Grosvenor Picture Palace
| The Footage | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Former names | The Grosvenor Picture Palace,[2] Riley's Snooker Club[3], Footage and Firkin[3] |
| General information | |
| Type | Cinema |
| Location | Footage, Manchester, Grosvenor Street, Manchester, M1 7DZ[1] |
| Completed | 1915 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Percy Hothersall[2] |
The Footage, formerly known as The Grosvenor Picture Palace, is a bar and former cinema at the corner of Grosvenor Street and Oxford Road in Chorlton-On-Medlock, Manchester, United Kingdom.[1][2] It was the largest cinema outside of London in its day.[4]
The building was designed in 1913 by Percy Hothersall.[2] It opened on 19 May 1915, featuring Blanche Forsythe in Jane Shore's The Eternal Strife.[3] The cinema had a capacity of around 1000 people. There was a billiard hall in the basement.[2] It was operated by the H.D. Moorehouse chain, before being aquired by Star Cinema Group in the early 1960s, who used the building both for cinema and bingo. The last films was shown were Passionate Demons and Attack of the Crab Monsters on 18 May 1968, after which the building was used exclusively for bingo. In later became Riley's Snooker Club for several years; it was then boarded up for several years before being converted to become the Footage and Firkin public house.[3]
The two-storey building is rectangular, and is on a corner site with a 3-bay chamfered entrance corner with a pavilion on top.[4] Its facade features green and cream faience and terracotta tiles,[2][4] and it has 4 bays facing Gosvenor street and 6 bays facing Oxford road. It has a small attic and a slate roof.[4]
Much of the original interior, including plasterwork, the balcony and the vaulted ceiling, is still present in the building.[3] It was listed by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building on 3 October 1974.[4]