High-security UK mall breached, photos online!
Last week, I wrote about Britain's high-security Fareham Shopping Centre, a high-value target where photography has been banned for "security reasons" -- this is the site where a pair of middle aged grandparents were banned for life as "terrorists" for taking a picture of their grandchildren.
Now, crack operative Matthew Fowler has penetrated the security perimeter around this facility with a hidden camera and smuggled out a reel of strategic photographs of the mall, including this (upside-down) map, which, incredibly, shows the location of the local Boots outlet and the Woolworth's store! With this kind of high-value intel, the Fareham Centre will be ours!
Agent Fowler has also provided us with a riveting walk-through video that reveals many key tactical elements of the structure, from the sort of chairs provided in the food court to the kind of tennis-shoes you need to wear if you want to blend in with the native population.
Tremble, Fareham Shopping Centre! I know not where you are, and care less, but still, you will be mine! Hahahahahahahaahahaha! Hahahahahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahahaha! Link to images, Link to video
See also: UK mall bans grandparents for trying to photo their grandkids
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I've been a faithful boingboing reader for years. But this fiendish diabolicalness goes to far. Woolworths has been out of business in this country for decades!! How dare you expose their European operations!!!
I've been a faithful boingboing reader for years. But this fiendish diabolicalness goes to far. Woolworths has been out of business in this country for decades!! How dare you expose their European operations!!!
Oh Cory, everyone knows the proper way to spew an evil laugh is to say MUHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!! NOT HAHAHAHAHAH!
I might be wrong, (as may be the people that posted this originally, anything posted by the masses could always be a trap) but this looks familiar. I swear, that this mall, might be somewhere in Britain. Although I do have to agree, if they have an actual Woolworth's, attacking it would have the same significance to attacking a museum, no damage to the populace, but the historical damage can't be measured.
This didn't make me laugh out loud, but it did bring a smile to my face which is just as nice. Nice Post, thanks Boing Boing!
aww...I really miss woolworths. can't be the same i guess.
Fascist Farnham needs to be exposed - keep up the good work. I have seen even worse cases in the US. Put it on my Multiply blog.
I happen to have the pleasure of LIVING in Fareham (ish).
To be honest, you reallllly don't want Fareham shopping centre...or any of it. Game is nice though.
Oh my, thank you for the morning giggle. That is awesome!
Sounds like Cory's had an extra cup of coffee.
Many Bothans died to bring us this information...
In this age of terrorism it makes a little sense to take a few extra precautions. If you can't take a picture at the local Starbucks, Oh well.
They still have Woolworth's?
/Not that I miss Woolworth's like #6, SONNY P FONTAINE, I'm just surprised it still exists.
I think it's pronounced woolsworth(s) as in "O Brother, Where Art Thou"... lol
@12
If you want the age of terrorism to end you simply need to stop being afraid of people taking pictures of public spaces. Defeat your fear and you defeat terrorism.
The reason some people get worked up over nonsense like grandparents being banned for taking pics at a mall is because the people who come up with such bans and those who think this is ok are the ones holding us back from victory.
(I'm Agent Fowler)
1) Yes, this mall IS in the UK. In the town of Fareham, in Hampshire, on the south coast. The UK has some really big malls, this ain't one of them.
2) As I understand it, Woolworths in the UK is entirely different / separate from the old US company by the same name.
3) YAY! I'm Vaguely Famous!! \//00007!
4) Apologies for the video being a little "bouncy" at points. My secret-agent camera rig isn't entirely complete yet.
At 1:07 into the video (or -0:56 if using the countdown timer), I turn to the side specifically to get footage of the elite security guards doing their rounds.
What, no upskirts? How're we supposed to identify the female undercover security officers?
I mean, they do have and undercover security detail, right? To protect the shoppers from terr'ists?
...Holy Frack! The real revelation is that Woolworth's is still in business! I thought they'd all gone belly-up 20 years ago!!!
This shopping center badly needs a flash mob invasion of camera-snapping shoppers.
@8
I also live in Fareham, and you're right, the shopping centre is nothing to get excited about. Maybe it is a cover for something sinister - that may be why security is so tight :-)
For those of you who you want to know where it is, the coordinates are 50°51'11.35"N, 1°10'37.99"W.
Oh no, I hear the black helicopters coming! They're on to me ;-)
@Buxton etc.
I work for Woolworths in the UK so I know a bit about the history.
Woolworths UK was founded by the same Frank W. Woolworth who founded the Woolworths chain in the USA. He personally opened the first British Woolworths store in Liverpool in 1909.
However, UK-based operations evolved separately. Woolworths UK was bought out by a British company (which has since demerged) in 1981.
Confusingly, Woolworths in Australia has nothing to do with either the US or the UK companies!
There is a lot more info on this website about the history of Woolworths: http://museum.woolworths.co.uk/
My mother used to work for Woolworth's here in the US as a floor walker back in the 60's.
Go ahead - bomb it! She would approve!
Her considered opinion was that all the managers were idiots. They bought tons of what didn't sell and sold out of what did sell.
It's no surprise they're gone here.
What? No irony photo of the 'no photos' sign?
But it is nice to know who's taking YOUR picture when you in there.
@Doctorvee: Superb, fascinating reading, thanks!
With all the "corporate gymnastics" involved in their history, I bet Woolies is an endless source of case studies for Business Studies courses!
Nice follow-up regarding this security goofiness. But let's not forget that when private business are involved, "anti-terrorism" is just a dodge for anti-photography policies that have always been in place.
As a wage slave in malls and restaurants in the late 80's and early 90's, I was told to prohibit any photography. The reason, I was told, was to limit "slip & fall" and other fraudulent lawsuits. The con, we were told, was to take a photo of a friend or relative that also showed a puddle on the floor or other hazard. A few minutes later, someone could take a deliberate header. At the ultimate personal injury trial, the plaintiff would have a photo showing an "open and obvious hazard that persisted for a length of time sufficient to impute knowledge of the hazard to management."
Others suggested that photography was banned to make it marginally more difficult for competitors to monitor/copy store layout and pricing.
I'm not terribly impressed by either of these reasons, and I suspect other readers have heard dozens more. But the point remains that "security reasons" is merely a dodge--these policies were in place long before this particular justification became fashionable.
Of course, invoking anti-terrorism where it is plainly not justified serves to trivialize genuine security concerns and (as Cory has eloquently explained elsewhere) is, in fact, a form of terror itself.
So I'm not disputing the zaniness or stupidity of the story, just reiterating that lies and deceit undergird the story.
And I'm happy to learn more about "Woolsworth."
Nothing makes us more vulnerable than that which reveals our stupidity...and nothing says stupidity more than having the idiots be the deciders.
Skipper (12), when I read stories like this, I always wonder who in the world could possibly believe that such measures would deter terrorists who'd settled on Fareham Mall as a target.
And there you are! Thank you for confirming that someone out there is capable of thinking this is a good idea.
Hahahahahahaha screw you Fareham slopping centre!