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ABC Minors !!

I remember being an A. B. C. monitor at the Empress cinema. Which was being a helper to the usherette's, helping with the queues and selling the A.B.C. badges, but best of all was getting in the cinema for free!! nice work for a fourteen year old.
 
The Adelphi in Hay Mills was my cin'ema i had to do shoppingfor my mother so i could earn a tanner for my entrance money i did a neighbours shopping for the threepence it cost for my ice loll, but i would not miss the ABC Minors for the world. Flash Gorden and the claymen does anyone remember this story wow what a story line.
 
Oh John!........I too was a monitor at the Empress Sutton & I agree yes the best part was getting in free :eek:))
 
yep pod!! they came out of the clay walls of caves, and then back when losing, dale ardent, and Dr Zarkoff were captured and ming used them to get at flash, loved em all!!!
paul
 
Ok paul can you remember a serial obout a crook who had a big shoe and limped through the film, thats all i remember eccept that he scared me to death.
 
Didnt know there was an Empress cinema in Sutton !
Web says its now the Sutton Library building. Anyone got any pics of it ?
 
Spent many a happy hour there except when I went with my brothers and their friends when I was very small, the manager came and told them off for the noise.
Not a great picture but it may spark a few memories.
Empress_Cinema_Sutton.jpg
 
This was my generations little bit of heaven, went to the "Royalty" Harborne, to see "Dunkirk", with my dear old dad.
paul
 
Nice pic thank you Wendy.
Also , nice to know that the remaining cinema groups are mostly if not all British owned still.
I guess we probably owe a lot of that to J.Arthur Rank and the Odeon's.

Apparentely Sutton Odeon had to change to the Empire group to reduce the Odeon market share, for legal purposes.
 
Spent many a happy hour there except when I went with my brothers and their friends when I was very small, the manager came and told them off for the noise.
Not a great picture but it may spark a few memories.
View attachment 80634
https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/15013

Much more detail on the EmpRESS cinema here revealing the cinema was demolished to way way for a then new library building. Not to be confused with the EmpIRE cinema which is the new name for the old Odeon in Sutton Coldfield after its transfer to independently owned hands.
 
Thx Wendy - I was hoping the old building was still there. (Pity).

I wonder if Sutton shopping centre was a planners dream and a peoples nightmare.
I'm guessing it looked okay in its day ( 40 odd years ago ? ) in the concrete years :dejection:

Is it me or is Sutton "out dated" now (just saying), wonder what happened to all the characteristic older buildings ??
 
To be honest although The Empress was part of my childhood it was a very ugly building. The shops on the Lower Parade were all in converted houses and where of themselves nothing special. It is the individual shops that are missed like Gills, Frosts, Coombes and all the specialist little ma and pa businesses which have been driven out in favour of the usual suspects. Most of the actual buildings were, I believe, owned by Oxford Uni and were neglected to the point of ruin. Then they were ripe for the concrete monstrosity we have today, greed wins every time.

I don't think an entire town can somehow be "outdated" but there has been too much infill and too many large houses replaced by multiple small boxes in much of the town. The main Park entrance is now without character and looking very tired.
 
I used to love going to Sutton as it's where I grew up but sadly there is nothing to attract me to go their now. I used to love the shops opposite the Empress they were lovely old buildings with so much character and lovely shops. The Empress was the flee pit where as the Odeon was quite posh that soon changed!....ah memories.
 
Thx Wendy - Pip Dont get me wrong the back bit by W.H.Smith's is okay and the top of the town is good too. But its that bit running down the middle that looks very 70's to me and that's why I said outdated - or not fresh for a nice place like Sutton (should be). I live in Sutton (20yrs). Anyway apologies for moving slightly off thread - - interested in your thoughts ? So I'll add this to the Sutton thread if there is one. Ste
 
I used to work for ABC Cinemas as an Assitant Manager based at the ABc Cinema New St. later at the ABC Cinema Walsall, before I became the General Manager of The Capitol Cinema Alum Rock.. (Which incedently was the Last of the old Style Childrens matinne in Birmingham) I have been hunting pictures of of some of the Minors Activities which to-day would be very incorrect... But in those days life was far more innocent..
First Photo. This was taken at the ABc Walsall 1971... Which makes me feel old... :eek:)

minors mat 71.jpg
 
i used to go abc minors at the alhambra on mosley rd, they used to have a draw at the interval with ticket half they used tear off, i won two tickets to see the new dr who movie circa 1965, i went with my sister, i got bored, so went to play behind the exit door, velvet cutains, with my new torch, that you could put different faces, on the front, pushed the exit door handle, got locked out, and was duly releived of my torch by some older boys who were trying sneak in the exit. i ran round to the foyer crying for my sister, who was callled out half way through the film and had to take me home, happy days!
 
If you look at my page timeline the picture of the football team me second left on bottom was a pic of the palace minors football team x1948 that season we won the league an cup an never list a game we were lucky unheard of in thise days but we we were sponsored an ysed to get into the palace cinema Erdington for free and a tub if ice cream ! We actually played on a private works pitch in gravelly lane it was in fact oarkinson Cowan works pitch all houses niw the keague played on dun afternoons all our away matches were played in the parks happy days indeed


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