A story of recent Chorlton in 20 objects nu 1 ......... A Blockbusters card

Now most of us will have one lurking somewhere.

In my case the card made its way from my wallet to a cupboard long after the shop closed but never quite got thrown away.

And now of course it has passed into history and now even the shop has gone.*

But for a long time Blockbusters offered up a cheap way to see a film with the added bonus of being able to rent something for the kids at a knockdown price becoming as much a part of home entertainment as the old TV rental shop and the weekly delivery of the Beano and the Dandy.

It wasn’t the first such shop, that I think was  almost opposite Beech Road which is now an off license and for a time there was that other one on Wilbraham Road facing the Post Office.

Over the last thirty or so years we have used them all, walking out first with VHS tapes, then DVDs and later plenty of games.

So much did it become part of family life that it even provided work for one of our sons.

Now I am always a hoarder and can make an argument out for keeping  the oddest bits of the past and I am pleased I have kept the card.

After all it is now almost as obsolete as the telegram and the telephone card, but it has its place in the story of those Friday nights which became pretty much a ritual.

One of you went off to collect the takeaway while the other sorted out the kids movies, dodged the demands for three packets of popcorn and then argued about who took the films back the following day, which more often than not you forgot to do and so  incurred the fine the next time round.

Pictures; of the Blockbuster card from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the Blockbuster shop courtesy of Andy Robertson

*The Essoldo, Blockbusters and plans for a new Morrisons on Barlow Moor Road, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-essoldo-blockbusters-and-plans-for.html

Almost finally the last of the building which was Blockbusters, E Boydell & Company and once a very long time ago our public market

Now there is something pretty final about these pictures of the old Blockbuster building.

Work to demolish it began last week and yesterday evening all that was left was a pile of bricks, a bit of wall and this last part of the building.

Before it was Blockbusters it sold cycles and before that was a printers having begun as our small version of an Arndale going under the name of the Market Place.

And by lunchtime today I reckon that bit of standing wall will be down and then I guess once the rubble has been cleared the ground will be broken for the new development.

That new development will be a mix of retail and residential.  The planning application was by Morrisons so soon that is what will continue almost a century of business on the site.

Pictures. the end of Blockbuster, June 2015 from the collection of Andy Robertson,  

So no more popcorn and Power Rangers from the shop that was Chorlton Blockbuster part 2

Happier times

Now most of us will have a memory of Blockbusters on Barlow Moor Road.

If you are grown up it will be choosing the Friday  night video while the take away was being prepared, and if you were still young enough to want popcorn and a selection of Spice Girls and Power Rangers films it will be the excitement of knowing that what you rent can be watched all over again on Saturday.

And there will those who can remember Sale Cycles or maybe even Mr E Boydell and Company who occupied the building into the 1970s.

Of course all that is already a thing of the past and soon even the building will have gone.

Earlier in the week Andy Robertson was on hand to record its destruction, and will be back to document the final clearing of the site, the moment the builders break new ground and the new development.

Waiting for the end

I have been musing on the building in its many different uses for a while and think it’s time to invite people to offer their own stories.

In the meantime above is Peter Topping’s painting of the place in happier times, when the popcorn was on offer, the new James Bond film sat proudly on the back wall and all was well with the world.

But already the signs were there to see from the large number of second hand DVDs for sale and the empty racks which would hint that things were a tad dicey.

Of course that was the way with many similar concerns like the one which stood almost opposite and the even brief appearance of such shops further down Barlow Moor Road and on Wilbraham Road.

And by the time you read this the Blockbuster site will just be a hole in the ground, making Andy’s picture and Peter’s painting just a memory.


Painting; Blockbusters, © 2014 Peter Topping,

Facebook; Paintings from Pictures,, Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Picture; Blockbuster’s 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson,

Goodbye to what was once Blockbusters, E Boydell & Company and once a very long time ago our public market

June 2015

Well by the time the sun has warmed the hats of the demolition gang little will be left of the building that was once Blockbusters,  E Boydell & Company in once a very long time ago our public market.

And with it will go a century of stories.*

So it was good that Andy Robertson was on hand to capture its demolition.

He has been building  a unique collection of pictures of changing Chorlton, and here is another of his projects.

The building was once according to Mr Stanley a  “public market place” which closed sometime before 1939 and then reopened as "E.Boydell and Co. Ltd, painting and finishing department, agricultural machinery.”

1959

The OS map for 1934 shows the site with a building which conforms to the present footprint but with no name or explanation of its use.

In the fullness of time I shall wander off to the archives at Central Ref and work my through the street directories to establish when the market place was opened and closed and the dates of its change of use.

It was still operating as E.Boydell and Co. Ltd in 1959 because it was the next in Mr Stanley's collection of pictures of Barlow Moor Road, and though I should remember it back in the 1970s I don’t.

2015

And now a little bit of our landscape is all but gone, and with it that often mistaken notion that this was our cinema, which in fact was next door on the site of KFC.

Pictures;  Blockbuster’s 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and E.Boydell and Co. Ltd, m m17528,  March 1959,  R E Stanley, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Blockbusters,  http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Blockbusters

The Essoldo, Blockbusters and plans for a new Morrisons on Barlow Moor Road

The cinema in 1959

Now when Mr Stanley wandered down Barlow Moor Road and snapped his picture of the Essoldo Cinema in March 1959, he pretty much set up the confusion which still exists today and allows some to mix up what was the Blockbusters store with the picture house.

And you can see why because the two were very close together.  Moreover the shape of the old Blockbuster is similar.

But that is about it.

Looking along to KFC and Blockbusters, 2014

The building was once accordling to Mr Stanley a  “public market place” which closed sometime before 1939 and then reopened as "E.Boydell and Co. Ltd, painting and finishing department, agricultural machinery.”

The OS map for 1934 shows the site with a building which conforms to the present footprint but with no name or explanation of its use.

In the fullness of time I shall wander off to the archives at Central Ref and work my through the street directories to establish when the market place was opened and closed and the dates of its change of use.

It was still operating as E.Boydell and Co. Ltd in 1959 because it was the next in Mr Stanley's collection of pictures of Barlow Moor Road, and though I should remember it back in the 1970s I don’t.

E Boydell & Co. Ltd in 1959

And it won’t be long before any such confusion between the old cinema and Blockbusters will be gone forever, because plans are in to demolish the building and in its place, the

“erection of three-storey mixed use building comprising 3no. retail units of (Class A1) retail space (762 square metres total) at ground floor with 12no. two bed apartments on above two floors following demolition of existing retail store”* and interestingly enough something of the history of the site including where the Essoldo once stood can be seen as well.**

All of which I suppose takes us full circle to that market place which I guess was constructed with an eye to the new estates which were opening up south of the Brook and out beyond Mauldeth Road West.

An empty Blockbusters, 2014

So there you have it, the much talked of Morrison’s new store looks to be on the cards and if you didn’t know of the plans now you do with a little of the story of the site before now.

As ever it was Andy’s picture of the old Blockbuster’s which set me off and yet again there he was with his camera recoding what will soon be gone.

Pictures; the empty Blockbuster’s 2014, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the Essoldo Cinema m09200 and  E.Boydell and Co. Ltd, m m17528,  March 1959,  R E Stanley, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Manchester City Council Planning Applications, 105734/FO/2014/S1 http://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=N5T7KZBC6K000

** Manchester City Council Planning Applications, http://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/simpleSearchResults.do?action=firstPage

That Blockbuster's shop on Barlow Moor Road

I am pleased that local artist Peter Topping has painted the old Blockbuster shop on Barlow Moor Road, because its days are numbered.

It is a building I have written about already and long after it has gone I daresay there will be more stories.*

And I know why.

Blockbusters will be a fond memory for many people as the place the family weekend began, starting with those early evening Friday visits.

And while one of us went off to get the takeaway the other chose the movie, did the deal on the kid’s films and came away with a mountain of popcorn, sweets and soft drinks.

But the building is often also confused with the cinema which was next door which opened in the 1930s.

Our building was once a “public market place” which closed sometime before 1939 and then reopened as "E.Boydell and Co. Ltd, painting and finishing department, agricultural machinery.”

And now its days are numbered because planning permission has been granted for the
“erection of three-storey mixed use building comprising 3no. retail units of (Class A1) retail space (762 square metres total) at ground floor with 12no. two bed apartments on above two floors following demolition of existing retail store”**

So that just leaves you to read the other stories on Chorlton Blockbusters, admire Mr Topping’s painting and perhaps wander down to view this little bit of our history before it goes.

Painting; Blockbusters, © 2014 Peter Topping,

Facebook; Paintings from Pictures,, Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Picture; my Blockbuster card, circa 2010, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Blockbusters, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Blockbusters

**Manchester City Council Planning Applications, 105734/FO/2014/S1 http://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=N5T7KZBC6K000