Now I reckon most people know the story of the cinema on Manchester Road.
It closed in 1962 as the Gaumont having offered feature films, news reels and Saturday Morning Pictures along with choc ices, Kia-Ora and of course the Bee Gees.
And in the 42 years that it entertained the people of Chorlton it changed its name from the Picture House, to the Savoy and finally ending up as the Gaumont and at one time nearly became The New Magestic Cinema.
But most people will only know it as the Coop Funeral Care and it’s from the staff of the business that I have to thank for this little bit of Chorlton’s history.
For in a conversation with them last night I learnt that for years the upstairs which once formed the circle of the picture house was where the coffins were made.
From that floor they were dispatched by shute to the ground floor.
In the great sweep of history I am the first to admit that this would not warrant even a footnote in most respectable history books but I like it especially as it points up to that simple observation that there is always something new to discover.
And that alone may qualify the Gaumont for an entry in the new book I am writing with Peter Topping which we have called the Quirks of Chorlton.
As the name implies it is a light hearted but a scholarly look at bits of Chorlton whose history may never get into the official accounts of the township.
So with that in mind there is a standing invitation to nominate a place or person to be considered for inclusion.
And if you have a picture all the better, although it does have to be your own and not lifted from elsewhere.
Leaving me just to confess that I am of that age to have referred to the cinema as the “flicks” but there are no prizes for knowing why.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; Coop Funeral Care, 2014 from the collection of Andy Roberston, and the Picture House, circa 1920 from the Lloyd Collection
And in the 42 years that it entertained the people of Chorlton it changed its name from the Picture House, to the Savoy and finally ending up as the Gaumont and at one time nearly became The New Magestic Cinema.
But most people will only know it as the Coop Funeral Care and it’s from the staff of the business that I have to thank for this little bit of Chorlton’s history.
From that floor they were dispatched by shute to the ground floor.
In the great sweep of history I am the first to admit that this would not warrant even a footnote in most respectable history books but I like it especially as it points up to that simple observation that there is always something new to discover.
And that alone may qualify the Gaumont for an entry in the new book I am writing with Peter Topping which we have called the Quirks of Chorlton.
So with that in mind there is a standing invitation to nominate a place or person to be considered for inclusion.
And if you have a picture all the better, although it does have to be your own and not lifted from elsewhere.
Leaving me just to confess that I am of that age to have referred to the cinema as the “flicks” but there are no prizes for knowing why.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; Coop Funeral Care, 2014 from the collection of Andy Roberston, and the Picture House, circa 1920 from the Lloyd Collection
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