot chimpanzee holding you by the waist (neck) in one hand while he tirades at high speed through HIS forest evading an onslaught. He protects his prize. "Only three broken ribs, one wrist, but you're alive in the end, so - don't complain!" P =].. Back to Traver and Church; it was new and exciting and they invented much of it. It wasn't at all about the money that has to be thrown around today for designs for the tallest, fastest, most, etc..Them are all the wrong reasons that can't hold a match or even compare to the past - designs that were understated, psychological and spectacular (Revere's Cyclone at (only!)100 feet). It is a crying sin they had to be pitted against condominium profit - that they weren't all protected as respected historic landmarks for all our future generations to revere.

AHH!! the BOBS! if only there were people who like others who have written of their memories of this ride could understand what it was like to actually RIDE it! As a speedway fan from the late sixties to the time Ivan mauger rode for the Aces!!! The first time on the BOBS! for me was a memory incompairable to anything that the FOOkin internet has to offer today! bad comparrison but fact of life. Our children cannot conceive of danger and pleasure today without a RESPONSIBLE adult. to get back to the story then. I was one of those fans who after the first ride was hooked and would travel 8 miles every weekend alone on buses at the age of 12-13-14-15yrs of age just to go on the BOBS!! then thats when I discovered how the ramshackle ride was so precarious and very dangerous, the 1st and 3rd wooden structure bends of the ride were actually held up by steel cables encased in massive concrete blocks inside of the bends, each cable having a different colour code, (which i know now measured stress levels). (Did nobody else see them???) thats why it was the thrill of this ride for me. these Blocks appeared sometime between 1967 to the time it closed. (citation needed). When I wasn't on it I used to point out to mates, after saturday speedway hungry for that ride, from the vantage point of the WALTZERS ride directly opposite the first bend of the BOBS ride how the track went almost 6 inches to almost a foot out of level!!!! Phew!!!! as the carriages went down those bends creating instant euphoria and terror thinking "would it crash tonight". and on taking the interested mates to bend No3 the almost same action went ahead thats why it had to be taken away. the forces of industry and mean money not coming forward. But thats my opinion!! Now another story from those GREAT days, When speedway was out of reason On one saturday afternoon the entrance gate to the BOBS was left open and guess what? yours truly sneaked in to attempt to see the height of the ride on the chain pull that brought the seats to the top thats when i saw how awesome those concrete blocks were!! But better than that having spotted workmen at the top of the "chainpull" i decided to go to the bottom of the ride that,s when I discovered where not only mine but hundreds others pockets were emptied out on that BOBS yer uncle ride and on that first Wk/end I took home the princely sum of 6 pounds 10 shillings and six and a half pence!!!! that was the first of not so many money type rides left. Before it shut forever. Will tell you this they never left that pay gate open again after i kept begging the guys to let me take photos of the ride AHH!! THe 2 BOBs and half crowns shillings tanners and threepenny bits pennys and halfpennys who remembers those Guiness clocks? Too??? I do believe that story telling is the best when you have remembered the BEST OF MANCHESTER!!!!!!! see you all in my book.

The music is totally fitting

This was the original location of the walt disney world carousel.

@HilaryHughes Unfortunately the demolition of Bobs Coaster commenced on Monday January 25th 1971,Due to no Buyers...Shame!

The animals at BelleVue Circus are NOT the Zoo animals. The zoo keepers loved their animals as did the rest of Manchester. We knew them all as most of us went to Belle Vue a lot. I can say that I rode an Elephant, how many people can say that outside of Kenya?? I saw a Flea Circus too. The zoo animals were kept as they were supposed to be kept all those years ago. It was very sad when the zoo closed leaving just the funfair and the enetertainment buildings. Belle Vue had everything, even it's own station. First ever theme park and I miss it. Shame no one bought it.

A true classic. So sorry it's gone. Reminds me of the Tornado at Coney Island, Brooklyn.

I love how people assume this is tame, this ride broke people's legs when they rode it... Don't believe me? Read articles about it and see!

im ere again watching this!!!

They had a Fred Church roller coaster in Coney Island that was similar to this coaster, it was my favorite until they burned It down the stupid jerks. It was called the Bobs Tornado. It was funny but as you climbed the first hill you would look down to the left and see all the naked people showering in the public baths that were coming off the beach. Cheap thrills I guess for a kid.

I remember riding this as a kid!

hi.I remember the BOBS at belle vue. I have ridden the fantastic ride many times.I lived in bradford and on saturday we would go to the speedway then after go round the amusement park.If my memory serves me well,each seating compartment was articulated,the handles for holding on were generally a little loose,and the ride was a bone shaker>FANTASTIC early sixties i think my name is Mike please contact me for any more info about the park and BOBS

Drinking Tea while on a Roller Coaster. Count me in!!

I remember going on this when I was about 9 or 10 and holding my little brother safe as I thought we were going to be ejected....absolutely burnt into my memory

One of my favourite bids on KZfaq. What's the music ?

my dad has been going off his nut to this....him n his m8s went from 1956 to 1971....and they had a few good dance halls like the elizibethan....n others

If you claimed to have ridden 'The Bobs' you were considered to be some sort of daredevil - none but the brave and of course the Teds, the 'Scenic Railway' was preserve of lesser mortals - back in the day! Happy Days!

Thank You

I remember in the early 60`s me and my mate Peter Dewhurst on the Bobs, we were at the front holding on to the so called safety!! bar that folded over your lap, on the first big drop the bloody thing flipped foreward me and my mate would have been gone`rs but for the safety!!! grill that stuck up on the front and they talk about The Big One being scarey sorry but its tame compared to The Bobs, they recon quite a few ended up in Hyde Road........I can belive it........white knuckle ride? we didnt think so it was more Brown Pants and PANICK......Happy Days ehh

@Wnoronz Hi George. To quote from my original video description: "This 16mm footage is of a special run in December 1970 to enable BOBS world record holder Vance Tutton (seen here drinking tea on BOBS) to ride BOBS for the last time." I also have footage of him attempting to read a newspaper on Bobs. In retrospect it does seem a rather pointless publicity run by BV management, given they were about to destroy something that was loved by so many. And no final run for the public!

I went on this ride back in the 60's and it terrified me! Never went on it again.

If you could edit that footage that would be great, I'm a rollercoaster enthusiast from Manchester and a season pass holder a Blackpool Pleasure Beach, so as you can imagine a woodie in Manchester is of great interest to me.

my old man rode this ride and it scarred him to death, he said there was only a bar to hold on to and none of the fancy cages that surround you on modern rides. I think he only rode it the once and hes been on stuff like the big one at Blackpool in more recent times and that didnt seem to phase him.

nice track.....

Yeahhhhhhhhhh, very nice

I wouldn't call that tame, I ride the woodies at Blackpool a lot (which are anything but tame when running at their best) and this looks more intense than any of them. It seems to share elements of Mr Harry Traver's infamous designs but not quite as extreme.

Beautiful! A great Fred Church ride I never got to experience. Do you have have access to the original footage? I would really like to see this with the screen ratio fixed ... where it's not "stretched" out. Cheers!

Just plain nutsss.

i think i will have a cup of barrys tea

a mad vid :)

BoBs Coaster big for the UK and at the time ! why did they closed the park.........

i was too young to experience Belle view and the bobs, but grew up thinking that was sold to Coney island in the states ... now i know they wasn't, which is poo i always said the ride in lost boys was the Belle view bobs and it wasn't but oh well, i do still wish i could of seen Belle view back then, i missed out big time

the bobs may look tame now ,but back then they were a white knuckle ride, fastest bend not one i would ride very offten,

What happened to the ride, was it sold to America?

wasn't destroyed to make them ... i was born too late and missed the theme park but heard alot and i seen wasteland for years but yeah they was built but the land wasn't gone for them, the animals would be worth more alive but if you are right back it up with proof and i will gladly stand at your side in a protest for animal rights ... still i wish i could of seen belle vue back then .. i hear talk all the time and i feel gutted i never got to see it.

Obviously a shit ride compared to today's modern roller coasters your not drinking a cup of tea on the big one