I live very close to this. They started demolishing it at the start of February. It was opened by a local family who also owned Oakwood theme park. They sold to Aspro theme parks in 2008 and it’s been left to rot since. We had some great times there as kids. Great seeing inside after all these years.
i know right, everyone saying they'd have liked to have seen the guys face when beface came out the hole, but fuck I'd have like to have seen his face when the 'alarm' went off. No wonder he didn't go in to find them haha
They are AMF 82-70 Pinspotters, the red donut is called the pinwheel and rotates the pins up to the distributor, dropping the pins into the chassis ready for spotting on the deck. I spent 6 years working as an AMF mechanic. The youth was right, it is a gravity fed ball return. The rubber spikes on the wood -> The plank is called a kickback, stops the ball and takes all the force of the thrown ball, the spikes are rubber rivets fed through which hold the rubber in place for ease of replacement of the rubber cushion. we used to walk along while they were running all the time like lad that part is called the catwalk, the rollers at the front you kicked are concept 90 ball lifts and pull the ball up to the ball rack ready for use again. Makes me sad to see all that in such a state of disrepair. Sadly all those machines are now being replaced with no maintenance pins on strings machines and bowling mechanics are being made obsolete. All those machines today are being re-sold as spares only, most centres are ripping them out and junking them so not valuable at all any more but 20 years ago they would have been about that much money sure.. I still have the full maintenance manual for complete strip and repair of this type machine up in the loft in my box of memories. The tv's were indeed NTSC format using the Accuscore automatic scoring system. They needed 20 pins in each machine to run, too many and it was cause a Jam, they could run with 10 pins minimum but would take ages to reset the pins if ran with less. The pins themselves were surloyn coated maple wood and tended to split open if left in damp conditions as the wood swells they were expensive to replace all the time so looking after them kept running costs down. Great explore and nice find Matt,
I cant believe no ones nicked the westinghouse motors and the chassis. Also the C90's look like they've still got the motors attached too looking at the belt tension.
20:14 Yes, the actual tv show was filmed at Shepperton Studios (series 1), North Weald aircraft hanger (S2-6) & BottleYard Studios Bristol (2017+). There were 8 of these Cyberdrome Crystal Maze attractions worldwide. Great vid 👍🏼👍🏼 27:45 Ocean Zone (set on an ocean liner).
That place must have been amazing back in the day! great video, I nearly died laughing when B-Face went through the hole shouting, that guys face must have been a picture, B-Face is hilarious and livens the whole thing up.
Lmao. That guy at the end seemed unamused by Beface's little introduction as he came out the hole. You should bring a Snickers with you for blokes like him. Obviously turns into a right diva when he's hungry 🤣
I was lucky enough to live in the area as a kid to teenager in the late 80s and early 90s when this place was rocking. So sad to see it that it didn't survive. Plenty of time out there at birthday parties and outings with friends.
I remember going to this place when it first opened. I must have been 11. I convinced my parents to go there twice. I only recall one game that the player had to swing over a sort of river that if you fell in you lost a Crystal. They then had to press two buttons simultaneously. The dome was where you had to press buttons that were lit. You got points if the light was on when you pressed the button and lost points if you pressed it when it was off. Most of the games were basic computer games but it was great fun. I remember they ranked the teams who went in on every day. We got some sort of certificate when we finished.
I went to the Blackpool one in the 1990s, when Crystal Maze was still a big thing. I'm amazed that all the game PCs and screens have just been left there to get trashed - you'd think they would have been sold off for parts or repurposed for POS!
That was a commercial version of the maze, which originally started life many years ago in Blackpool next to the reproduction of coronation Street in the sandcastle building on the front
Sorry to burst your bubble but the first few series of Crystal Maze were filmed in Shepperton in Surrey and then in North Weald in Essex. My friend was a studio runner for the show back in the 90s.
I just want to thank you and to the whole crew Josh to Steve to Andrew to Karl to Dan to Sam & Jess and all the rest of you guys that I appreciate the videos of exploring abandoned and more. I'm always excited for the next episode. Times get stressful or sad. But because you all go that extra mile to make your fans happy, it makes the bad days go much better. Thank you again Matt and all for getting out there exploring and sharing. Maybe someday I'll meet one of you and go explore the abandoned too.🏰🏥💖🐾 Please stay safe and explore more🙏💖🐾
Used to go there quite often. Was also a bowling alley. Before that I met my husband there when it was a (use the term lightly) a hot spot 2x weekly dance venue . Happy days! Was quite a place. Next to our other big attraction Folly Farm, oh and of course Oakwood.
@@livinghere1972 This is west Wales. Folly Farm is a petting zoo. 0akwood is a huge adventure attraction. Small scale next to Alton Towers but……….it’s ours! Lol Hope that helps!
Crystal maze was filmed in an old ww2 bunker outside north weald air base, former battle of Britain airstrip. The bunker is still there and clearly visible.
I went to the Crystal Maze at Coventry Megabowl back in the early 2000’s. If I remember there was 4 teams. The first bit with the 4 podiums you had to get the question right and be first then you’d take turns to go through all the zones and play the games and then go to the maze at the end and press the buttons quickly when they lit up
It's an old leisure, entertainments complex, arcade, 10 pin bowling, cafe etc The crystal maze part is not the proper TV studio version but a public version, there were a few others around the country in the 1990s I went to one in Blackpool opposite the pleasure beach, very similar setup. Different zones, the games were all computer screen interactive with the same controls you saw I'd expect it was some official franchise from the actual TV program? I remember there was some really cool lighting effects and smoke machines, UV lights LEDs sound effects which added to the whole interactive effect.
@@patrickmccarthy5462 Yeah it was OK, enjoyed it, was very popular and always busy, teams of people running around from area to area playing all the games in each zone, the games were a bit disappointing, they were just glorified on screen computer games.
Hi Matt great explor can't believe they would leave all the bowling machines,also the arcade machines which could have been resold before the vandalis got in,looked like a great place in it's day thanks for sharing
Our local bowling alley caught fire, the replacement cost per lane was $80k each, we had 15 or 16 lanes. Would have been over $1 million dollars to just replace the lane equipment, that didn't include rebuilding the rest of the building that was wrecked. $80,000 each lane 2019 prices US.
The TV series was first recorded at Shepperton studios then moved to North weald. Aces high studio I think was the name. They also done a live experience in Manchester at bottle yard studios
first time i think I've seen you explore a bowling alley awesome stuff. and that bloke at the end proper miserable you know what. Was absolutely hilarious though when jordan started talking to him in his high pitch voice that part made my night 🤣🤣
I also remember you had a card and if you saw your team logo on the screen you’d swipe your card and then you could play your game, once the game was finished it would tell you then where to go next
In the late 90s/early 2000s in a bowling alley in Millbrook, Southampton, they had a Crystal Maze type experience thing; you could go along and play games, many were just on arcade-like computers, with buttons joysticks, but some had more interactive components, like climb up here, go across a little bridge, press a button - I don't remember too well. I recall as a kid it was pretty fun. I think the space used for teh Crystal Maze stuff must've been cleared out, as the alley still runs today, and has laser quest now I think.
I would imagine it’s in too much state of disrepair now to do up. Which is a shame as they could have cashed in on the 2017+ series by reopening it. (Rights allowing).
I should of commented on last video when you were in the ford plant that the guy you were with making noise with shoes like dude take them off walk bare foot lol
How the hell did you think that this was where the Crystal Maze was filmed? The original series was filmed at a place called Aces High studios, on North Weald Airfield.
The first series was filmed at Shepperton studios. The second series was filmed at aces high studios in North weald. They also done a live experience in Manchester in bottle yard studios
Two vids in one day spoiling us Matt The Camera is the evidence Jordan alarm noise made me laugh 🚨 Jordan at the end saying Hello My name is beface computing 😂
This place was awesome when it was open shame to see it in such bad state got took over by Oakwood next door and slowly started falling apart then they closed it down the power will be coming from the team park if still powered your lucky you didn't end up the the team park security but the crystal maze was all computers and you had to try and press buttons and answer stuff the computers would keep track of the score with a log in that you use but like said over time stuff stopped working and fall apart made it fun trying to swing across a pit to press a button that no longer had a rope to swing on UV lights flicker and computers kept crashing then it was closed the bowling stayed open for a while longer don't know when they shut that down but yep long gone and dead now now Oakwood is slowly doing the same gone down hill
I'm sure the Crystal maze used to licence their adventure playground style games across the country in the late 80s early 90s from memory in the big arcade places like London's trocadero, some seaside towns Butlins and pontins camps ect.. they may have just copied the game show back then before people cared about copyright 🤣 stay safe be lucky matt
Just a shame they've let it fall into rot. If they don't fix up the leaks, the place will soon be too far gone. The only value will be the bowling machines, and that is if they don't begin to rust.
Mr Grumpy have the right to be grumpy. No one has any business in an other mans house, open or not. Also You tubing a place may possible result in more vandalism. That said, there shouldn´t be much of urbexing done, from outside a fence. And there is in fact a value in documenting interesting places before they are gone. The real shame is letting nice buildings rotting away and vandals going berserk. That said the decay is also part of the urbex magic. You get kind of connected with time and what it does to us all. After all, we´re all passing by this globe in space on its way from nothing to nothing. Life is to short for stupid conflicts. We should all try to enjoy life a bit more.
What's the difference between Will and shall in English? The difference between will and shall can be drawn clearly on the following grounds: The word will is used to represent future actions, to make predictions, to expect something or to show an intention. The use of shall is rare in Modern English, whereas will is quite common. LoL
Beface is hilarious, the way he said "oh hello" to the guy haha.
I remember coming here in 2017 it was mint! Haha surprised this place is still standinf
Josh man in the house. See you soon bro.
Surprised myself haha
Jordan knows his stuff ... you cant take that away from him .. i actually enjoy his explores with Matt.
I live very close to this. They started demolishing it at the start of February. It was opened by a local family who also owned Oakwood theme park. They sold to Aspro theme parks in 2008 and it’s been left to rot since. We had some great times there as kids. Great seeing inside after all these years.
Brilliant you are such a gent when dealing with miserable humans and I love Beface’s attitude as well.
Befaces alarm impression,
Im actually buckled!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
i know right, everyone saying they'd have liked to have seen the guys face when beface came out the hole, but fuck I'd have like to have seen his face when the 'alarm' went off. No wonder he didn't go in to find them haha
They are AMF 82-70 Pinspotters, the red donut is called the pinwheel and rotates the pins up to the distributor, dropping the pins into the chassis ready for spotting on the deck. I spent 6 years working as an AMF mechanic. The youth was right, it is a gravity fed ball return. The rubber spikes on the wood -> The plank is called a kickback, stops the ball and takes all the force of the thrown ball, the spikes are rubber rivets fed through which hold the rubber in place for ease of replacement of the rubber cushion. we used to walk along while they were running all the time like lad that part is called the catwalk, the rollers at the front you kicked are concept 90 ball lifts and pull the ball up to the ball rack ready for use again. Makes me sad to see all that in such a state of disrepair. Sadly all those machines are now being replaced with no maintenance pins on strings machines and bowling mechanics are being made obsolete. All those machines today are being re-sold as spares only, most centres are ripping them out and junking them so not valuable at all any more but 20 years ago they would have been about that much money sure.. I still have the full maintenance manual for complete strip and repair of this type machine up in the loft in my box of memories. The tv's were indeed NTSC format using the Accuscore automatic scoring system. They needed 20 pins in each machine to run, too many and it was cause a Jam, they could run with 10 pins minimum but would take ages to reset the pins if ran with less. The pins themselves were surloyn coated maple wood and tended to split open if left in damp conditions as the wood swells they were expensive to replace all the time so looking after them kept running costs down. Great explore and nice find Matt,
I cant believe no ones nicked the westinghouse motors and the chassis. Also the C90's look like they've still got the motors attached too looking at the belt tension.
20:14 Yes, the actual tv show was filmed at Shepperton Studios (series 1), North Weald aircraft hanger (S2-6) & BottleYard Studios Bristol (2017+). There were 8 of these Cyberdrome Crystal Maze attractions worldwide. Great vid 👍🏼👍🏼
27:45 Ocean Zone (set on an ocean liner).
That guy was adamant they filmed the crystal maze in the side room of a bowling alley?
That place must have been amazing back in the day! great video, I nearly died laughing when B-Face went through the hole shouting, that guys face must have been a picture, B-Face is hilarious and livens the whole thing up.
For all your security needs and to drive burglars crazy, call Beface Alarms 😂
That was funny, Beface cracks me up. We had a good luck round though so thanks Matt. Xx
That was a good one, hope Mr Grumpy at the end watched this too, to see you were not lying about breaking in.
Great Explore! Thank you ! enjoyed it very much ! - used to like the program years ago
I loved Crystal Maze as a kid with the 1990 reruns before school, I would of loved to explore this site myself.
Mr Grumpy must have thought "What the hell" when beface came out of the hole screaming his head off!
What can you say when Beface starts foghorning...lol
@@TheSecretVault how do you put up
With it ?!?!
Hello!! My name is Beface! 🤣🤣🤣
Aaaahhhhhhhh !!!!!
It seems that the fella doesn't check on the building too often. Interesting Matthew Thank you.
Great Matt beface alarm system great vid cheers Matt 👍👍👍👍
That cctv must be mint if they miss all the people breaking in smashing shit just for the sake of it..
Lmao. That guy at the end seemed unamused by Beface's little introduction as he came out the hole. You should bring a Snickers with you for blokes like him. Obviously turns into a right diva when he's hungry 🤣
I was lucky enough to live in the area as a kid to teenager in the late 80s and early 90s when this place was rocking. So sad to see it that it didn't survive. Plenty of time out there at birthday parties and outings with friends.
I would have loved to go there when it was open
@@TheSecretVault Me to. To many places closing now
Going through a rough time atm but when you pressed those beno buttons pmsl
1st class video to watch thank you take care kind regards from me kenneth
It’s a shame to see it in this state now, I remember going there in 1998, still have happy memories of it. Thanks for sharing this. 👌
Yeah very sad when things this good arent looked after.
Good old beface. I'd have paid good money to see the look on grumps' face as he emerged from that hole 😂👍
I can hear beface going mad in there .. fooking classic!!!!!!!
Funny at the end😅 another great explore 👍
I remember going to this place when it first opened. I must have been 11. I convinced my parents to go there twice. I only recall one game that the player had to swing over a sort of river that if you fell in you lost a Crystal. They then had to press two buttons simultaneously. The dome was where you had to press buttons that were lit. You got points if the light was on when you pressed the button and lost points if you pressed it when it was off. Most of the games were basic computer games but it was great fun. I remember they ranked the teams who went in on every day. We got some sort of certificate when we finished.
Enjoyed this man!
I went to the Blackpool one in the 1990s, when Crystal Maze was still a big thing. I'm amazed that all the game PCs and screens have just been left there to get trashed - you'd think they would have been sold off for parts or repurposed for POS!
Great explore - shame about the security guy - hope he enjoys watching your channel!👍👍
That was a commercial version of the maze, which originally started life many years ago in Blackpool next to the reproduction of coronation Street in the sandcastle building on the front
7:55. Jordan is so excited and enthusiastic 😂😂😂😂
Sorry to burst your bubble but the first few series of Crystal Maze were filmed in Shepperton in Surrey and then in North Weald in Essex. My friend was a studio runner for the show back in the 90s.
Yes I did actually have a title up in this video stating this, but thanks for confirming ;-)
I just want to thank you and to the whole crew Josh to Steve to Andrew to Karl to Dan to Sam & Jess and all the rest of you guys that I appreciate the videos of exploring abandoned and more. I'm always excited for the next episode. Times get stressful or sad. But because you all go that extra mile to make your fans happy, it makes the bad days go much better. Thank you again Matt and all for getting out there exploring and sharing. Maybe someday I'll meet one of you and go explore the abandoned too.🏰🏥💖🐾 Please stay safe and explore more🙏💖🐾
Matt you definitely look like the presenter from the crystal maze
Used to work there in 1996/97 used to get really busy. Shane it's now in this condition.
Why they close it Ben
@@davidm3maniac201 believe it wasn't profitable and at that time the Crystal Maze was not popular.
@@benporter4938 Thanks for reply Ben
I am so sorry to see my favorate show gone to rot R.I.P the crystal maze
It's still on just in a different format well as far as I know obvs the cheesy 90's was the best
Used to go there quite often. Was also a bowling alley. Before that I met my husband there when it was a (use the term lightly) a hot spot 2x weekly dance venue . Happy days! Was quite a place. Next to our other big attraction Folly Farm, oh and of course Oakwood.
Cool. This near Folly? I was there a few months back. In the video he said this was west wales?
@@livinghere1972
This is west Wales. Folly Farm is a petting zoo. 0akwood is a huge adventure attraction. Small scale next to Alton Towers but……….it’s ours! Lol
Hope that helps!
@@nannyofmany8315 thanks
You should have told him that there are other people in there, make him wait lol.
Your COLD PIN joke fell on dead ears... lol.
Crystal maze was filmed in an old ww2 bunker outside north weald air base, former battle of Britain airstrip. The bunker is still there and clearly visible.
That was the second series. The first series was filmed at Shepperton studios.
Your talking about aces high studios on the airfield
@@davidm3maniac201 Also filmed in Blackpool, uk,
I went to the Crystal Maze at Coventry Megabowl back in the early 2000’s. If I remember there was 4 teams. The first bit with the 4 podiums you had to get the question right and be first then you’d take turns to go through all the zones and play the games and then go to the maze at the end and press the buttons quickly when they lit up
great video to see
I like the old school airbrush set design, reminds me of places I went for birthday parties or a weird kids TV show. I would live in place like that
It's an old leisure, entertainments complex, arcade, 10 pin bowling, cafe etc
The crystal maze part is not the proper TV studio version but a public version, there were a few others around the country in the 1990s I went to one in Blackpool opposite the pleasure beach, very similar setup. Different zones, the games were all computer screen interactive with the same controls you saw
I'd expect it was some official franchise from the actual TV program?
I remember there was some really cool lighting effects and smoke machines, UV lights LEDs sound effects which added to the whole interactive effect.
I went to the Blackpool one. The 'Crystal Dome' was like a little greenhouse with red buttons to press instead of gold silver tokens.
@@patrickmccarthy5462 Yeah it was OK, enjoyed it, was very popular and always busy, teams of people running around from area to area playing all the games in each zone, the games were a bit disappointing, they were just glorified on screen computer games.
Hi Matt great explor can't believe they would leave all the bowling machines,also the arcade machines which could have been resold before the vandalis got in,looked like a great place in it's day thanks for sharing
Yeah, makes zero sense to leave all that in there if it is going to be empty..
Our local bowling alley caught fire, the replacement cost per lane was $80k each, we had 15 or 16 lanes. Would have been over $1 million dollars to just replace the lane equipment, that didn't include rebuilding the rest of the building that was wrecked. $80,000 each lane 2019 prices US.
I would imagine the cost of bowling lane installation is cheaper in the US in general with its greater popularity too.
wow
Sorry guys but the 2 versions on tv were shot at bray studios and the new version at the brickyard studios in bristol
Great explore matt that guy just wouldn't accept the truth lol 👍👍👍
Not where the one on telly was filmed that was at shepperton studios Surrey.
The TV series was first recorded at Shepperton studios then moved to North weald. Aces high studio I think was the name. They also done a live experience in Manchester at bottle yard studios
Now it is filmed here in Bristol.
Bottle Yard Studios
first time i think I've seen you explore a bowling alley awesome stuff. and that bloke at the end proper miserable you know what. Was absolutely hilarious though when jordan started talking to him in his high pitch voice that part made my night 🤣🤣
Wow, that was a lot of technology to maintain for its time before cheap boards like the raspberry pi that run in places like this now.
yep a lot of fan noise, heat and large pc's. smaller devices would be ideal in a place like this now.
Another great night watch cant wait .
That was very interesting!!
I also remember you had a card and if you saw your team logo on the screen you’d swipe your card and then you could play your game, once the game was finished it would tell you then where to go next
In the late 90s/early 2000s in a bowling alley in Millbrook, Southampton, they had a Crystal Maze type experience thing; you could go along and play games, many were just on arcade-like computers, with buttons joysticks, but some had more interactive components, like climb up here, go across a little bridge, press a button - I don't remember too well. I recall as a kid it was pretty fun. I think the space used for teh Crystal Maze stuff must've been cleared out, as the alley still runs today, and has laser quest now I think.
yeah I went there back in the day, its now Q 2 Kill I think
I would imagine it’s in too much state of disrepair now to do up. Which is a shame as they could have cashed in on the 2017+ series by reopening it. (Rights allowing).
It was also filmed at Aces High Studios Essex.
Great stuff Matt great explore 👍🏻
I should of commented on last video when you were in the ford plant that the guy you were with making noise with shoes like dude take them off walk bare foot lol
How the hell did you think that this was where the Crystal Maze was filmed? The original series was filmed at a place called Aces High studios, on North Weald Airfield.
The first series was filmed at Shepperton studios. The second series was filmed at aces high studios in North weald. They also done a live experience in Manchester in bottle yard studios
And Blackpool !
Was this the place that they held the crystal maze cyberdrome event?
so much interesting things in there
Two vids in one day spoiling us Matt
The Camera is the evidence
Jordan alarm noise made me laugh 🚨
Jordan at the end saying Hello My name is beface computing 😂
Wonder if some of these places have valuable equipment left behind because the assets are locked down by prolonged bankruptcy proceedings.
Beface is growing on me 😂
Hes proper cheeky
This place was awesome when it was open shame to see it in such bad state got took over by Oakwood next door and slowly started falling apart then they closed it down the power will be coming from the team park if still powered your lucky you didn't end up the the team park security but the crystal maze was all computers and you had to try and press buttons and answer stuff the computers would keep track of the score with a log in that you use but like said over time stuff stopped working and fall apart made it fun trying to swing across a pit to press a button that no longer had a rope to swing on UV lights flicker and computers kept crashing then it was closed the bowling stayed open for a while longer don't know when they shut that down but yep long gone and dead now now Oakwood is slowly doing the same gone down hill
No crystal dome for the end of the show
I'm sure the Crystal maze used to licence their adventure playground style games across the country in the late 80s early 90s from memory in the big arcade places like London's trocadero, some seaside towns Butlins and pontins camps ect.. they may have just copied the game show back then before people cared about copyright 🤣 stay safe be lucky matt
Like the vlog intresting from Margaret P
Crystal maze cool video 👍
Who's the dude that howls like a Banshee? I wanna watch his channel too
BEFACE COMPUTING
He sounds more like a bedlam than a banshee
they had the same sort of set up in Blackpool, the crystal maze part was rubbish, then it went , wonder if it went here
Used to love going there as a kid. It’s a shame that when the McNamara’s sold Oakwood to the new Spanish owners they let it go to waste.
It was NOT where they filmed anything
What a fantastic place Shame it’s left to go ruins
more like Crystal Meth! :D
beno the tool box lol
Just a shame they've let it fall into rot. If they don't fix up the leaks, the place will soon be too far gone. The only value will be the bowling machines, and that is if they don't begin to rust.
jordan cracks me up.
That guy sounds like Gerald from Clarksons Farm
Mr Grumpy have the right to be grumpy. No one has any business in an other mans house, open or not. Also You tubing a place may possible result in more vandalism. That said, there shouldn´t be much of urbexing done, from outside a fence. And there is in fact a value in documenting interesting places before they are gone. The real shame is letting nice buildings rotting away and vandals going berserk. That said the decay is also part of the urbex magic. You get kind of connected with time and what it does to us all. After all, we´re all passing by this globe in space on its way from nothing to nothing. Life is to short for stupid conflicts. We should all try to enjoy life a bit more.
what is another mans house when they abanon it... they leave it to rot. it becomes public. Ownership = greed.
that sticker is what sherlock homes is after
Lol deffo not crystal maze tho someone been smoking some strong shit to think that lol
IT IS NOT THE REAL TV SHOW SET
You are correct that was filmed at Shepperton studios then at aces high studios in North weald
What's the difference between Will and shall in English?
The difference between will and shall can be drawn clearly on the following grounds: The word will is used to represent future actions, to make predictions, to expect something or to show an intention. The use of shall is rare in Modern English, whereas will is quite common. LoL
aMAZEing :-)
Sand timer do you mean an hour glass?
Matt walked past toilet and not used it
Yeah I thought his system must be off...
When your aggree it but think, wtf are these guys talking about.. it’s nothing like the Crystal maze . You could even tell that from outside
There always vehicles parked outside there
Blame it on Taffy lol 😂 🤣😂
😆😂 more fun
Isn't this where Karl done a video once?
Haha!!!
It was almost an automatic lock in for you guys! 😂😂
I just wish I could understand what they are saying. It must be an English thing.
Ye you broke in but worth it! 😬
Lol
People are worse than animals. Animals don't do that