Mate... Serious memories of this place in the 70s and 80s C&A and the trippy carpet ... The best shop in the world D&A Toys for all my Star Wars stuff a snail snake and whale to play in and an enormous fountain full of coins, replaced by a huge Chrimbo tree every Nov / December .. good times
The Pentagon looks like it has an interesting history like the Whitgift in Croydon. Funny how shopping centres had changed so much even though this was only built 5 years after Whitgift
I’m going to give you a brief description of this video. Get your seatbelt on for a trip down Memory Lane as Ben gives you a lift tour and history of the Pentagon Shopping Centre in Chatham. You will see the history of the former lifts and how the refurbished (amazing...) lifts used to look. There’s nice lifts and crap lifts, new lifts and old lifts. Come on, you have to pick your favourite!
I remember the Pentagon from 1977.. Only thing that I can really remember... apart from the stinky.. diesel fumes from the busses.. was Christmas..1977... Absolutely packed !!! Kicked in my claustrophobia big time... Absolutely heaving with shoppers...cos back then.. all the units were occupied by shops.. not like now !! So many empty 😑
I love the Pentagon my first stop is always the same I first discovered the magnificent place in January 1979 and have so many wonderful memories the Van Dam bar and Scamps next door
Balraj Grewal It's pretty run-down now 😥 The upper floors are almost entirely vacant.. several stores on the floor level are empty also... The top levels have been empty for years !! Even shops selling stuff for £5 or less are struggling ! It ain't so good ! One over priced little minisupermarket... BOOTS.. Chemist hanging on !! Just About !!! Depressing place to be honest ! 😥
I remember the lift that went between the 1st and 2nd floors in C&A (which I think is where Wilkinsons is now, and is now only usable by staff) - the sound it made used to terrify me when I was a child, like a swooshing "OOOOOoooof" as it docked. Kind of like a woodpigeon come to think of it. It played music in there too. I used to do my best to focus on the music and not be freaked out by that strange noise xD
I remember in the 80s when their was an escalator next the Sainsburys, where the snack bar now is. Also, before the glass elevators and escalators either-side of them were built, there was a staircase opposite them which started roughly in front of the Post Office and went up towards where JJB sports now is. There were also some cool things to play on, like a huge snail made out of wood and metal, which you could climb inside, and a long snake that you slide in one end and out the other.
Dude we must be a similar age... I remember all them things AND the huge fountain full of coins to be replaced by a Chrimbo tree around Nov time .... Not forgetting the brilliant D&A Toys for all our Star Wars needs. Mate....memories. I miss that old place , feels like yesterday
I found the history of Pentagon really interesting how it has changed. I would love to have seen it back in the 1970s. I like underground bus stations and the complicated network of passage ways on different levels. I really must start using Minecraft or something to design a grotty 1960s or 70s shopping centre. Another place I'd love to visit is Cumbernauld New town in Scotland. It's town centre is built on stilts and very grotty, connected with concrete bridges and spooky passage ways with 1970s coffee coloured tiles. There are loads of pictures of Cumbernauld on Flickr. I really want to visit it incase they demolish it one day. Problem is its a very long way from Devon where I live. Thanks for showing the video :)
ELPaso1990TX The pentagon is interesting because it is a rather unusual building. And it has changed so much since when it was built, but the changes were done in a non-obvious way which makes it so intriguing to find out its hidden history. Another place that has changed a lot, but in a way that hides the changes so it is hard to tell whats changed is the underground shopping center and passages under Canary Wharf. The place is massively complex. The most complex shopping center I have ever come across. And there is so much money there being thrown at it. Every now and then they change the layout of the center, and they make the place so posh with such a modern style to it that makes it so hard to tell what parts of the place have changed and how it used to be.
I'm only ten but I did not know that there was a pond could u tell us what was in the bowling ally and where the main lifts are to go to the car park was that restraunt there coz it is shut down and what shops where there and what was the outside like
@Jack Bradley, it was a Furse (1970s-1990) modernised by ALS (Not to be confused with Associated Lifts [Nrw Zealand lift manufacturers]) (1990-2011) and then ruined by NOVA (2011-Present Day). Not manufactured by NOVA.
The only way to get there now is to drive the lifts near sainsburys to the first floor. The first floor is not in the logics of these lifts, so even if you had the key for it, you still wouldn't be able to get there. The only way is to drive the lifts. Go to floor 4, wait until no people are about , and send the lift to floor 3 and remain outside the lift on floor 4. Then put a drop key into the lift doors. There is no security slot that the drop key must pass through, so you will be able to open it with a bent coat hanger. If using a coat hanger, make a 90 degree angle 4 cm away from the end. Put the coat hanger into the hole in the door so it is angled downwards. Then rotate the coathanger until you find the latch. Once you have opened the doors go on top the lift and turn the inspection switch. You can then drive the lift down to the first floor by pressing the down button and the middle button at the same time. On the first floor there are loads of old parts to see including the old bus station.
@paul hayward, it is a hobby, I do it, Alex Ellis does it, WaygoodOtis does it, benobve does it, mrmattandmrchay does it, dieselducy does it as well as thousands and thousands of other lift filmers. Take your non interest in lifts somewhere else, paul. For god sake.
Mate... Serious memories of this place in the 70s and 80s C&A and the trippy carpet ... The best shop in the world D&A Toys for all my Star Wars stuff a snail snake and whale to play in and an enormous fountain full of coins, replaced by a huge Chrimbo tree every Nov / December .. good times
It’s so fascinating finding old parts of the shopping centre that have only been closed off and not removed.
The Pentagon looks like it has an interesting history like the Whitgift in Croydon. Funny how shopping centres had changed so much even though this was only built 5 years after Whitgift
I’m going to give you a brief description of this video.
Get your seatbelt on for a trip down Memory Lane as Ben gives you a lift tour and history of the Pentagon Shopping Centre in Chatham. You will see the history of the former lifts and how the refurbished (amazing...) lifts used to look. There’s nice lifts and crap lifts, new lifts and old lifts. Come on, you have to pick your favourite!
I remember the Pentagon from 1977.. Only thing that I can really remember... apart from the stinky.. diesel fumes from the busses.. was Christmas..1977... Absolutely packed !!! Kicked in my claustrophobia big time... Absolutely heaving with shoppers...cos back then.. all the units were occupied by shops.. not like now !! So many empty 😑
I love the Pentagon my first stop is always the same I first discovered the magnificent place in January 1979 and have so many wonderful memories the Van Dam bar and Scamps next door
Balraj Grewal It's pretty run-down now 😥 The upper floors are almost entirely vacant.. several stores on the floor level are empty also... The top levels have been empty for years !! Even shops selling stuff for £5 or less are struggling ! It ain't so good ! One over priced little minisupermarket... BOOTS.. Chemist hanging on !! Just About !!! Depressing place to be honest ! 😥
I remember when the centre was brand new.. and the building of it all. and what was there before it.
I remember the lift that went between the 1st and 2nd floors in C&A (which I think is where Wilkinsons is now, and is now only usable by staff) - the sound it made used to terrify me when I was a child, like a swooshing "OOOOOoooof" as it docked. Kind of like a woodpigeon come to think of it. It played music in there too. I used to do my best to focus on the music and not be freaked out by that strange noise xD
@benobve thanks, Ben. Sounds very interesting. I like lifts with carpeted walls, these bring a well-being feeling.
I remember in the 80s when their was an escalator next the Sainsburys, where the snack bar now is. Also, before the glass elevators and escalators either-side of them were built, there was a staircase opposite them which started roughly in front of the Post Office and went up towards where JJB sports now is. There were also some cool things to play on, like a huge snail made out of wood and metal, which you could climb inside, and a long snake that you slide in one end and out the other.
Dude we must be a similar age... I remember all them things AND the huge fountain full of coins to be replaced by a Chrimbo tree around Nov time .... Not forgetting the brilliant D&A Toys for all our Star Wars needs.
Mate....memories. I miss that old place , feels like yesterday
I found the history of Pentagon really interesting how it has changed. I would love to have seen it back in the 1970s. I like underground bus stations and the complicated network of passage ways on different levels.
I really must start using Minecraft or something to design a grotty 1960s or 70s shopping centre.
Another place I'd love to visit is Cumbernauld New town in Scotland. It's town centre is built on stilts and very grotty, connected with concrete bridges and spooky passage ways with 1970s coffee coloured tiles. There are loads of pictures of Cumbernauld on Flickr.
I really want to visit it incase they demolish it one day. Problem is its a very long way from Devon where I live.
Thanks for showing the video :)
ELPaso1990TX The pentagon is interesting because it is a rather unusual building. And it has changed so much since when it was built, but the changes were done in a non-obvious way which makes it so intriguing to find out its hidden history.
Another place that has changed a lot, but in a way that hides the changes so it is hard to tell whats changed is the underground shopping center and passages under Canary Wharf. The place is massively complex. The most complex shopping center I have ever come across. And there is so much money there being thrown at it. Every now and then they change the layout of the center, and they make the place so posh with such a modern style to it that makes it so hard to tell what parts of the place have changed and how it used to be.
+benobve they replaced the green lifts voice with a crappy generic voice
+Beno WHY DID THEY HAD TO REMOVE THE BROWN LIFTS? I LIKE THE FURSE LIFTS.
I live in Doncaster
+Charlie Taaffe Not only that, they replaced the logic into Lester Controls. :(
Ben, I'm really interested in how the old pickerings lift in co-up department store looked like. Could you describe a bit? (motor, doors...)
Wait a minute,you said in the secret ALS lift tunnel video that there are no lifts to the 4th floor other than this?
I know someone who went to the 4th floor once, he said it was full of boxes
Chiltern lifts forever !!!
7:54 is that Ace using orona lift parts or orona plays with different brand name?
133travelguyIndo 8 exactly what I was thinking..
that must have been one of furse biggest contractsin the 70s.
I'm only ten but I did not know that there was a pond could u tell us what was in the bowling ally and where the main lifts are to go to the car park was that restraunt there coz it is shut down and what shops where there and what was the outside like
+battytec videos thanks
@Jack Bradley, it was a Furse (1970s-1990) modernised by ALS (Not to be confused with Associated Lifts [Nrw Zealand lift manufacturers]) (1990-2011) and then ruined by NOVA (2011-Present Day). Not manufactured by NOVA.
Yes. I dont like nova.
I use to catch my bus to school there in the 90s
Damien Revell what school??
Was'nt that first lift in the Nudge Movie?
How old where you while making this video?
Why the blue elevator doesn't has blue doors?
I remember before it was built.
Do you have any old internal pictures of the pentagon you could send me?
is the schindler at 6:48 abandoned?
Yes it has been for many years. I live 20 minutes away from here and it's never been used
At least Nova left the old ALS voice.
Shame about that grotty Schindler lift.
Why?
Oh..... rip schindler
Where is the abbandoned room where the old storage was kept near sainsburys and where the old tyling
The only way to get there now is to drive the lifts near sainsburys to the first floor. The first floor is not in the logics of these lifts, so even if you had the key for it, you still wouldn't be able to get there. The only way is to drive the lifts. Go to floor 4, wait until no people are about , and send the lift to floor 3 and remain outside the lift on floor 4. Then put a drop key into the lift doors. There is no security slot that the drop key must pass through, so you will be able to open it with a bent coat hanger. If using a coat hanger, make a 90 degree angle 4 cm away from the end. Put the coat hanger into the hole in the door so it is angled downwards. Then rotate the coathanger until you find the latch. Once you have opened the doors go on top the lift and turn the inspection switch. You can then drive the lift down to the first floor by pressing the down button and the middle button at the same time. On the first floor there are loads of old parts to see including the old bus station.
So do you no what the name of the room is so I could get some pictures
It doesn't have a name.
7:51 the buttons look like Orona!
Ace install oronas and they do a better job at maintaining them than orona.
Iam from nepal and i had seen this place in my dream with unknown people one girl telling me this is pentagon bus station people should not come here
Bus station has been closed for over 5 years.
The ace lift is a orona lift
At this time did you like Orona/ACE
It was Orona
what about the history?? like what was there before the pentagone was built i bet u dont know i have pics and everything
Look like ecodisc in jjb sports said floor 0
No, it was EcoDisc
SHOULD BE CALLED THE HEXAGON!
I'm 8 years old
I wouldn’t sneak into the 3rd floor because it is locked.
@benobve i did not like how they did this
Seems like ALS was not in there in 1970’s
It was Furse
@paul hayward, it is a hobby, I do it, Alex Ellis does it, WaygoodOtis does it, benobve does it, mrmattandmrchay does it, dieselducy does it as well as thousands and thousands of other lift filmers. Take your non interest in lifts somewhere else, paul. For god sake.