A Childhood Promise Kept, How Anderson Jones Built a Proper 34-Seat ABC Cinema in His Back Garden

Anderson Jones grew up adoring the movies since his grandmother worked as an usherette at the local ABC in Hanley, where he spent many hours with his family. Those trips left an impression, and by the time he started school, he was already telling pals that he wanted to build his own cinema one day. Most of them laughed it off, but decades later, he kept his promise.

After relocating to a semi-detached home in Stoke-on-Trent’s Fenton neighborhood with a quarter-acre garden, Jones organized his plans and began working to make his vision a reality. As a former kitchen fitter, he possessed a wide range of talents, including brickwork, plastering, and even fit-out. The endeavor, of course, took up his life for five years and left him out of money by a whopping £70,000.

The finished product is a 40-foot-long, 22-foot-wide, and 20-foot-high substantial brick structure nestled at the bottom of the garden. The entry is marked with an ABC sign, and as soon as you go inside, you realize this is no ordinary chamber. Instead of simply a drab old house, you’re met by a proper foyer complete with an old ticket machine remaining on the counter, a nostalgic touch, and on weekends, Jayne likes to put on her old usherette uniform and pop up some popcorn and sweets from the little kiosk. Old tickets and memorabilia line the walls, the carpet has the exact same pattern as the original ABC location, a specialist firm had to be brought in to weave a replica because there simply wasn’t enough genuine stuff left to get, and even though it cost Jones a few thousand dollars, he believes it was money well spent.

Push through the second set of doors, and the auditorium opens up, with thirty-four red seats from the old Hanley ABC cinema facing a 17 foot wide by 7 foot high screen, the red velvet curtains ready to part, and the gold filigree design on the proscenium is simply the icing on the cake. The strong oak timbers on the floor were salvaged from a demolished high school in Bolton, and the radiators are all from the old Doncaster Odeon; even the exit signs, door handles, and lighting are from other movies in the area that closed years ago. The JBL speakers and amplifiers were previously utilized at larger venues in Chester and Stockport.

Upstairs, there is a separate projection room with a Cinemeccanica 35mm projector and all of the modern digital equipment – Jones even has a 35mm print of Back to the Future and has been known to show some old classic trailers and advertisements on reel from time to time; most screenings are now digital, but the 35mm option keeps things a little more authentic for him. The restrooms are off the foyer and include old-style black and white tiling, and the entire area combines 1930s grandeur with a 1970s update, giving it a lived-in, warm feel rather than any of that harsh, minimalist rubbish.

Jones maintains the location mostly for his family and friends, as there are no tickets for sale to profit from; it is entirely for entertainment, and he allows guests to make charitable gifts instead. They also use it for informal family movie nights, with the couple’s children hooking up their Xbox to the large screen for gaming marathons. Jones has even held formal film premieres and intimate gatherings for friends and family. As for attention from outside the garden fence, well, the cinema has gotten a lot of attention, as it even made an appearance on Bargain Hunt, where presenter Christina Trevanion was bowled over and called it “a complete labour of love,” went on to receive a nomination for Shed of the Year, and appeared in a few other TV spots.