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THE ABC CINEMA Sheffield


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13 minutes ago, Poacher said:

Went to the ABC MINORS every Saturday morning for Flash Gordon (still have nightmares about the 'clay men') and cartoons and if it was your birthday you took your birthday card up on stage (can't remember what the reward was) I believe the adult in the pictures was Uncle Charlie?? My friend took an old battered birthday card up there for weeks.

They also sold individual badges with letters on them, if you had the whole set it spelled A B C M I N O R S.

hehe

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Is this the famous corridor on Angel Street everyone used to queue up in before films at the ABC Cinema?

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It certainly is. The three windows on the left were sometimes decorated to illustrate a film. I heard that at the time of "Where Eagles Dare" there were models of cable cars there.

Further down you can see two lights over the exits. The first was used as the Minors' entrance on a Saturday morning, and the exit from Screen 2. You can just make out the two illuminated poster boxes on the left. Across the road there is a bus waiting, sorry but I can't give any more details about the bus or its driver.

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1 hour ago, Hopman said:

It certainly is. The three windows on the left were sometimes decorated to illustrate a film. I heard that at the time of "Where Eagles Dare" there were models of cable cars there.

Further down you can see two lights over the exits. The first was used as the Minors' entrance on a Saturday morning, and the exit from Screen 2. You can just make out the two illuminated poster boxes on the left. Across the road there is a bus waiting, sorry but I can't give any more details about the bus or its driver.

 

Ah yes! Now I see the exits under the lights! Would never have noticed those!

Thank you my friend!

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Crying shame about the loss of this beautiful theatre. The asset strippers who bought and then demolished it should be horse-whipped!

 

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I was the agent of the landlord in respect of Fargate Court, built 1960, I am amazed that it hasn’t been condemned, it’s basement rooms were constantly flooded, the lifts occasionally worked, and  unsurprisingly tenants couldn’t wait to get out. The ABC was built a year later, I can’t imagine that building standards had improved, and most importantly it was people heavy (1300 capacity), a tragedy there could have seen a death toll that vastly exceeded that of the Sheffield Blitz, it had passed it’s sell by date.

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On 05/02/2021 at 15:22, DaveJC said:

The ABC was built a year later, I can’t imagine that building standards had improved, and most importantly it was people heavy (1300 capacity), a tragedy there could have seen a death toll that vastly exceeded that of the Sheffield Blitz, it had passed its sell by date.

The ABC was built to a different specification. Whatever deficiencies there were in Fargate Court, I can't see how the two buildings can be compared. The mention of flooding at Fargate Court  was not a problem at the cinema. You will recall that Angel Street has a pronounced slope. The properties at ground floor level were the entrance into the cinema foyer, plus retail units (see the pictures elsewhere). At the back of the retail units was a loading bay.

The most dangerous aspect of these shops was the paint store. On one occasion there was a fire here one night. The Fire Service dealt with it efficiently; there was a slight smell of smoke the following morning but there was no damage to the fabric of the building. The only damage was when the Firemen's axes broke through a door.

Had it been necessary to evacuate the cinema, it was well provisioned for in terms of emergency exits. There were two exits at the screen end, one on each side. One led to the passageway where people queued, the other led down stairs to Bank Street. Standing on the stage, there was another way out on the right, the entrance used as the front stalls entrance which led to the cafe area and then the main entrance through the foyer. The main entrance could also be used as an exit, again leading to the cafe and the foyer. At the rear of the auditorium , again on the right was the rear lounge exit stairs leading down to the arcade again.

Regular Fire drills were held so the staff were well briefed on evacuation measures. There was a system of emergency lighting in the auditorium which could be switched on from the entrance. This brought up the house lights irrespective of any projectionist switches. All through the building was an emergency lighting system which ran off a battery power supply which was kept charged up, with regular overnight  discharge testing.

The building could be emptied in ten minutes, so a film finishing at ten past ten allowed enough time to reach a pub on the outskirts in time for Last Orders.

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The size and both picture and sound quality of modern day TV sets, coupled with watching your movie in the comfort of your own home has to have an effect on cinema attendances, who’s admission charges are not cheap.

 

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Nice shot  I went to see "The Yellow Rolls-Royce" there that week. I also frequently shopped at Curtis' records.... and I was a member of the Universal Health Club.

Three out of three !😁

 

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I used to meet up with my mum in their coffee bar at weekends when I was about 13.  My parents had just got divorced and I lived with my dad, so that was my time to spend with ma.  

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Lots of pictures of the cinema just added to Picture Sheffield. Plus other cinemas too. Just select the new images tab there.

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I think the question has been raised before and the answer was that an organ was in place in front of , but below .the screen. Must say ,I never noticed it….my attention probably concentrating on the young woman I was with.

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From what I recall, there was never a permanent organ at the ABC. I suspect that photos which show one were taken at special occasions. I doubt there was room under the floor for one as below the  floor would have been the loading bay for the shops fronting Angel Street. Surely cinema organs were a throwback to silent film accompaniment, and the cinema was built to modern (for the time) specifications.

However, on the final night of the Gaumont, the Chief Projectionist there, was interviewed and said when he first worked a the Gaumont (or it might have been the Regent at that time) his first job in the morning was to bail out the water which had accumulated overnight in the organ lift shaft, presumably fed by a natural spring in Barkers Pool..

 

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There was a permanent organ from opening based at the centre front.

It had a full time organist called Albert Brierly, who would play in the interval.

My dad was manager from when it opened in 1961 (can be found on Pathe news) until we moved South in the mid 60's.

His assistant was Paul Gregg who now runs the biggest theatre group in the UK.

It was the most amazing cinema with free live stage shows for pensioners which I appeared in from time to time as did my sister 

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On 30/03/2007 at 23:18, Guest mega_monty said:

ABC reminds of my mum taking me to see ET would have been about 1983 I would think, all the girls and woman were crying.

but seem to remember before then been taken there to see a Tufty road safety film, think it was called the Tufty club or something and you got a Tufty badge and story book.

I remember tufty too

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Saw “Summer Holiday” with Cliff Richard & The Shadows here on initial release, after School - Central Technical School, situated at the corner of West Street & Leopold Street. Now partly integrated into the Leopold  Hotel. On my last visit to Sheffield many years ago, we stayed there. They have an “Old Boys” book for former members to sign. Once I’d mentioned the former link, had a guided tour and saw old pupils photos on the walls. Near the restaurant there was one showing members of the unique school Silver Band! I was next to Mr Hughes the band master. I played the E flat soprano cornet. Many other former pupils had signed, including Joe Cocker, he’d made a derogatory comment in the book. He’d studied for a building diploma. I was on the engineering course. A great shame that the educational establishment did away with Technical Schools! I Left CTS in the Summer of 1964!

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I used to go the ABC every Saturday and remember winning a fact dress contest as a cat. I used to absolutely love the three Stooges what memories.

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I used to go to the ABC back in the 70's as a kid for the Saturday 'ABC Minors' thing.

Anyone who'd had a birthday in the last week would bring their cards as proof then were paraded on the stage where we all sang 'happy birthday' and they got a free ticket for next week's show.

Then we'd sing the ABC Minors song.....

"We are the boys and girls well known as

The minors of the ABC

We like to laugh and have a sing song

....I can't remember the rest.

For the shilling entrance fee we got a full 2 hours of cartoons, comedy and features. I absolutely loved it. Happy days.

Jay.

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We are the boys and girls well known as

Minors of the ABC

And every Saturday we line up

To see the films we like

And shout aloud with glee

We love to laugh and have a sing-song

Just a happy crowd are we

We’re all pals together

We’re minors of the ABC.image.png.cc844e037cd9a34a08bda3c117514401.png

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Leadfarmer's post above highlights two solutions to the challenge facing the UK cinema industry in the early 1980s. It was a time when the effects of the writers' strike in Hollywood were beginning to be felt. Although there were some quality films coming through, there was a lot of dross and people were deserting the cinemas all over the county. The chains responded by reducing their estates. Rank closed several screens in one go, whereas ABC reduced their numbers gradually. The result was that in some towns where there had been two competing chains, customers now found there to be only the one cinema in their town.

At the same time home video began to take off and the local video hire place became a common sight. The Gaumont advert above shows that Rank took advantage of this new craze by opening their own store.

Following the ending of the ABC Saturday morning Minors' presentations (see the picture of Les Allen at the last Minors' Show above), it was felt that some steps needed to bring back the younger element, hence the family oriented showing advertised above of the first Star Trek Film. (It could be argued that this was not the most exciting of film for a younger audience) It was during the children's holidays that the cinemas made their money from sales of food and drink.

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