Wolstenholme Hall where Nutters was could be turned into an Albert’s

Fresh plans for the 1800s building in Norden, Rochdale, would see the vacant venue brought back to life as an Albert’s restaurant.

Elle R Leisure – the company behind Albert’s and Dukes 92 – has outlined its vision for the Norden site. 

Bosses want it to become much more than a restaurant, with plans for a bar, function room and a private dining space. 

There has been talk of the venue, off Edenfield Road, being transformed since Nutters restaurant closed in 2021 after three decades. 

Run by award-winning chef Andrew Nutter, it closed due to the "immense suffering" caused by the pandemic.

Plans to transform the hall into an Albert’s venue were approved by Rochdale Council last year.

The proposals were later withdrawn following conversations with planning officers so finer details could be tweaked. 

The latest planning application retains many of the specifics of the old blueprints, with current extensions at the site to be demolished to make way for a dining terrace and a feature staircase.

A new terrace planned for Albert's at Wolstenholme Hall in Norden (Picture: Rochdale Council/Elle R Leisure)

A glazed "winter garden" around the south east corner of the hall is proposed. 

The new restaurant would boast 180 covers a night alongside a private dining room for up to 40 people.

There would also be two function rooms for 80 and 150 people. 

An overspill car park with 58 spaces, as well as a drop-off facility for the function room, are also in the new plans. 

Bosses say the business would contribute more than £5m to the local economy and create 80 jobs.

Wolstenholme Hall has been an iconic feature on the edge of since 1850. It was used as a hospital from around 1920 until the late 1970s before being turned into a nightclub. 

After the club closed in 1988, the building stood vacant for four years before being bought by Whitbread for use as restaurant.

In 2003, it was purchased by Rodney Nutter – father of chef Andrew – and used as an eatery until 2021. 

Elle R Leisure runs four Albert’s restaurants- in Manchester city centre, Standish, Worsley and Didsbury. 

Planning papers read: “The design concept is based on recreating the existing Albert’s model of clean, modern and contemporary styling, so that the development is recognisably an Albert’s restaurant, while respecting and responding to the character of the existing building and the context of the site.

“The clear, open plan nature of the Albert’s model is at odds with the current arrangement of the existing building in which the haphazard ground floor extensions create an incoherent layout and obscure much of the character of the existing house.”