'Everything with him was just on 11'....Tributes to the man behind the maddest shop front in Manchester
manchestereveningnews.co.ukThe owner behind one of the ‘maddest’ shop fronts in Greater Manchester, pleasing football fans heading to Old Trafford, has died.
Tommy Dolan’s House of Fires on Talbot Road, opposite Trafford Bar tram stop, is known across the city-region for its wild designs and posters - including mock-up’s of Tommy as Yul Brynner from The King And I alongside the caption ‘Yul save plenty’ - promoting the fireplace showroom.
Tommy’s family said the man behind the shop, which was open for more than 30 years, lived just a crazy life as the extravagant signs would suggest - from cooking for David Bowie to a three-day bender with The Prodigy’s Keith Flint. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features. Born in Birmingham to Irish parents, Tommy moved to Salford just a few months into his life.
Youngest son TJ Dolan, 36, said he began his career working as a chef at the Piccadilly Hotel in the 60s. “He always used to say he was a Hulme lad because that’s where he went to school but he was living in Salford by the time he was nine months’ old,” TJ told the M.E.N. “He left school at 16 with absolutely no education - he didn’t take any exams because I don't think he expected he’d pass any. “His parents advised him to get stuck into work so he went into catering as he had a friend already doing that.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk
