Thanks to all those who have provided so much info. on this thread. I thought I'd never know anything about Ohmy's Circus.
As an aside, Hippodrome is a Greek word, meaning a horse racing track: Hippos=Horse, Dromos= a path or track. (yes, I did 2 years Greek at school) I don't think any of the multitude of Hippodromes in England would have been much use for that.
I was curious about the dates as well ... here are some adverts with dates they appeared ....
There's a real danger that the left will drag Britain back to the 1970s, with secure well-paid jobs, ample housing, properly-funded NHS and social care, free tuition, student grants, final salary pensions, affordable rail fares and fabulous films and music. David Osland 2025
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
There's a real danger that the left will drag Britain back to the 1970s, with secure well-paid jobs, ample housing, properly-funded NHS and social care, free tuition, student grants, final salary pensions, affordable rail fares and fabulous films and music. David Osland 2025
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
"The Hippodrome Theatre in Grange Road dates back to the year 1888, when it was opened by Mr Joseph Ohmy as Ohmy's Grand Circus, being designed and constructed so as to be convertible into either a theatre or a circus. Two years later it became the Gaiety, and early in the following year it was opened by Mr Ellis Brammall, jun. as a music hall. The same year it was converted to 'legitimate drama' under the management of John Riley, who for many years had been associated with Mr Dennis Grannell at the Argyle. It was then termed the Metropole Theatre. Thus continued for eight years, when Mr W W Kelly became the proprietor and ran it on high-class lines until 1905, when he concentrated his energies on the New Theatre Royal, then enlarged and beautified. After that the Hippodrome remained closed for a time, but it was subsequently acquired by Mr Walter de Freece, and for the last four of five years (nb written in c1913) has been conducted as the home of popular drama under the able and energetic management of Mr Frank Weston"
The Co-op must have been built around the remains of the Hippodrome because when the back of the shop suffered bomb damage a lot of stuff was throw out at the back and some of it was theatre bits and pieces including rolls of tickets as if from a pay box,of course being kids we made off with them. There must have been a storeroom untouched when the rebuilding was carried out.
I dont think the theatre was totally demolished. After a bombing raid in which the co-op was damaged a lot of stuff was thrown out of the back and amongst it was were rolls of theatre tickets and programmes as though there had been a storeroom untouched. I took some home, long since gone alas.
I don't think any of the multitude of Hippodromes in England would have been much use for that. 
