(The final) Old lifts of bracknell town centre tour - (2) Princess Square

[@alloria]

What an interesting tour! Your videos will be a great time capsule for future.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks, yes I did think that too - but this is assuming that youtube is always going to be around. I suppose youtube is still 'fairly' new (2007? 2008?). But I do keep a copy of the video just in case.

[@bennicholls87]

Yep nearly 40 now remember this like yesterday shame about the town being pulled down but guess things have to move on looking forward to the other videos good work mate

[@bennicholls87]

Good video mate remember all these lifts good times 80's Bracknell

[@mrmattandmrchay]

thanks! I'd love to go back in time to see all this back in the 1980s. I'm 41, are you a similar age? Only another 4 parts to go...! :D

[@CHIMNEY7]

I'm 48 now and remember it in the 70s when everything seemed very new and modern. My Uncle used to work on the lifts in Bracknell,he was an engineer and also worked on car park 5,he could tell you a few stories that would make your hair curl.

[@chello70]

We must stop always living.....Either in the past, or in the future.... Never in the ‘present’........That is why we are never happy. ...”Lexicon” has putted Bracknell on the map. Making Bracknell City Center standards, ‘as high as any high street in ‘London’ It’s so good, that I heard that even John Lewis store, wants to leave Reading city center, and move to Bracknell. Lol. Please, let the past go..... Bracknell now is one amazing Town to live in. Be grateful.

[@CWM030]

4:58 I'm wondering too whats behind those padlocked doors? I'm guessing they open to a empty shaft, which wouldn't make sense. Or are they closets now?

[@idl3k_elev]

I'm guessing that the old trolley lift was put into independent service mode so that no one other than the Sainsbury staff could use it.

[@VancouversLocalNerd]

Would not surprise me at all if the original drive equipment from the 3 lifts that were removed is still in the machine room, disused machine rooms that are converted to storage areas often contain bits and pieces left behind, so long as all power is disconnected there's no reason to pay someone to move all that heavy stuff. For example at a ski area I used to go to there were 2 old chairlifts that were rendered unnecessary by a newer one and removed around 2003-2005, the machine rooms were boarded up and are now storage areas but all of the machinery is still there in both cases.

[@MichalM]

2:24 Are there any original features at all?

[@mrmattandmrchay]

I haven't been there for years now, so I don't know.

[@MRoth93]

Is there a regulation for the "door closing" warnings? Never heard something like that in Germany.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

It's everywhere in the UK and it's probably down to accident claims like the "no win no fee" ones - For example, if someone "walked into a lift door by accident" they could then say that "they sustained an injury because THE DOOR CLOSED ON THEM" and then walk away from court with a couple of thousand pounds! BUT...if the lift said "DOORS CLOSING!" then the lift company could fight back and say "well, the doors did say they were closing" and the claim would be quashed.I think this might be exaggerated but you see what I mean. Nowadays it's difficult to find a lift that doesn't tell you "it's doors are closing".

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Its everywhere in the UK and probably down to accident claims like the NO WIN NO FEE ones - For example, if someone walked into a lift door by accident, they could then say that they sustained an injury because THE DOOR CLOSED ON THEM and then walk away from court with a couple of thousand pounds! BUT...if the lift said ,,DOORS CLOSING!,, then the lift company could fight back and say ,,well, the doors did say they were closing,, and the case would be quashed. Nowadays in the UK it's difficult to find a lift that doesn't say that it's doors are closing!

[@Bombiedude.]

And the only thing I find weird is that since it was modded by KONE it has the goofy indicator that looks like superhero trowsers

[@mrmattandmrchay]

yeah I know what you mean lol! The 'going down' symbol looks like a pair of underpants!

[@gabrielcoyle3067]

How badly have the lifts been modded ?

[@upanddownadventures]

You will loop back to the Bentalls elevator, right?

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Yep certainly will! Part 3 is now uploaded. Bentalls is in Part 4

[@lbsiuk]

Well at least they aren't generic!

[@kloudykatt]

The fist lifts you saw were ecodisk and are very good lifts. Yeah they are modern but they have a proper chassi so don’t that mean to them

[@mrmattandmrchay]

I have no particular interest in modern lifts

[@Hertog_von_Berkshire]

Did you ever get to see the Express lift in the Co-op? For quite a long time it was the only lift in Bracknell town centre. The buttons were very memorable - like these - elevation.wikia.com/wiki/File:Express_Lifts_first_generation_buttons.jpg

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Absolutely! This lift has a lot of memories for me and I remember it very well! After Co-Op moved out, I wish I'd asked the new owners (one of these cheap shops) to go and have a look. My memories of it were the fixtures (as per your link) and the large G 1 2 above the doors in the lift and the loud motor noises! This was in the middle of the shop, up some steps (a bit like the one on 'are you being served!') so not very convenient for people with push chairs or wheel chairs. Thanks for the message, wish I'd had a chance to film it before it was demolished.

[@Hertog_von_Berkshire]

Aha so you remember it. And yes, motor sound was loud and distinctive - must have been mounted on the car itself. The stairs were made from a speckled cream-coloured faux-marble with well worn black anti-slip strips. The banisters comprised a steel core covered with a shiny black plastic which didn't go round the corners properly. Years after I left Bracknell, early 1990s, I visited a Marconi office in Frimley and was amused to travel in a lift with exactly the same buttons as the Co-op's. IIRC, the Marconi lift was labelled "Otis" not "Express" but that's maybe understandable given that one acquired the other. That building has gone now. Even later, this side of the Millennium, I visited an office block in Cannon Street London, where the lifts made the same sound as the Co-op's and I was transported straight back to my childhood. I don't recall the manufacturer.

[@Hertog_von_Berkshire]

I see what the document says but find it hard to believe that those Charles Sq escalators were installed in the late 1960s. This reference - islandofterror.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/pictures-of-new-towns.html confirms my recollection that Charles Sq was still under construction in 1972 - at least that's the (release) date of the film "'I Want What I Want'". Even allowing for generous post-production phase, 1969 seems a little too early. That said, it's entirely possible that the purchase order for the escalators was raised before 1970.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Very interesting comment and link. Food for thought! My parents lived in Bracknell. They worked in London then commuted into London. Bracknell was very popular when it was first constructed and an alternative from living in London. Bracknell has now been transformed beyond recognition. Thanks for the comment

[@Hertog_von_Berkshire]

We moved to Bracknell in 1959. I spent most of my adult life elsewhere but recently moved back to the family home in Priestwood. Earliest memories are of the High Street and Broadway open to traffic, the Angel statue standing near the Regal cinema and shops such as "Packs", "Jacksons," "Bruntons", "Eggletons", the "Home & Colonial", the "International", "Sirls", and "The Unicorn" pub.

[@thefuzzypizzaeaterxoxo5027]

Right place , wrong time -me .

[@Bombiedude.]

Because theyre so big they must have a very big weight capacity lol

[@DDR_Aufzuege]

Hello, the second video is also interest like the first one. MfG Jan

[@mrmattandmrchay]

thanks :)