Hulme Hippodrome Theatre, Manchester
2012 visits
What was that building I'd seen near to my home? Living in Hulme for so many years I'd passed it countless times but it had never seemed anything special. The exterior being no clue as to what was inside. I decided to do some research online and was amazed to see that it was once a theatre which had long closed and fallen into a state of disrepair.
A permission visit was quickly arranged with Mr Wright - a caretaker - and I was allowed inside to photograph it. I visited twice in July 2012, managing to cover every part of this vast beautiful theatre including the main theatre, the changing rooms the performers would have used, the pitch black basement, as well as the upper rooms.
A brilliant array of colours from the deep red seats to the golden shimmer of the guild on the walls surrounded by greens. purples and any other colour you could think of.
Never has a building felt so vintage, so alive with its history of performance and artists entertaining the crowd. The eerie sound of dozens of pigeons swooping down from where the roof used to be above the main stage, as if acting out their own performance to a single person with a camera. A vintage Puck matchbox found buried in pigeon droppings on the main stage served to remind me of when smoking was allowed indoors and was actually considered sophisticated. Bingo balls and tickets still in situ as the remnants of its later use as a bingo hall. The numbers may have been called for the last time but the show hopefully will go on one day if this grand theatre can ever be retored.
History
The Grade II listed Edwardian theatre opened as a music hall on October 10th 1901, Hulme Hippodrome was once seen as one of Manchester’s finest theatres with its gilded decorations, velvet seats and huge auditorium. Tunnels are believed to have been built from the theatre to the nearby Junction pub and into the City centre for performers to use [although this has never been verified].
The Hippodrome and the conjoined smaller Playhouse Theatre in the same building were built at roughly the same time (1901-1902) and they were part of the circuit of 18 theatres owned by William Henry Broadhead (1848-1931) located mostly in working class urban areas across the North West of England. The architect was Joseph John Alley (1841–1912), however, it is thought that W.H. Broadhead had a strong influence in the design and construction of the theatre.
The main auditorium is a proscenium arch theatre with two galleries; The Circle and The Balcony above. The ornate interior plasterwork was by Messrs Alberti, of Manchester. The initial seating capacity was 3,300 (the most recent figure is 1,350) and - unusually for a theatre - the audience originally sat on straight benches, except for seven rows of individual tip-up seats in the centre block of the Circle.
The Floral Hall was originally a full height Edwardian atrium with a glass apex roof for patrons to promenade indoors while waiting for the auditorium doors to open.
In its very early days, the Hippodrome hosted a variety of performers amongst them La Belle Duchess whose show involved highly trained stallions, ponies and dogs. Added to this - as the theatre's popularity rose - Laurel and Hardy as well as Nina Simone performed there. In 1928, a new wave of stars performed at the Hippodrome. The Mancunian film corporation was founded and Manchester became known as the Hollywood of the North with the Hippodrome playing host to such stars as George Forman.
In 1962 the Hippodrome finally closed its doors and became the Mecca Bingo Hall with the floral hall section of the building being converted into a lounge bar and snooker room.
In 1986 the theatre completely closed. Today this Grade II listed building is run by a non-for-profit organisation, The Youth Village with its manager Tony Wright raising funds for the project with the intention of renovating the building despite its obvious huge challenge and financial cost.
The 'Save Hulme Hippodrome' campaign came into being when the community became aware of, and very alarmed by, the auction of the Hippodrome in 2021 by a London property developer and thus prevented the auction from taking place. It has gone on to raise funds and hold community projects with a view to saving this historic building and turning it into a community hub.
Some of the above historical text was taken from their website which can be found at:
2017 revisit - full frame higher quality images
In 2017 I had the chance to revisit the theatre as it was occupied by a group of people who had made it their home for a period of time. Not much had changed inside apart from the belongings of the occupants scattered around and some unwelcome graffitti. There seemed no apparent acceleration in decay which was a welcome relief and all the splendour that I witnessed in 2012 was still on show in this magnificent piece of history.
