Paternosters...ever been on one?

[colly]

There used to be one in the staff area of Schofield's Dept. store in Leeds back in ......................well some time ago.

I used it a couple of times. Weird experience the first time though.

 

[ColinJ]

I was reminiscing about these contraptions today, as we used to have one at Salford Uni.

First time I used one, I was bricking mi'sen thinking 'these can't be legal, right?', they must be flouting every health n safety reg in the book. Getting your timing right was crucial! There was an urban myth that the cubicle turned upside down when it got to the top for the descent stage, but that simply isnt true!

I was there too and I worried about the same thing, but I stayed in one 'over the top' to see what happened!

I went to Salford! Can't remember the name of the building it was in, though. I was doing engineering, which was one of the lower buildings, and only had a few lectures in the block with the paternoster. Good fun, though!

The Chemistry tower, wasn't it?

The woman on the right looks a bit nervous about getting in!

There is a rather nice animated gif of one in this article on Wikipedia

 

[Maz]

Yay! It's still there!

Cool. If I ever get the chance to go down there, I'll give it a ride!

 

[Spinney]

I was there too and I worried about the same thing, but I stayed in one 'over the top' to see what happened!

Not sure if anyone ever did it, but a good wheeze for fresher's week would be to go over the top and be doing a handstand or headstand when you came into view going down again...

The Chemistry tower, wasn't it?

Could be right there. If memory serves (and it is a looong time ago), I used to lock up my bike in a covered area near the bottom of that building. One say some scrote had knicked the little pin on a chain that worked my Sturmey Archer gears, and I had to cycle home through Manchester in top gear. This was a problem at the time as I didn't have proper 'cycling' leg muscles!

 

[Maz]

The Chemistry tower, wasn't it?

That was it.
Is that a picture of the Chemistry tower paternoster?

 

[Baggy]

Cool. If I ever get the chance to go down there, I'll give it a ride!

Give floor 13 a wave from me!

 

[Dayvo]

I have been on one, but can't for the life of me remember where.

Must admit I didn't know they were called paternosters - I always thought that they were a multiple-hooked fishing line, particularly effective at landing mackerel!

I liked this quote from Wikipedia: They are rather slow elevators, typically travelling at about 0.3 metres per second, thus improving the chances of getting on and off successfully.

 

[Baggy]

I liked this quote from Wikipedia: They are rather slow elevators, typically travelling at about 0.3 metres per second, thus improving the chances of getting on and off successfully.

That made me laugh, too! There's a video of the Leicester one on you tube and it looks like it's moving pretty smartly...

I have nightmares about lifts and paternosters sometimes

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Cool. If I ever get the chance to go down there, I'll give it a ride!

If it is open to the public then I'll have to go one day, preferably before the Health and Safety Nazis try to close it.

 

[ColinJ]

That was it.
Is that a picture of the Chemistry tower paternoster?

This is where I found it, so I assume so!

 

[PK99]

Must admit I didn't know they were called paternosters -

The origin of the name..... terrified users .... "Pater noster who art in heaven......"

 

[slowmotion]

I went on one in a department store in Yugoslavia in 1973. It was May Day, and I had spent some time being bought brandies by the locals (They approved of the English for supplying the Partisans during WW2). It was a faintly surreal afternoon....

 

[ColinJ]

The origin of the name..... terrified users .... "Pater noster who art in heaven......"

First built in 1884 by the Dartford, England engineering firm of J & E Hall Ltd as the Cyclic Elevator, the name paternoster ("Our Father", the first two words of the Lord's Prayer in Latin) was originally applied to the device because the elevator is in the form of a loop and is thus similar to rosary beads used as an aid in reciting prayers.

And - as you mentioned above - because the first time you get into one, you pray that you will get off again in one piece!

 

[Archie_tect]

One in Dundee many years ago + one at Newcastle Uni. They had a hinged flap on the floor edge so that if you got trapped it would hinge upwards to avoid cutting the projecting part off. Took a while to perfect walking in and out with the right air of casual sophistication!

 

[Red Light]

I'm not convinced that if someone came up with the idea of a paternoster today it would ever get past the fag packet sketch stage.

If you want a technological tour de force of its era that would get the inventor thrown out on his ear for suggesting it these days look up Eidophor on Wikipedia.