A university's Paternoster lift has become a surprise hit online

[Breelander]

I spent three years using this daily in the 70's.....

Paternoster lift at Essex university is TikTok hit

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-65093471

[Lootman]

They are/were very cool. Sheffield Uni had one, as the article notes. As a teenager I had a summer job in a research facility that had one. It was fun and scary to go over the top or under the bottom, for the first time anyway.

I imagine now banned by "elf and safety"

[XFool]

...I still rack my brains but fail to recall where I was when I travelled in one. Undoubtedly they make you feel nervous. I feel nervous just looking at films of them.

[Urbandreamer]

I think that the only existing ones in this country are in educational establishments.

Possibly to teach about design or health and safety.

Seriously I've never used one, but can see it being a tourist attraction. I'd love to try one out.

Sadly the reason for the nickname "Paternoster" may not be recognized by many/most people today.

"PATER noster, qui es in cœlis;"

Or the Latin first words of a prayer.

I.E pray before you use this thing as it may be your last chance to do so.

[AF62]

It was fun and scary to go over the top or under the bottom, for the first time anyway.

The university I attended had them and at the start of each year one or two new arrivals would try and be clever and jump the queue to go up by getting in the one going down to go around the bottom. However as soon as they disappeared from sight they were usually taught the error of their ways by someone hitting the emergency stop so they would be stuck in the bowels of the system until it was reset.

I imagine now banned by "elf and safety"

New installations are, but I was surprised to see from the article that those that remain have been permitted to continue, albeit with added safety measures.

[DeBriele]

Roger Stevens Building, University of Leeds (but closed or removed now)

[servodude]

New installations are, but I was surprised to see from the article that those that remain have been permitted to continue, albeit with added safety measures.

Banned in 1974 apparently!

The year I was born - still I got to play on the Sheffield Arts Building one a few times

[AsleepInYorkshire]

New installations are, but I was surprised to see from the article that those that remain have been permitted to continue, albeit with added safety measures.

Banned in 1974 apparently!

The year I was born - still I got to play on the Sheffield Arts Building one a few times

They had two in Perry Barr Polytechnic. A maximum of two passengers per car. They were made of wood. Worst was when they were out of action. Then it was a 6 storey walk up the stairs

AiY(D)

[XFool]

I think that the only existing ones in this country are in educational establishments.

Having failed to find any online reference to the existence of Paternoster lifts in Ireland - my presumed source of the early memory - I have concluded the one I experienced may have been at Birmingham University. (Building since demolished, I believe)

Sadly the reason for the nickname "Paternoster" may not be recognized by many/most people today.

"PATER noster, qui es in cœlis;"

Or the Latin first words of a prayer.

I.E pray before you use this thing as it may be your last chance to do so.

That is often said to be the case, humorously, but the real reason for the name seems rather that they were named for their similarity to Rosary Beads, as used in prayer.

[tacpot12]

The James Went building at Leicester Polytechnic (now demolisted) had a paternoster lift as well. Very quick and easy to use.

[bungeejumper]

It was fun and scary to go over the top or under the bottom, for the first time anyway.

The university I attended had them and at the start of each year one or two new arrivals would try and be clever and jump the queue to go up by getting in the one going down to go around the bottom. However as soon as they disappeared from sight they were usually taught the error of their ways by someone hitting the emergency stop so they would be stuck in the bowels of the system until it was reset.

Likewise at Birmingham University in the 1970s. The paternosters were an endless source of fun, and going over the top was a morning ritual for many of us. (It did tend to wake you up - especially when you saw the huge chain and sprocket at the apex passing perhaps a little too close to your nose.)

There used to be a sort of Edgar Allen Poe horror-story meme going round about how every twenty-fifth cubicle would fold up like a flat-pack box as it travelled over the top - and a surprising number of students refused to use it because they feared they'd be tipped upside down if they didn't get out in time. The fact that hundreds of us performed this terrifying feat in safety every day didn't seem to convince them.

Going under the bottom was a particular joy. If there was a queue in the lobby for the up paternoster (as there often was, just before seminar hours), you could wipe the smiles off your friends' faces by hopping onto a down compartment and rising unexpectedly from the depths, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Oh well, it gave us something to think about before philology lectures.

But yes, Paternosters did cause the occasional serious accident. And yes, they were clearly invented by somebody who'd never heard of upskirting.

BJ

[jfgw]

And yes, they were clearly invented by somebody who'd never heard of upskirting.

That is certainly the most apt use of that smiley that I have seen.


Julian F. G. W.

[bungeejumper]

And yes, they were clearly invented by somebody who'd never heard of upskirting.

That is certainly the most apt use of that smiley that I have seen.

Chosen with my customary precision.

BJ

[Adamski]

Remember using one for several weeks at Granada TV head office in Bedford in the mid 90s. They were fun but very dangerous! There was no health and safety warnings back in the day! but remember thinking wasnt at all safe.

[mc2fool]

And yes, they were clearly invented by somebody who'd never heard of upskirting.

That is certainly the most apt use of that smiley that I have seen.

Invented in 1860 so I don't think even those eyes would manage!


https://glcp.uvm.edu/landscape_new/dating/clothing_and_hair/1860s_clothing_women.php

[bluedonkey]

LSE had one but now redeveloped.

[UncleEbenezer]

That is certainly the most apt use of that smiley that I have seen.

Invented in 1860 so I don't think even those eyes would manage!

But does the 'merkin comparison stand up? Going back to 1860, weren't they still a poor country (relative to us), as well as socially and religiously much more conservative?

[Lootman]

I think that the only existing ones in this country are in educational establishments.

The one I mentioned was in an engineering factory. However it was located in the firm's research building and so off limits to the other workers.

Long since demolished and the company and site no longer exists. It went bankrupt in 2000, along with its workers' pension scheme. But I digress.

It was one of two paternoster lifts in Leicester, the other being in the university.

[AF62]

A maximum of two passengers per car.

The same ‘rule’ was in place at the one I used, although the limit was only infrequently observed.

[Lootman]

A maximum of two passengers per car.

The same ‘rule’ was in place at the one I used, although the limit was only infrequently observed.

So the rule was only "technically required" for you