Archived Report - Otis Lift Tower, Northampton - March 07

[BaldOne]

Been meaning to upload these for ages, but when 28Days closed I forgot all about it!
Hope a new report on an old explore is ok!?
I apologize in advance for my poor photography skills!

The Otis Lift Tower (commonly known to locals as The Express Lift Tower)
Takes an unfit guy like me 25mins to climb the stairs to the top


Super secret entrance


I guess the dust has had a long time to settle since it's been closed for years


At the bottom looking up


This was in a sunken pit (I don't profess to know diddly about the workings of the tower )


Half way up and a much needed view out


Nearing the top of the 'normal' stairs, looking down at where we come from.


On the way up there's not much to look at. The actual tower has 3 lift shafts in it, not one actually goes from the very top to the bottom. It's also split up into 3 levels, so you can't actually look all the way down disappointingly.
There's an observation deck behind glass 3/4 of the way up and all we could hear was the squarking of a very large bird (who managed to avoid all my attempts at taking a photo of it as it hovered around in the sky).
However, looking out through the glass I can see it's probably best I hadn't messed with it...


Back inside, up a narrower set of stairs we finally get to the top office in the tower. First the obligatory chair shot,


Some stuff left on the desk


The strips of black card used to be stuck on plinths by the windows so that when the VIPs were taken up there they knew what they were looking at.


Switch panels



Upper lift 'motor'


Big heavy weights they used to test the capacity of the lift (I guess in this health and safety obsessed world we live in, jamming it full of fat people wasn't the 'done thing' )


Lift panel

And no, I didn't climb into the lift

Back out the office and a climb up a ladder and we get near to the end of our journey. These are the bulbs Wilson Connolly used to put on their xmas 'tree' (scaffold poles bolted together fact fans!)


And then out into the open!





Danger radiation!


And the ladder up to the very top, which I didn't climb as it was fairly windy and there's nothing to stop you being blown off up there!


I've got a few more pics of stuff inside but picked out the most 'interesting' ones.
The BaldOne

[TheVicar]

Was driving past this today so got a few snaps.
Renovation work has already begun on the tower as can be seen around the base and up near the top.