Lost images of Whalley Range part 10............ the Imperial at Brooks's Bar

There will be those who mutter darkly that the Imperial was not in Whalley Range, but I bet plenty of people will have crossed over the road and spent time there.

And as the smaller picture houses around Whalley Range closed this was an obvious local choice with that added attraction that if you were old enough there was the Whalley Hotel for afterwards.

Now I have written about the old Imperial Cinema at Brooks Bar a couple of times focusing on its history, its final closure and some fascinating pictures of the interior and given that it was always deemed to be superior to its near neighbour near the old Carriage Works it deserves to be included.

Of course some will have opted for the three picturehouses in Chorlton or made a night of it and headed into town but the local cinema like the local pub had its attractions.







Pictures; the Imperial in 1980, m09229, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and today from the collection of Andy Robertson, with a thank you to Imperial Timber 166-172 Chorlton Road Manchester M16 7WW‎ 0161 226 9190

*The Imperial Cinema, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Imperial%20Cinema