ABC Hanley
18 Broad Street,
Hanley,
ST1 4EU
18 Broad Street,
Hanley,
ST1 4EU
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Associated British Cinemas Ltd., Cannon Cinemas, Odeon Theatres Ltd.
Architects: C. 'Jack' Foster
Previous Names: ABC Cine Bowl, Cannon
Nearby Theaters
Located in the potteries town of Hanley, Staffordshire. The ABC Cine-Bowl was opened on 23rd August 1963 with Charlie Drake in "The Cracksman". The 1,320-seat cinema had all its seats on a single level, and was located upstairs from the 28-lane ABC 10-Pin Bowling Alley. Organist Peter Kilby played the ABC’s touring Hammond elecronic organ. The Todd-AO screen was 60 feet wide x 20 feet high, with the CinemaScope ratio being 47 feet wide and the same height, and ordinary widescreen was 37 feet wide. The ABC circuit were taken over by EMI in 1969.
In May 1977, it was closed for tripling, and re-opened on 25th August 1977 with three screens, seating 573, 233 and 162. In 1985 the Cannon Group took over and it was re-named Cannon. Taken over by ABC again in a management buy out in the late-1990’s, it was again re-named ABC.
Odeon Theatres took over the chain in 2000, and they quickly closed the ABC on 10th December 2000. The 10-pin bowl had become a nightclub, and finally a casino. The building stood empty for several years, and was demolished in February 2008.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 24 comments)
@ Terry I agree in every respect. of your comments.
I have been reminded of the Inspection we had to do at night after closure of this Theatre, This had to be done by two people and was strictly done in an order. The boiler house. even with one person walking between the House and Screen Tabs.. while the other walked behind the screen tabs. Even the Exits locks where checked again.. (The time period for me doing this was 1969)
Local History feature relating to the post-cinema usage here
http://www.thepotteries.org/entertainment/hanley_ABC.htm
Great memory of the Cine-Bowl during its years of magnificent presentations
http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/posters/db/poster.asp?pid=21861
To qualify for a Sunday 6th June, the year will be 1965,not quite the premiere run but nevertheless among those fabulous cinema-going years.
I came across this site by chance, it was a suprise to find the ABC Hanley seeing photos of myself and the rest of the projection staff. It brings back happy memories of this great cinema.From Doug Blakemore.
This is home cinema as it should be:–
https://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2502272%2Fabc-cinema-built-in-back-garden-stoke-on-trent%2F&h=RAQEosW74&s=1&enc=AZMJxXkE4b5RAoPDQQ1tIMnIcTdKwNXBZQ52srLqoUKDc1eR9hbqgU9uGsi11iScp4Sg4a4j0LwUce6Zg6rgyaDN
Apparently, many items from the ABC are incorporated within.
It’s been a while since your post Doug but nice to see you are still interested in the “Trade”. Certainly great days at Hanley and I will always remember the theatre, picture and sound quality and of course you guys in the “pictures”. Thanks again for posting and sorry for the delay in acknowledging.
Terry White
Kidderminster 12th April 2018
Grand opening ad posted.
3-plex reopening ad:
After the ABC Hanley’s closure, most of the theater’s equipment (alongside some from Doncaster) went to an ABC superfan from Stoke-On-Trent who built his own ABC theater in his backyard within a span of five years between 2012 and 2017.
His theater eventually became national headlines across Great Britain, and will eventually be added as a special treat into Cinema Treasures later in the near future.