As a child growing up in the 70's I have strong memories of going to the ABC on a Saturday morning with cousins and friends. It was the highlight of the week. Sweets would be purchased seats would be taken, and then it was off with the Saturday morning minors song. If you was lucky enough to have had a birthday that week you would make your way onto the stage where you receive a round of " Happy birthday to you". Then the films would start, with several intervals for everyone to queue in the isles for an ice cream, from the usherette.

I also remember back in ( i think) 77 being stood in the queue to watch Grease. The queue was so long that it stretched right through the subway into the hole in the road. It was that long, that we had to wait through two showings before we reached the front.

What are your memories of the ABC ?

i remember this, not!

The queue used to go up the arcade at the side of the cinema,up to Hartshead.I remember queuing to see The Exorcist.I was only about 14 or15 when I saw my (older) cousin and lived in fear of it getting back to my parents that I was going to see an X cert. film. I think the "support feature" that night was The Wicker Man.You used to get your moneys worth in those days!.And we never had any trouble getting into X films despite the commissionaire bloke in his uniform.

As a child growing up in the 70's I have strong memories of going to the ABC on a Saturday morning with cousins and friends. It was the highlight of the week. Sweets would be purchased seats would be taken, and then it was off with the Saturday morning minors song. If you was lucky enough to have had a birthday that week you would make your way onto the stage where you receive a round of " Happy birthday to you". Then the films would start, with several intervals for everyone to queue in the isles for an ice cream, from the usherette.

I also remember back in ( i think) 77 being stood in the queue to watch Grease. The queue was so long that it stretched right through the subway into the hole in the road. It was that long, that we had to wait through two showings before we reached the front.

What are your memories of the ABC ?i remember taking a girl i,d fancied for ages to see the stud....unfortunately,it had finished the day before,so we ended up seeing the sweeney......NOT the right film for my planned seduction...

I remember queing for 2 hours to the Cliff in 'The young ones' Used to go ther Concourse coffee bar on a Sunday night to catch up with a friend!!

I was a regular at The ABC Minors shows on Saturday morning. There always seemed to be loads of stuff on, cartoons, a serial, a couple of Three Stooges shorts and a film (or two it seemed).

The films were often from The Children's Film Foundation or older black and white comedies that featured the likes of Norman Wisdom or George Formby. Though the only film I can actually remember was Three Hats For Lisa. I think remembered partly for Joe Brown's well out of fashion haircut and partly for the scene where Una Stubs and Sophie Hardy strip down to their underwear and swap clothes, 'cos the cinema erupted at that point.

I was a regular at The ABC Minors shows on Saturday morning. There always seemed to be loads of stuff on, cartoons, a serial, a couple of Three Stooges shorts and a film (or two it seemed).


We used to do the ABC Minors too, if anyone could remember the song we used to sing I'd be amazed!

Like the OP, I remember queuing to see Grease & Jaws for what seemed like ages..do ciemas have queues like that nowadays?

We used to do the ABC Minors too, if anyone could remember the song we used to sing I'd be amazed!

Like the OP, I remember queuing to see Grease & Jaws for what seemed like ages..do ciemas have queues like that nowadays?

We are the boys and girls well known as,the Minors of the ABC.
And every Saturday all line up to see the films we like to shout about and see.
We like to laugh and have a sing song (can't remember the last bit of this line),
We're all friends together the Minors of the ABC defgh etc etc,

Yes cinemas still have queues, but only to use the usually inadequate toilet facilities:hihi: and don't get me started on the price of sweets, drinks and popcorn in cinemas nowadays. I used to be able to get a couple of sweets and a lolly at the old ABC Minors nowadays I'd need another mortgage to kit out the kids with that lot:rant:. Actually we don't bother, we visit the 99p shop before any cinema visit.

I've just remembered, you could buy ABC badges with a different letter on each one that spelled out ABC Minors and when you bought all those you got a free one that you could write your name on.

I saw my very first movie there!.. Superman.

I remember queueing up down that looooooooooooong tunnel next to it.

i remember this, not!

Thanks.

Very informative post, we'll all sleep better now.

We like to laugh and have a sing song (can't remember the last bit of this line),

just a happy crowd are we,

We used to do the ABC Minors too, if anyone could remember the song we used to sing I'd be amazed!

Like the OP, I remember queuing to see Grease & Jaws for what seemed like ages..do ciemas have queues like that nowadays?

I qued for hours to see jaws, the que stretched up round Schofields, back down and up the road. But what a film!!!:love:

We used to do the ABC Minors too, if anyone could remember the song we used to sing I'd be amazed!...

Right all together now, here we go (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzWjw7AO_Xo) (turn the sound up).:)

We are the boys and girls well known as,the Minors of the ABC.
And every Saturday all line up to see the films we like to shout about and see.
We like to laugh and have a sing song (can't remember the last bit of this line),
We're all friends together the Minors of the ABC defgh etc etc,

Yes cinemas still have queues, but only to use the usually inadequate toilet facilities:hihi: and don't get me started on the price of sweets, drinks and popcorn in cinemas nowadays. I used to be able to get a couple of sweets and a lolly at the old ABC Minors nowadays I'd need another mortgage to kit out the kids with that lot:rant:. Actually we don't bother, we visit the 99p shop before any cinema visit.

Flippin ell, thanks steptoad, wonder what they'll think when I start chirruping that at Cineworld in the morning.

I qued for hours to see jaws, the que stretched up round Schofields, back down and up the road. But what a film!!!:love:

I think we were in the same queue teddie!

Right all together now, here we go (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzWjw7AO_Xo) (turn the sound up).:)

Oh too bad! My kids hate me, Ive got it playing on a loop :hihi:

I think we were in the same queue teddie!

We were scared to walk through t'ole int' road on the way home incase a Jaws jumped out of the fish tank!

We were scared to walk through t'ole int' road on the way home incase a Jaws jumped out of the fish tank!

..the only thing I remember in that fish tank was algae and empty crisp packets :hihi:

The algae was a cunning ploy by the sharks to conceal their presence until their time came to attack.And the crisp packets? They had to eat something until they could feast on human flesh. Obvious really!

Oh too bad! My kids hate me, Ive got it playing on a loop :hihi:

Mine are giving me "that look" as I sing along to it.

What was the name of the chap who used to be in charge of The Minors? Uncle.......?

What was the name of the chap who used to be in charge of The Minors? Uncle.......? In the late 1970s it was "Uncle Les" - this was Les Allen, manager of the ABC at that time.

I can remember it being built, and watched the progress week by week. What stands out in my mind was the gable end on Bank St, a beautiful expanse of brickwork as big as I've seen.

In the late 1970s it was "Uncle Les" - this was Les Allen, manager of the ABC at that time.

Uncle Les, seemed like a charming man at that time, however he was a lot less charming a few years later when he caught me and a handful of mates entering the cinema through the fire exit after "unlocking" it using a wire coat hanger.

I remember being stood at the bus stop on Snig Hill and seeing Marc Bolan walk out of the "tunnel" at the side of ABC. I nearly fainted on the spot:love:

What was the name of the chap who used to be in charge of The Minors? Uncle.......?

It all depended on who the duty manager was. Most of the time it would have been Uncle Les, but there were also various assistants who took the shift. These were Uncle Steve, Uncle Andrew, Uncle Colin and Aunty Sue as well. Uncle Colin used to post on here, but hasn't been on for a good couple of years.

I also got a rollicking for shining a torch at the screen during the films.
EEE, I was a right wrong-un in them days.

E by eck I can also remember my older brother and I waiting to go in every sat morning..

I am sure I went with mum to see Earthquake there.

It all depended on who the duty manager was. Most of the time it would have been Uncle Les, but there were also various assistants who took the shift. These were Uncle Steve, Uncle Andrew, Uncle Colin and Aunty Sue as well. Uncle Colin used to post on here, but hasn't been on for a good couple of years.

Ah, uncle Colin remembers this all too clearly. Having to get up early (8 o'clock!!) on a Saturday morning and then working the full shift until after 10:30 at night.

Poor kids were treated like second class citizens. Entry by the side door only and sold the cheap sweets in the lower lounge corridor.

Good fun though!! even if the programme was mainly rubbish.

.

Poor kids were treated like second class citizens. Entry by the side door only and sold the cheap sweets in the lower lounge corridor.



Those sweets were amazing, they sold stuff I'd never seen anywhere else, Spanish Armada sweet tobacco and Triffick Bars with a picture of the actor Mike Read on the wrapper (weird).

I always thought the programme was great too.

I remember seeing the exsorist there lol I was handed a leaflet by a priest as I came out lololol I thought whats all the fuss about.

This link should bring the memories flooding back my god i can see the Queen on her horse
now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzWjw7AO_Xo

I think we were in the same queue teddie!

Yes same here. Bloody scarey that film. My mate actually threw up halfway through it. he had to run to the toilets. Remember seeing a film called roller coaster and they put a special sound system in just for that film so that it shook the seats when scenes of roller coasters were showing. Also queued for ages to see Saturday night fever TWICE

I remember those Saturday mornings very clearly the one i remember is the boys always had stink bombs !!

one of the first films I saw there was Summer Holiday but I remember it being a big story and a big q when it screened Blow Up, featuring the first ever glimpse of public hair in a British film!

opps! for public read pubic!

I was in the queue to see Grease at the ABC too.The queue use to go up a closed up alleyway so you would by pass the folks miles in front in the queue.Then tell those going up whilst you were on your way down, to go home 'cos they'd never get in!

There were always big queues for the popular films.I recall queing to see Butch Cassidy and the sundance kid, on at the cinema in Fitzalan Square and the queue was back at where the Top Rank was on Arundel Gate. i don't know Sheffield now as I have been left 25 years!

How many different names did the one on barnsley road, shiregreen have? I can remember it called the classic but know it had several changes. If you go in now as a carpet shop you can still see where the screen was and if you go upstairs it`s all as it was then

How many different names did the one on barnsley road, shiregreen have? I can remember it called the classic but know it had several changes. If you go in now as a carpet shop you can still see where the screen was and if you go upstairs it`s all as it was then

was that the essoldo?

opps! for public read pubic!

lol. for opps read oops!

was that the essoldo?It was wasn`t it. I couldn`t remember that one. I knew it had an unusual name. I wonder why they called it that?

It was wasn`t it. I couldn`t remember that one. I knew it had an unusual name. I wonder why they called it that?

As per the "Odeon" chain of cinemas being called so:- Oskar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation
the Essoldo was a chain, too, the name 'Essoldo' being derived from the given- names of the Sheckmann family who owned it. The names being ESther, SOLomon and DOrothy.

I have a very interesting book on all the 'old' cinemas in Sheffield. It is a real opener to how many places we had in Sheffield. My local was the Abbeydale.

As a child growing up in the 70's I have strong memories of going to the ABC on a Saturday morning with cousins and friends. It was the highlight of the week. Sweets would be purchased seats would be taken, and then it was off with the Saturday morning minors song. If you was lucky enough to have had a birthday that week you would make your way onto the stage where you receive a round of " Happy birthday to you". Then the films would start, with several intervals for everyone to queue in the isles for an ice cream, from the usherette.

I also remember back in ( i think) 77 being stood in the queue to watch Grease. The queue was so long that it stretched right through the subway into the hole in the road. It was that long, that we had to wait through two showings before we reached the front.

What are your memories of the ABC ?Yes I remember queueing for hours to watch grease, I went every saturday with my sister and friends must have seen it hundreds of times, I even sat in some chewing gum while waiting. Those were the days.

We went to see Earthquake. The idea was, it was in Quadrophonic and all the seats were wired up to give it an earthquake effect. Of course it wasn't working when we went.
Another time me and my mate went to see Jaws and he dropped his cigar (imagine that now eh?), he went searching for it and just as he raised his head the severed head rolled out of the sunken boat, he screamed and dropped his cigar again and it fell in his turn up and burnt a hole in his kex before he found it. His face, I couldn't stop laughing for ages.

We went to see Earthquake. The idea was, it was in Quadrophonic and all the seats were wired up to give it an earthquake effect. Of course it wasn't working when we went.
Another time me and my mate went to see Jaws and he dropped his cigar (imagine that now eh?), he went searching for it and just as he raised his head the severed head rolled out of the sunken boat, he screamed and dropped his cigar again and it fell in his turn up and burnt a hole in his kex before he found it. His face, I couldn't stop laughing for ages.

oh that funny ..but didnt we have some some laughs.
remember this skirt i had ..pebble dash it was. didnt take the cotton out of the pleate. i was like a little chinese lady..walking very small steps.. lol..

i think 1st proper film i saw there was condorman, late 70 early 80s although i use to go to the saturday mornin matinees in the 70s prior to seeing condorman

Ahh the films I saw there. Battlestar Galactica, ET, Top Secret, and i'm showing my age but I saw the Towering Inferno there wneh I was a little kid, I must have been about six.

i loved going to the abc i loved the saturday morning club i cant remember the song though and like others i remember the long ques for grease and jaws and saturday night fever those were the days eh

Yeh, used to go to the ABC/Gaumont on Saturday mornings, then progressed to the Top Rank for the 10am to 12 Saturday disco, then as I got older the 1pm till 4pm disco for the older ones. Anybody else remember these?