“There were still signs of its former life as a bustling community club” – Urban explorer visits The Adelphi Lads Club

Images from inside a derelict Salford lads club are providing what could be a last glimpse of the iconic building which is due to be demolished.

The Adelphi Lads Club, on the corner of Cannon Street and North George Street, has become derelict since it closed in 2008.

Plans have been submitted and passed to demolish the building and build an apartment block and a commercial unit but as it stands, the old building, which holds a lot of memories for the local community, is still hanging on.

In 2010 a fire ripped through the main hall. Hundreds of historic pictures and memorials to former members who fought and died in both world wars were lost.

A Yorkshire-based urban explorer, who operates as Lost Places & Forgotten Faces, accessed the building to take shots of what remains.

He said: “As an urban explorer, I’m always visiting new towns and areas to seek out any abandoned, derelict, forgotten or lost places.

“Salford is rich in history, and therefore has many such buildings. I had read about the 2010 fire at the Adelphi Lads Club and decided to come and see if it was still there.”

He continued: “Even though the building has been badly vandalised and set on fire, there were still signs of its former life as a bustling community club.

“Snooker balls still on the table, almost as if a game is still in motion, but never finished. A lone boxing glove, that has probably laid out many a would-be fighter, sat unworn for over a decade.

“I even found an old Adelphi Club certificate, dated 2000, still hanging on the wall.”

“With the plans for demolition underway, I can’t help but think, what if they could have worked to restore the building and reopen it as a youth centre for young people growing up in that area of Salford?

“It’s places like this that remind me just how much I love urban exploring.”

The Adelphi Lads Club was formed in 1888 as a way to give local boys from deprived areas a venue to spend their free time and keep them out of trouble. In the 1950s, it was one of the oldest surviving traditional lads clubs in Britain. But its impact on the community weakened, and numbers dropped forcing it to close.

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For more information on the history of The Adelphi Lads Club, visit The Manchester and Salford Family History website.