The Carlton Club has been a bustling social hub for more than a century. Now it faces being evicted from its premises

In a sprawling white building in the south Manchester suburb of Whalley Range, dozens of people – some barely out of their teens, others well into retirement – are gathered around tables, heads together, scribbling answers on to quiz sheets.

In another room, an art class is under way, while elsewhere in the building, which stands on a residential street, a group are slouched across battered leather sofas, watching Manchester City take on Inter Milan in the Champions League.