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Herbert Street, MANCHESTER, M32 0HD

Buildings on Chester Road.

The A56 through Stretford. The roof of Old Trafford football stadium is visible in the background.

Formerly Stretford Public Hall

The blue plaque on Stretford Public Hall Image reads: TRAFFORD COUNCIL Lieutenant Colonel James Neville Marshall 1887-1918 Born in Stretford Awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery in the First World War 1914-1918 November 4th 1918 Sambre-Oise Canal, Catillon, France

Clock on Stretford Public Hall Image

The Grade II listed building https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1067873?section=official-list-entry was built by the philanthropists John and Enriquetta Rylands in 1878. John Rylands was Manchester's first multi-millionaire, who made his money from textile mills. The Hall was designed by architect N. Lofthouse in a mixed gothic revival style. It was intended to be a public hall, with lecture rooms and the town's first free lending library. Following John Ryland's death in 1888, his widow Enriqueta rented the building to the local authority. The hall became known as Stretford Town Hall. In 1910, the Hall was bought by Stretford Council for a nominal fee of £5,000. In 1940, the new Stretford Library was opened on King Street and Stretford Public Hall's library was no longer needed, leading to the hall's closure. The building re-opened in March 1949 as the Stretford Civic Theatre. In December 1977, the theatre secured its place in local music history when it hosted the Rock against Racism Christmas Party, featuring John Cooper Clarke, The Worst and The Fall. However the Hall later fell into disrepair and eventually, Trafford Council refurbished and converted it to serve as council offices in the mid-1990s. It was re-opened in 1997, once again named Stretford Public Hall. The hall is now run by Friends of Stretford Public Hall, who have owned the building since a community asset transfer in 2015. They are a charitable Community Benefit Society with over 800 members. They provide accessible community space and deliver a programme of events and activities, including arts activities, live music nights, community cinema, and health and wellbeing activities. Stretford Public Hall website: https://stretfordpublichall.org.uk/ A Ukrainian flag is currently flying outside.

Stretford Public Hall was built by John Rylands, a local philanthropist, aka “The Cotton King” and Manchester’s first multi-millionaire. It stands on the corner of Chester Road and Dorset Street, and is commonly (but wrongly) assumed to be Stretford Town Hall (which is a separate building now known as Trafford Town Hall).

On Chester Road; built in 1879 by Manchester benefactor John Rylands as free library, lecture rooms & hall. English Heritage-listed, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=212970&mode=adv

Across the A56 Chester Road is the Grade II listed https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1240376?section=official-list-entry former cinema built in 1936 by Henry Elder for the Jackson and Newport cinema circuit. The Chester Road entrance was designed to resemble a cash register, with stepped convex surfaces curving upwards and backwards. This was amongst the first, and is the only survivor of Elder's cinemas, a building in which the striking and explicit frontage motifs were held to represent his belief that the film industry of the day was primarily concerned with money and sex. The design represents a dramatic departure from theatre-influenced cinema planning, and acknowledged the different spatial and technical requirements of wide screen cinematography. In August 1950, the Cinema was purchased by the Essoldo Circuit, who renamed the building 'The Stretford Essoldo. They continued to run the cinema until it shut down in 1965. In the 1980s it became a Top Rank Bingo Hall but that closed in 1995 and the building has lain empty since then. The Longford Cinema website has been tracking its history: https://longfordcinema.co.uk/