First report here, not particularly keen on Bandwagon-ing however having lived a stones throw from this all my life, I just had to take a look.
The Explore - Perhaps the easiest access I have ever come across, a step off of the street takes you into the atrium of this magnificent building. At first glance you are met with a well-rummaged bar area atop a dodgy floor covered in typical bingo carpeting. Navigating that, you are taken down some steps into the main Pool hall, populated with a handful of tables by now caked in bits of what used to be the dropped ceiling and the odd piece of plaster from the cinema’s original auditorium. Some stairs take you up into the Snooker hall, built on top of the circle, the only indication of this being the magnificent carved wood border in the floor below.
Above this again, the projection room, little to boast now but with some rusted features of its glory days clinging to the wall. In the basement, another snooker hall where once was this buildings most surprising feature; Manor lounge, flooded but in surprisingly good nick above the water level.
This was a great explore, one that had piqued my curiosity for many years as I have watched it slowly deteriorate since it closed. I have visited it 3 or 4 times, my photos are from my first visit, but I am curiously drawn back. This has however shown how quickly a building like this deteriorates as each time, a new armful of things is missing. I hope you enjoy, criticism is welcome as I figure out this forum lark!
The History - Opened as the Wellington Picture house in 1921 with stall and circle seating and operated as an independent cinema until 1948 when taken over by Essoldo. The same chain introduced bingo, every Friday, until they decided to repurpose it in 1963 to a full time bingo hall. In doing this, they added a dropped ceiling over the former stall seats and a floor over the circle, creating two floors.
When the bingo hall opened, a local businessman turned the former Cafe and Billiards room in the basement into a music venue called Manor Lounge. The venue hosted many world famous bands from then until 1966, including Tom Jones, Cilla Black, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, and The Kinks among many others. He went on to manage another local legend, the Tabernacle, and became known as the man who brought Jimmy Hendrix to Stockport.
It operated under Essoldo, Ladbrokes and Walkers Bingo until becoming a Riley’s snooker hall with tables across 3 floors for playing both English and American Pool, Snooker and Billiards. They also had slot machines, poker, a bar and football games on for punters.
It closed in 2012, ever since it has been rotting away behind closed doors. There was a lot of remnants of its past, the ornate plaster ceiling in the upstairs hall from when it was a Cinema; the yellow and blue colour scheme from it’s Walker Bingo days and of course the swathes of tables from being Riley’s.
The Pool Hall where once the Stall ticket holders of the Auditorium would have sat
Plenty of these now retro beer advertisements hung over the tables
The Pig, standard Pool Hall tat!
Concerningly, these bottles had gone by my second visit
The ornate plasterwork gives us an idea of the grandeur of the Welly in its day
Beautiful stained glass windows, a sensible choice for a view as dull as Stockport
An incredibly rusted piece of the projection rig - before the days of USB drives and IMAX
The only suggestion of the circle seats, covered up in the refit of 1963
The Snooker Room, still in its Walker’s Bingo colour scheme
I hope I haven’t done too bad for my first post and that you enjoy my take on this magnificent locations!
Cheers, Jonesy.Explores
The Explore - Perhaps the easiest access I have ever come across, a step off of the street takes you into the atrium of this magnificent building. At first glance you are met with a well-rummaged bar area atop a dodgy floor covered in typical bingo carpeting. Navigating that, you are taken down some steps into the main Pool hall, populated with a handful of tables by now caked in bits of what used to be the dropped ceiling and the odd piece of plaster from the cinema’s original auditorium. Some stairs take you up into the Snooker hall, built on top of the circle, the only indication of this being the magnificent carved wood border in the floor below.
Above this again, the projection room, little to boast now but with some rusted features of its glory days clinging to the wall. In the basement, another snooker hall where once was this buildings most surprising feature; Manor lounge, flooded but in surprisingly good nick above the water level.
This was a great explore, one that had piqued my curiosity for many years as I have watched it slowly deteriorate since it closed. I have visited it 3 or 4 times, my photos are from my first visit, but I am curiously drawn back. This has however shown how quickly a building like this deteriorates as each time, a new armful of things is missing. I hope you enjoy, criticism is welcome as I figure out this forum lark!
The History - Opened as the Wellington Picture house in 1921 with stall and circle seating and operated as an independent cinema until 1948 when taken over by Essoldo. The same chain introduced bingo, every Friday, until they decided to repurpose it in 1963 to a full time bingo hall. In doing this, they added a dropped ceiling over the former stall seats and a floor over the circle, creating two floors.
When the bingo hall opened, a local businessman turned the former Cafe and Billiards room in the basement into a music venue called Manor Lounge. The venue hosted many world famous bands from then until 1966, including Tom Jones, Cilla Black, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, and The Kinks among many others. He went on to manage another local legend, the Tabernacle, and became known as the man who brought Jimmy Hendrix to Stockport.
It operated under Essoldo, Ladbrokes and Walkers Bingo until becoming a Riley’s snooker hall with tables across 3 floors for playing both English and American Pool, Snooker and Billiards. They also had slot machines, poker, a bar and football games on for punters.
It closed in 2012, ever since it has been rotting away behind closed doors. There was a lot of remnants of its past, the ornate plaster ceiling in the upstairs hall from when it was a Cinema; the yellow and blue colour scheme from it’s Walker Bingo days and of course the swathes of tables from being Riley’s.
The Pool Hall where once the Stall ticket holders of the Auditorium would have sat
Plenty of these now retro beer advertisements hung over the tables
The Pig, standard Pool Hall tat!
Concerningly, these bottles had gone by my second visit
The ornate plasterwork gives us an idea of the grandeur of the Welly in its day
Beautiful stained glass windows, a sensible choice for a view as dull as Stockport
An incredibly rusted piece of the projection rig - before the days of USB drives and IMAX
The only suggestion of the circle seats, covered up in the refit of 1963
The Snooker Room, still in its Walker’s Bingo colour scheme
I hope I haven’t done too bad for my first post and that you enjoy my take on this magnificent locations!
Cheers, Jonesy.Explores
