Latest news with #Cornerhouse
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Date set for return of cinema to Nottingham Cornerhouse
The Cornerhouse in Nottingham will see the return of cinema screenings after a new operator took over its January Cineworld said it would leave the 14-screen Burton Street cinema as part of a UK-wide restructure of the business, in a decision the Cornerhouse said was "unfortunate".Cinema chain Vue confirmed it was taking over following a temporary closure and new-look cinema, which includes VIP seating and new projection technology, will open its doors to movie buffs from 27 June. Narinder Shergill, Vue UK & Ireland general manager, said: "We're so pleased that we've been able to keep providing visitors to The Cornerhouse, with somewhere to see the latest blockbusters, event cinema and classic favourites, and we look forward to opening our doors."
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Warm, gooey and fun - why I'm a fan of Nottingham's latest food shop Insomnia Cookies
Nottingham gets plenty of flak - the council's finances (or lack of), the number of stabbings, the amount of homeless people on streets to name but a few. But there's one area where we excel - and that's the city's food and drink scene. It's easy to be blasé about the vast array of restaurants, cafes, pubs, takeaways and shops selling delicious things to eat and drink. Whether you're a strong supporter of small locally-owned independent businesses or huge global chains, there really is something for every taste and budget. No matter what street you walk down - one off Old Market Square, through Hockley, the Lace Market, Victoria Centre or around the Cornerhouse, your next meal or snack is waiting. If you're a businessman or woman looking to wine and dine a client, a family with young kids, pensioners, on date night or a student, there is so much to get stuck into. READ MORE: 'We'll be forced to close' says Old Vol pub owner if expansion plans not approved READ MORE: Pub redundancies confirmed as brewery ends lease despite record sales The news that The Ivy is planning on opening a restaurant here has been hailed excellent news, demonstrating that a big brand has confidence in the city. The impending arrival of Six by Nico, another UK-wide name with 12 locations, is another exciting prospect. The quirky tasting menus, which change every six weeks, is sure to draw food lovers into the city centre. Only this week I reported on 81 Deli opening in Carrington Street, selling top quality artisan sandwiches. Despite hospitality owners repeatedly telling me how tough the industry is, there's always something new around the corner because these people have a passion for food. They're certainly not in the business to get rich. Another new opening this week was Insomnia Cookies - a famous American brand with 300 shops across the US, Canada and now the UK. First Manchester, then Sheffield and now Nottingham, three cities with huge student populations. The concept revolves around freshly baked cookies - available to buy in the shop in Angel Row or via delivery. We went along to cover the opening and obviously had to try the goods while we were there. It was noon on Tuesday, an hour after the shop had opened for the day, and there was a constant stream of folk coming in, and not just students. The shop's bright and funky with colourful neon lights, vibrant purple decor and an inviting aroma coming from the oven behind the counter. With 22 different flavours, including vegan and gluten-free cookies, it was tricky to narrow it down. Salted caramel, peanut butter, lemon and white chocolate, chocolate chunk, oh where to start? The classics and limited edition cookies are £2.25 making them an affordable treat for anyone craving a sugar fix. At £3.95, the deluxe range are getting on for twice the size and come with pimped up flavours such as biscoff and triple chocolate chunk. I tried a classic chocolate chunk. I could tell it was warm before I even touched it, just by looking at the gooey choccy pieces on top. I rarely buy supermarket cookies because they're can be dry and crumbly and quite underwhelming . But this was in a different league, almost as if it's homemade rather than mass produced. Slightly crisp around the edges, the centre is soft and gooey and the warmth definitely gives your taste buds a happy feeling, and finger-licking satisfaction. FYI I was sharing, so I feel vindicated trying a deluxe confetti cookie too. It's made with sprinkles and white chocolate and tastes like birthday cake. Trialling a 5am closure, I can see sweet-toothed students, who don't fancy a kebab or McDonald's, piling in here after a night out at Ocean or ordering them for home delivery when the late-night munchies strike. It's fun, affordable and another welcome piece in Nottingham's foodie jigsaw. If I'm being honest, the best I've ever tasted are from Nottingham's Block Party Bakery - they are the king of cookies although you can't just walk in and pick one up. Insomnia Cookies are a close second.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
It was once a place for the 'dirty mac brigade' - but what about its future?
The future now looks bleak for a boarded-up building in Manchester city centre with a rather colourful past dating back over 100 years. Ten years ago, the old Cornerhouse cinema building just off Oxford Street station closed. Except for a group of squatters who turned the building into a temporary art gallery in 2017, the 115-year-old building has lain empty and abandoned. Now, with the work starting in the next few weeks to upgrade Manchester Oxford Road station, the future of this building with a colourful past looks bleak. Most recently, it was used as the Cornerhouse cinema until 2015. According to the Cinema Treasures website, the building opened on May 2, 1935, as the Tatler New Theatre. It was Manchester's first news cinema, where people paid to watch news reels to find out what was happening around the world. READ MORE: Candid photos of Salford's people from the 1970s and '80s READ MORE: 'Remember me, they seem to be saying' - Moving photographs of Salford lives in the 1970s and '80s The 300-seat cinema showed a collection of news, cartoons, sports, and travel films to the paying public. However, by the early 1950s, the public's consumption of news in cinemas started to decline. Like other newsreel cinemas, the Tatler adapted its output to show more cartoons, such as Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry, as well as general-interest topics. However, as fewer new cartoons began to be made, the old newsreel cinema needed to change again to survive. In November 1961, the cinema underwent extensive alterations. It reinvented itself as the Classic Tatler Cinema, showing arthouse, film noir, Westerns, and foreign language films. But in 1969, when the Tatler became the Tatler Cinema Club, eyebrows were raised. The cinema began showing 'uncensored' and adult films to a members-only audience. Schlock horror and erotic films were a world away from the Looney Tunes cartoon slapstick that delighted audiences in the 1950s. To become a member, you paid £1 a year and seven shillings and sixpence for every show you attended. Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and, Breaking News group by clicking this link The M.E.N spoke to the cinema's publicity controller for the first anniversary of Tatler's reinvention as an 'uncensored' cinema. A story appearing in the newspaper on May 1, 1970, read: "You never get the feeling that 42-year-old Pat Brown, publicity controller for Classic cinemas, does not mind a bit of outrageous publicity. "On the foyer walls of the Tatler Cinema Club, Manchester, are posters offering the current and future offerings. He points them out so you do not miss them. 'Lila,' 'Nake Psyche,' 'Nymphs Anonymous,' Blackmail Wives,' 'Weekend Lovers,' and 'Odd Lovers.' It is that kind of cinema." The Tatler's manager, Jack Brannan, claimed it was easier to run than an ordinary cinema as there was "no rowdy element". However, Mr Brannan was disconcerted by the fact that only two per cent of the clientele were women. "In Portsmouth it's 25 per cent, about the same as in London. But then, you're not so cosmopolitan up here," he said. Tatler's publicity manager Pat Brown also claimed the films they showed erred more towards "a heavy bias towards human emotions" than outright pornography. However, looking through the titles of the movies advertised at the cinema in the M.E.N's entertainment section as the years progressed suggests things continued in a more "adult" direction. By the mid-1970s, the Tatler was also staging live nude shows with female strippers during the intervals. The general perception was that it was the 'dirty raincoat brigade' that frequented the cinema. In November 1974, a reporter for the M.E.N asked Mrs Dunn, the cinema's manager, how many members there were. They wrote: "She wasn't quite sure and called to her colleague at the kiosk for the score. 'At the last check,' Mr McMullen said, smiling over his girlie mages, 'it was 29,687. And we've had another 16 today.'" Mrs Dunn also assured the journalist that all those wanting membership were "carefully vetted" before they got in. She said: "We make them wait an hour after filling in the form. It gives me a good chance to take a proper look at them." However, not everyone was a fan of the cinema. Rising interest in the feminist movement in the 1970s reportedly led to frequent raids and protests at the club. In 1981, the Tatler Cinema Club was renamed the Glamour Cinema Club. Like its predecessor, the cinema continued to show the same type of adult fare, including striptease shows, to its members. In 1985, the cinema was taken over as part of the Cornerhouse, Manchester's centre for contemporary visual arts and screened independent and experimental arts films. Alongside the main building on Oxford Street, the Cornerhouse consisted of three cinemas (the largest of which was in the former Tatler building), galleries, a bookshop, a bar and a restaurant. The Manchester Modernists Society described the Cornerhouse as "ahead of its time" and "a little piece of Berlin or New York in Manchester." A place frequented by artists, writers, and movie buffs and a once favoured haunt of ex-Manchester United legend Eric Cantona. However, in 2015, it was announced that Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company would merge to form HOME. The new organisations moved into the premises at the HOME arts centre and theatre complex on First Street. With that, Manchester's last remaining multiplex cinema shut its doors for what might be the last time and has remained empty ever since. Work to upgrade Manchester Oxford Road station is set to start in the next few weeks, with Network Rail investing £2.7m into redesigning the station. This will result in the station being closed for up to two years, as major plans to create longer platforms to help ease rail congestion finally get under way. The M.E.N contacted Network Rail, the owners of the former cinema building, and asked if they could clarify its future. A Network Rail spokesperson said: "Network Rail is working with construction specialists to consider different locations for the tower cranes which will be needed to lift construction materials into the station. Balancing heritage, and other impacts, our current preferred location for one of the cranes is the footprint of the former Screen One building [former Tatler cinema]. "Through our public consultation, we are asking for people's views about the project, and the arrangements for its construction, including its impact on the former Screen One building. "Alongside the remodelling of the station Manchester City Council, Network Rail and Transport for Greater Manchester are working together to develop a Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) for the Oxford Road Station area, which will identify longer term uses of the site, beyond the construction of the project." Network Rail's reply suggests the future of the former cinema now hangs in the balance. The building could potentially be demolished, and the land used as the site for one of the cranes involved in rebuilding the station. When a photograph of the old Tatler Cinema was posted to the Manchester History Facebook group in December 2024, many people shared their memories in the comments. One person said: "Before it became a haunt for the dirty mack brigade, in the late '50s and early '60s, my dad took me here every Friday to see the children's cartoons, like Tweety Pie and Sylvester." Another remembered: "Myself and a group of friends watched Cliff Richard there in the film 'Summer Holiday'. It was in the days when the film played continuously, so you could go in at any time and stay there." However, others commented on their memories of walking past when it operated as an 'uncensored' cinema. One person said: "My Mother wouldn't even let me sit on the side of the bus (103) where we could see the titles as we went past!" Another said: "[I] used to feel very embarrassed as a young innocent girl walking past it to get to the station." Another said: "Went once as part of a group of fellow 15-year-olds, all wearing platform shoes and trench coats to try to look like the requisite 21-year-olds. We must have looked hilarious!" No matter what way you look at the old Tatler/Cornerhouse cinema, there's no doubt it's had many lives. From the best place to see arthouse and independent films in Manchester, to a seedy picture palace screening adult films to an equally seedy audience - it's a place with a colourful past, but its future looks bleak.
