Rotters, Oxford Street, 1980s. (c) stagedoor at flickr.
For people in the 40-ish age bracket, Rotters probably evokes fond memories as a pulling place despite it being a bit of a tip. With its large dance floors, electrified ale and over-cautious bouncers, this wasn't the best club in town, but one which was popular with many and one of the first real cattlemarket type clubs. The club had two rooms from memory, one with a long bar in, with seating and dance floor in the other room. A large theatre type staircase also swept its way grandly up to the toilets situated in the first floor, bizarrely sat well out of the way of the bouncers sight and therefore a regular point of kick-offs. Indeed if you were lucky (?) you could find yourself tumbling down the stairs as a full scale brawl erupted behind you! Closed at the beginning of the '90s, this is still a part of Manchester's history, and well worthy of a mention on here.
As the above flyer suggests, originally Rotters was the Gaumont Theatre, opened in 1935 on the site of the just demolished Hippodrome Theatre on the same site. It was a lavish theatre seating 2,300, with a double height entrance, mirror-lined foyer and a grand central staircase leading to the 1,000-capacity circle [1] (the very same stairs that led to the toilets in Rotters!). In the basement was the Gaumont Long Bar. The exterior was in Italian Renaissance style with a huge neon display, reminiscent of an American theatre (probably why the Long Bar was so popular with Yank servicemen). The Gaumont was one of Manchester's most popular theatres but it closed suddenly in 1973 until it reopened as a first floor, ground floor and basement club, Romanoffs. It quickly became Rotters with its fake ceiling hiding the glorious old cinema fittings.
The Gaumont Long Bar also closed and as the photo below shows, did at one time become another public house, The Place Next Door.
Sadly, in their wisdom Manchester City Council felt that what was needed was less fantastic old buildings and more car parks so the Gaumont and Rotters were demolished in the '90s.
Thankfully, the Wurlitzer organ on display in the Gaumont Theatre is still in use today at Folly Farm in South Wales, having been previously in display at the Granada Studios Tours (closed) then owned by the Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust [2].
