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The closure notices have gone up and 25 members of staff have lost their jobs – but if the past is any guide, it is probably safe to say we haven’t heard the last of Nottingham’s Malt Cross.

It has had a chequered history since it was built in 1877 but has always made a comeback from various forms of adversity.

No one knows more about the Malt Cross than music hall historian Trevor Lee, who has researched its past in great detail and sent us many of the photographs published here.

Mr Lee, from Annesley Woodhouse, is founder member of the Derby and Nottingham Music Hall Association (DNMHA), and has been involved in various developments at the Malt Cross since 1982 when it was taken over by licensees Steve Klim and Les Purdy.

"I supported their licence application at the time - I even got the support of music hall expert Roy Hudd. I have a bulging file on the Malt Cross and have been involved in all the refurbishments since then," he said.

(Image: Trevor Lee, Derby and Nottingham Music Hall Association)

"There is no doubt that the Malt Cross is unique. Wilton's in London is the only comparable building of its age. It really is a gem.

"I am bitterly disappointed by the latest news. I hope someone with vision can come up with a proposal that will enable it to continue as a performance venue and I would immediately attach myself to any efforts to revive it."

Mr Lee, who gives talks about the Malt Cross, and the history of music hall, has even appeared on the stage of the St James's Street venue, once playing skiffle there, and as part of a DNMHA presentation.

He added: "It is a great loss and I sincerely hope some entrepreneur can come up with a use for it."

The venue was named after a Malt Cross which stood between the ends of St James’s Street and Market Street, and was first mentioned in 1495.

In 1641 it was described as standing ten steps high, and as a place where all proclamations were published. The original cross was pulled down in 1714 to be replaced by a covered cross but then sold off in 1804.

The music hall was built by a Nottingham entrepreneur named Charles Weldon, who made his fortune as a plumber, with borrowed money on the site of an 18th century inn originally called The Roebuck.

(Image: Trevor Lee, Derby and Nottingham Music Hall Association)

He recruited architect Edwin Hill whose plans included an impressive glazed roof arching over an ornately styled two-tier performance space.

It was meant to be made from cast iron frames but instead was constructed out of laminated timber … apparently without nails or bolts to hold it together. The site also features a sandstone cave which forms part of Nottingham's cave network. It was originally the ale cellar for the music hall but was then used as a performance and education space.

(Image: Trevor Lee, Derby and Nottingham Music Hall Association)

The Malt Cross opened on October 2 1877 in time for Goose Fair and as well as its fine menu, entertainment was provided by the Alhambra Band.

Variety entertainment was staged every Wednesday afternoon, attracting the managers of other music halls in the town, including St George’s Hall, the Palace of Varieties and the Talbot, to drop in and check out the local talent.

In 1880, Weldon’s money problems caught up with him when a firm of brewers foreclosed the mortgage and the venue was run, with varying success, by managers.

One, named William Hulse, offered “not only the handsomest but the largest lounging vault in the United Kingdom. Also curiosities and speciments too numerous to mention”.

(Image: Trevor Lee, Derby and Nottingham Music Hall Association)

In 1901, according to Victorian Nottingham, Lewis T Donkersley – better known as operatic comedian Alec Lewis - was the proprietor.

A reporter of the day went along to review the show.

The first thing he noticed was how impatient was the audience. As soon as one turn had finished, they were heard to shout: “Pull up that there winder blind; now then you catgut scrapers, let’s have a haporth of liveliness”.

(Image: Supplied by Rick Wilde)

The reporter continued: “Mamselle Someone tripped upon the stage and began to throw Taglioni and Perea Nena into the shade by her springs and poses, when a seedy wretch in the body of the hall, who had thrust himself as close to the footlights as possible, shouted out to the whirling bundle of gossamer, to “show her precious legs”!

“Mamselle Someone, whose name we cannot here immortalise for the simple reason that we did not catch it, having finished her pirouettes and poses, the evening’s amusements were brought to a close by a ballet, in which two men figured as a woman and a clown, the chief attraction being the vehemence with which they buffeted and knocked each other about, to the intense delight of the audience.

(Image: Trevor Lee, Derby and Nottingham Music Hall Association)

“During the evening Superintendent Palethorpe quietly entered the body of the hall about ten o’clock and without any fuss, collared one young fellow who happened to be wanted for robbery.”

The Malt Cross music hall closed just before the outbreak of World War 1 when it lost its licence ... because of the reputation it acquired as a haunt of prostitutes.

The site was sold in 1914 and became a storage warehouse run by H.G. Chapman & Watson. This business thrived for over 40 years, ensuring that the music hall site was not demolished, as was the fate of the vast majority of Nottingham's other music halls.

In 1967 the site was sold to the famous Berni brothers, Mario and Romano, who converted the lower floors into a glamorous Italian restaurant called Trattoria Conti.

The upper floors were reopened as a live music venue in 1983 and brought the old music hall traditions back to the Malt Cross.

(Image: Trevor Lee, Derby and Nottingham Music Hall Association)

In 1989 the site became The Potter's House and operated as a Christian café. Then in 1997 the Malt Cross was redeveloped as a modern music and arts venue thanks to a £2 million Heritage Lottery grant and in 2003 it was set up as a charitable trust.

In 2014 it was granted £1.38 million to redevelop the lower floors of the music hall and reunite the upper and lower areas of the site for the first time since 1967; but since then, difficult trading conditions have forced its closure. The hope is it will only be temporary.