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Memories of the Abbeydale Cinema, Sheffield:
 | In response to an e.mail from a silver surfer from the area we offer:
HAPPY MEMORIES AT THE OLD ABBEYDALE CINEMA IN SOUTH SHEFFIELD:
There is good reason why many Bradway area residents now approaching their 40th birthdays, and who have spent most of their lives locally, should have recently started to feel sentimental and mildly romantic again in a 'teenage sort of way! And they will have shared these emotions with thousands of others of similar vintage from the surrounding communities in the great South Sheffield land sprawl. Many of the now more senior and sedate generations can also be excused for the occasional secret smile and chuckle, or perhaps a nostalgic sigh or tear, with the news that the old Abbeydale Cinema building is on the property market again, in search for an enterprising new owner.
The dominating white tiled building on Abbeydale Road, well merits its place in the last century folklore of Sheffield, with the very first cinema queue forming on the pavement outside over 80 years ago, on December 20, 1920, and the final performance taking place a quarter of a century ago, on July 5, 1975. Regarded as a "super cinema" when it opened, the Abbeydale was warmed by hot air that changed every five minutes, boasted a large stage, and had a resident orchestra of ten musicians. The film projection was considered perfect, with the sightlines for 1,800 patrons described as excellent. In 1921, the cinema achieved further distinction with the installation of a £3,000 great orchestral organ, the first of its kind in Sheffield.
The Abbeydale played a major role in the social life style of the whole area, for even at the time of the final closure it was not uncommon for family life to go on quite happily in Bradway without even a black and white television set in the home, and there were many without BBC 2 and ITV programmes. Colour television was just a distant dream. Families established a ritual of at least a weekly visit to the Abbeydale, and "a night at the flicks" was part of the culture of growing up, and hoping to get a seat on the backrow with a girlfriend! Romances in plenty blossomed in the alluring atmosphere as the lights dimmed, while the Abbeydale also played a part in shaping the wartime careers of many Sheffield youngsters.
Harry Hibbert of Everard Avenue, Bradway, decided to join in the action with the Royal Navy after watching a Saturday evening cinema newsreel of the Battle of the River Plate, when the German battleship, Graf Spee, was scuttled in the South Atlantic. He went on to sail in the Mediterranean and Arctic convoys before joining the fire service, and becoming Sheffield Divisional Commander. The cinema building provided shelter during the Sheffield blitz for Beauchief boy Donald Andrew, among others, who decided to become a fighter pilot in the R.A.F after walking to work the following morning through the grim city bomb damage. He was soon flying a Spitfire in Malta.
Much of the nostalgia surrounding the Abbeydale building is captured in a well known painting by former Bradway artist, the late Peter Owen Jones, showing the building as a welcoming beacon on a rainy evening, with two veteran trams trundling along bound for Millhouses and Vulcan Road. Over the entrance, the cinema is advertising the 1950s film, "Happy Go Lovely", with the painting appropriately titled "In Glorious Technicolour".
If the idea of taking over the old Abbeyale appeals to you, a local firm of estate agents, has the property on their books, and reports that a number of potential clents have been making enquiries. A Grade 2 listed building, the property is understood to remain very much in its existing form, with the white tiled exterior preserved. Described in the sales brochure as a well known landmark, it is offered on a long term basis as "being in need of repair and refurbishment". The Abbeydale is for sale for any uses "subject to the appropriate local consents being obtained" In view of the building's present condition, no fixed price has been placed on it, but "as a guideline offers are invited in the region of £150,000. The sale is restricted to the cinema premises only and does not include the lower ground floor snooker club and associated private members club bar which has separate access from the side car park and from Abbeydale Road respectively.
(c) The Dynamic Duo in Derbyshire 2003
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'Please - Don't Blame the Projectionist!
 | “Cinemas Remembered”
The meeting of the Keyworth & District Local History Society was attended by a slightly smaller than usual number of people for the presentation of “Cinemas Remembered”. Unfortunately the scheduled speaker, Mr Edward White, was indisposed but he had entrusted the responsibility of the evening to two of his trusted lieutenants, Ron Staten and “Ben”. Ron gave a brief synopsis of Edward White’s career in the cinema; how he left school at fourteen and went to work, with his father, at the Kinema on Haydn Road as the fourth projectionist and his subsequent rise to become the youngest, at twenty one years of age, Chief Projectionist in Nottingham. We were also regaled with a brief summary of the various architects, and their individual styles, which were responsible for many of the designs that were to be seen in the Nottingham theatres.
The evening then progressed to a slide show which must, initially, been very evocative of the early years of the silent screen. The projectionist had quite a bit of trouble with his equipment. The slides wouldn’t focus properly; the programme started going backwards, then forwards, then backwards again. Some slides were upside down, others on their side. The audience was in stitches. The mirth was increased by the nature of the slides. They were facsimiles of messages of public address requests from the days of the silent screen. “Please Do Not Read the Subtitles Out Loud”, “Ladies Please Remove Your Hats”, “No Smoking Please”, “For Your Benefit This Theatre is Disinfected with Izal”, “Ladies, If Someone Is Annoying You, Please Tell the Management”, and so on. And all the time the slide projector seemed to have a mind of its own and show whatever slide it felt like. Poor Ben didn’t know what to make of it until someone twigged the problem; the projector was set on automatic and resented Ben’s manual intervention. The device was duly set to manual and Ben’s troubles were eliminated. From then on his performance was flawless.
The audience were then shown slides of most of the cinemas that have graced, (or not as the case may be), the fair city of Nottingham during the course of the last hundred odd years. We were shown slides of the cinemas in their early days, their heyday and their sad fate; bingo halls and carpet warehouses seeming to be the most numerous lots for many once proud and popular establishments. Not all, however, seem to have enjoyed the esteem that they might have, the old Palladium in Beeston apparently having been known locally, (though not affectionately), as “The Bughouse”!!
Nevertheless it was a nostalgic trip down memory lane for most of the audience since a great many of the establishments shown had been visited at one time or another by many of our members. All in all a very entertaining evening’s entertainment with special thanks to Ben for his sterling work on the projector and the mirth that it occasioned for the audience.
(c) The Dynamic Duo in Derbyshire 2003
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'Going to the Flicks':
 | Hi to Bernie and Ernie: Here’s a few memories from me, after 40+ years in show business, memories like this are hard to forget:
The Tower...A small cinema just off Butler Street near to Mill Street, it was dubbed “the lousy hour” not just because the title rhymed with tower but because it was rumoured that the cats which frequented “cats park” which was opposite, used to sleep in the cinema, and the cats carried fleas.
The Butler...A neat little cinema in Butler Street near to Oldham Road, it was dubbed “The Ranch” due to the numerous cowboy films it showed. They had some great serials for the “penny crush” on Saturday afternoons. The favourite was “Flash Gordon” and after seeing the “Claymen” appear out of the walls in “Flash” we kids were reluctant to go down the narrow back entries in case the Claymen got us.
The Osborne...The “Oz” was originally a live theatre and all the theatrical decor was retained. It had a long curved balcony. A feature which was very popular was the community singing. A bouncing ball would point out the lyrics and often some budding crooner would attempt to out-sing the rest of the audience. It ceased to be a cinema years ago but it still stands on Oldham Road.
The Empress... The “Emp” is also still on Oldham Road and it too ceased to be a cinema way back. It is said to be a grade two listed building. There were three long benches at the front which accommodated twice as many youngsters as they should have at Saturday matinees. An activity which the kids loved there was the shooting of dried peas at the sets of metal reeds on either side of the screen. We never heard that organ play!
The Popular... The “Pop” was opposite the Playhouse on Queens Road near the Rechabite Hall. The “Pop” was top with most of the youngsters. Plenty of serials and ‘cowies’, and they must have shown every “Dead End Kids” film ever made over and over. It was only a couple of pennies to get in.
The Victory...The “Vic” was on Varley Street near the Grey Mare pub. It had a metal roof and whenever it rained hard it was a job to hear the soundtrack. A small cinema, but well used!
The Playhouse... Posh, plush decorative, the Playhouse was “The Ritz” of cinemas in our area. If a young fella wanted to impress a girl he was dating, he took her to the Playhouse. The plush seats and carpets and the good selection on the ice-cream girl’s tray all gave a boost to the ambiance. A bit more expensive, but eh! Who cared?
Tom O’Connor
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A Honourable Day For a War Hero:
 | 15 February 2003
Bomber crew veteran Ron Williamson couldn't believe his eyes when he turned up to have lunch with his neighbours and was met by a guard of honour. His old friends had gathered to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the day his plane was shot down by an ace German pilot and taken to a prisoner of war camp.
They had even tried to contact the Luftwaffe flier, who shot down 56 other aircraft during his wartime career.
Unfortunately they discovered he had died.
Ron's friend John Wesley, who organised the reunion, said: "Ron is very modest and hardly ever talks about his war experiences.
"Sometimes little bits of information came out and from those snippets I could piece together the amazing story of how he was shot down during his first wartime mission.
(c) The Dynamic Duo in Derbyshire 2003 |
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On his birthday.....
 | "When the order to jump was given, and while his Halifax was still under fire from the enemy plane, Ron went to the back of the aircraft to destroy the data that would have been useful to the Germans.
"He should have got a medal, but as far as he was concerned he was doing his job."
Mr Wesley, 76, of Abbotts Way, Bridlington, spent two months liaising with the War Office, Public Records Office and Ron's wartime colleagues to research the information.
He added: "I know it is a bit unusual to celebrate the anniversary of a thing like this, but it was a very important event in Ron's life.
"We contacted as many of his former wartime colleagues as we could, but many of them have since died or are ill.
"We even tried to trace the German pilot who shot down Ron's plane, but we discovered that he died some years ago.
"I don't know what Ron would have said if he had come face to face with this man, but I don't think there would have been a problem.
"I am sure he would have been made as welcome as any other guest."
(c) The Dynamic Duo in Derbyshire 2003
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Unbelieveable.....
 | Ron, 82, of Chantry Court, Bridlington, an entertainer and member of the town's Merrymakers group, said he was overwhelmed by the occasion.
He said: "I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked into the room."
He personally thanked each of the seven RAF cadets from Bridlington School who formed the guard of honour.
With typical modesty, he then invited them all to join him for lunch.
(c) The Dynamic Duo in Derbyshire 2003
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Spookey Derbyshire:
 | Actress Betty Driver, star of Coronation Street has recently published her autobiography “Betty—The Autobiography”. In this extract she reveals ghostly experiences at a pub in Derbyshire run by her father and her sister Freda at the end of the 1960s.
“The hotel was old, steeped in history, we soon discovered that odd things happened there. I bought some beautiful tropical fish and put them in a tank on the bar. The next morning they were all dead. We had parakeets which we decided to bring down from our living quarters and keep in the bar. At four o’ clock every day they’d start to screech uncontrollably and within a week all their feathers had fallen out.
Our boxer dog, Adam, hated the pub, and we used to hear voices asking for drinks when it was closed and there were just three of us in the place.. We’d have a game of darts before opening up and you’d hear someone say, ‘Pull us a pint, Fred,’ but no-one would be there!
At the pub, Freda did all the cellar work tilting a barrel when a tapping mallet lifted itself off its hooks that supported it on a wall and flung itself round a corner and straight at her head. Luckily she saw it coming and dodged it. In the bar we had a cigarette-card display case cemented to the wall. One night whilst we were serving, it wrenched itself off the wall and flew about ten feet at Freda. A customer saw it coming and called out, again she wasn’t hurt, just shaken.
One night I woke up at four in the morning and smelt cigar smoke. I went to the top of the stairs and heard voices in the bar, as if people were playing cards and smoking. But no-one was there. We had another fish tank, filled it with fish and, once again, overnight the fish died. The final straw was when a bottle on a glass shelf behind the bar started to dance all by itself then jumped into the air and threw itself straight at Freda’s legs. She was agile and jumped out of the way, but I couldn’t put up with this any longer.
The next day I phoned the brewery and asked to have the place exorcised. They refused so I gave notice. Within a month we’d moved out….” Unfortunately the pub remains unnamed but these strange events seem to be typical poltergeist tricks, particularly the “near misses” of flying objects.
(c) The Dynamic Duo in Derbyshire 2003
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