numbers of Irish immigrants settled in Hulme, and in various other districts of Manchester. The Tithe award for Hulme was made in 1854. In 1863 members of the Hulme Athenaeum club for working men established an association football club, believed to be the earliest example in the city and in the county of Lancashire. Records of association games in the 1860s and 1870s exist with the club surviving into the early 1870s. The foundation stone of the first school erected by the Manchester School Board was laid in Vine Street, Hulme, on 11 June 1874 by Herbert Birley, chairman of the board, and the school was opened on 9 August 1875. Other board schools in Hulme were at Hamer Street (1872), Zion Chapel (1875), Lloyd Street (1878), Mulberry Street (1881), Upper Jackson Street (1883), Bangor Street (1886) and Duke Street (1890). In 1913 it was said "It is probable that in no northern city is the divergence between classes so marked as it is becoming in Manchester. Among the 80,000 inhabitants, for example, of Hulme, the poorest and most neglected district of the city, is to be found only a tiny minority of persons of much education and refinement, these being with rare exceptions doctors, or ministers of the various religious denominations, and their wives" In the early 20th century transport in Hulme was improved when the existing horse bus services were replaced by electric trams. These services connected Hulme with the suburbs further south, Moss Side, Whalley Range and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Boston Street and Preston Street carried complementary single lines of track southwards from Jackson Street. From 1949 the tram services were withdrawn and replaced by the motorbuses of Manchester Corporation Transport. Two conjoined theatres were built in Hulme, the Hulme Hippodrome and The Playhouse, opening in 1901 and 1902 respectively. The Playhouse was later used as a BBC studio for 30 years (1955-1986) and for a short time opened as the Nia Centre (1991-1997) but closed due to financial problems. It currently is run by Niamos CIC. Hulme Hippodrome was a variety theatre until 1960, then a bingo hall and social club, then purchased by the controversial religious charity, Gilbert Deya Ministries in 2003 and it is currently shuttered. A campaign group exists, Save Hulme Hippodrome. Both theatres are Grade 2 listed buildings. Post War Housing Hulme had been heavily bombed during World War II and the majority of