Massive movie memorabilia collection, including items which survived 1996 Manchester IRA bombing, to go on sale at Charles Hanson’s The Auction Room, on Northgate, Newark

A lifetime collection of cinema memorabilia, which survived an bomb explosion, are to go under the hammer this weekend in Newark.

The haul of 2,500 film posters, lobby cards and autographs was built up over 70 years by film buff Steve Ellison.

The collection will be sold in 75 lots at Hansons’ Auction Room, Hansons, on Northgate, Newark, tomorrow (August 9) at 9.30am.

Many of the items had been on sale at his shop in the Corn Exchange in Manchester when an IRA lorry bomb ripped through the building in 1996.

His daughter, Jayne Macclean, said: “Luckily dad wasn’t hurt but he remembers the glass shattering everywhere and landing on his beloved posters.”

After the bombing, the shop — dubbed Steve’s World Famous Movie Store — moved to Rochdale, before shipping the collection home to Wigan after he retired.

For years after Steve stopped trading, the posters were crammed into the family’s small bungalow.

“You couldn’t move for film posters – they were everywhere, jammed in every room and every doorway,” said Jayne.

Now, Jayne and stepmum Jennifer have made the difficult decision to sell the collection.

Auctioneer, Steve Witts from Hansons Auctioneers, said: “I have never seen anything like it.

“There are boxes and boxes of some of the most iconic films ever made.

“We are delighted to help Jayne and Jen find a new home for Steve’s collection and pay tribute to a remarkable collector and his incredible film knowledge.”

Steve’s love of the big screen started as a young schoolboy, and he grew up to achieve his dreams.

“Dad’s dad was a cinema projectionist,” Jayne added. “Which was great but also meant dad only got to see the end of films when he called in on his way back from school.

“It piqued his interest and made him determined to watch the whole movie — which sparked a lifelong interest.”

Soon enough, Steve had built a reputation for his encyclopaedic knowledge of films, as well as growing number of posters and star-studded autographs, as friends passed their collections on to him.

As well as running a successful business he also supplied posters as props for some of the UK’s biggest TV programmes, including Coronation Street and Eastender.

Steve began rubbing shoulders with the stars including Barbara Windsor, Ken Dodd, and even the Star Wars franchise’ R2-D2 actor Kenny Baker.

Jayne continued: “Dad kept up friendships with the stars long after their heyday From the earliest days of Hollywood, to recent blockbusters, there is hardly a film not represented in the incredible haul.”