Nobles Amusments Manchester

[coppinpr]

I was browsing YouTube yesterday and came across a very interesting video about the great Woolworths fire in Manchester in 1979 (not slot-related I know but well worth a look). The building was a massive converted bonded warehouse. The fire was a disaster that killed 10 people and highlighted a lot of problems with both building regs and flammable materials.

But I digress. In the video, I saw a photo of the building taken after the fire, but I don't know what year, showing the massive Nobles Amusement Arcade that took up pretty much all the ground floor frontage and extended onto the floor above. I thought it might be interesting to look up the history of the arcade. Strangely, I couldn't find what date it opened, but there was a lot of info about its closing down. It must have been a great earner (or valuable asset) for the Noble brothers because they really did not want to leave the site so that it could be demolished to make way for modern shopping. In fact it took 7 years and then they had to be evicted (2022 I think). I believe the amusements closed some years earlier following the death of one of the brothers. Does anyone know when they moved into the site? I'm guessing 1980.

[pennymachines]

According to manchestersfinest.com, after the fire,

...it was closed for years before being turned into the amusement arcade and night club – both of which quickly became known as dirty, loud and cheap places to throw your money away.

So I'm guessing mid to late 1980s at the earliest. Yuck

[aristomatic]

Had plenty of fun in 21 Piccadilly when it first opened... the nightclub that is...

It was a strange situation as the freeholder of the building was the widow of one brother and the other brother was the tenant of the ground floor arcade. Eventually she had him evicted to allow the building to be converted into a hotel and retail complex, which it remains as.

[slotalot]

The Nobles Manchester arcade finally opened its doors in mid 1988, and I believe Barry Noble was already dead by that time.
But as always, I could be wrong.

[coppinpr]

I believe Barry Noble was already dead by that time.

Barry Noble died on the Isle of Man in 1985 of a heart attack. He was 43 years old. At the height of his success he owned eight cars, three homes, 40 amusement arcades and seven nightclubs.

But it was the death of Michael Noble in 2006 (also in his 40's I believe) that caused the rift between his widow and the remaining brother Phillip which ran on for years until Phillip's application for the court to leave Nobles in place until 2022 was thrown out, resulting in the eviction.

[special when lit]

...closed for years before being turned into the amusement arcade and night club – both of which quickly became known as dirty, loud and cheap places to throw your money away.

Sounds like my kind of place!

[brigham]

Sounds like the usual narrow-minded journalism you would expect from an American who probably never visited the place.

[coppinpr]

Sounds like the usual narrow-minded journalism you would expect from an American who probably never visited the place

I'm sorry, why do you think that was written by an American?

The upstairs sofas were perfect for some light-to-heavy petting, as it was almost pitch black most of the time

Sounds like my first flat.