When Roy is out and about, he is always on the look out for new, interesting, forgotten or hidden attractions to take his friends to. It is something which he thinks he has become quite good at! So, imagine his surprise when he realised that he had been using one such place and not yet thought about writing about it! When his Auntie Blanche suggested he visit the moving walkway in the Domain, he realised that this was an amazing place which he has often visited but just taken for granted.
The Domain Moving Walkway, in Sydney (Australia) is a long, inclined, flat path which moves. When you stand on it, it will transport you between the Domain Carpark and College Street. You can leave the moving walkway on the corner of College Street and either Prince Albert Road or Macquarie Street and from there it is only a short walk to some of Sydney's interesting attractions, like Hyde Park, Hyde Park Barracks, St Mary's Cathedral, The Queen Victoria Building, Martin Place, The Australian Museum and many others.
One of the reasons Roy had never thought to look into the history of the moving walkway was he, like many of his friends, assumed that moving walkways are just a convenient way to get around, with the Domain one having some pretty murals painted in it to keep travellers interested. Yet moving walkways are actually really interesting, and much older than we expected! The first moving walkway which we know about was seen at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. It ran in a loop down the length of a waterfront pier, transporting travellers to and from a casino. It did have a few major differences to moving walkways we see today. One was that it had two options for travel. Passengers could choose to stand or walk, as we do today, but they could also sit down for the trip. You can see a photo of this first moving walkway by clicking here.
The Domain Moving Walkway was built in 1961, making it 50 years old this year! At 207 metres long was, for a time, the longest moving walkway in the world. Today it is thought to still be the longest in the Southern Hemisphere. The walkway was, many thought, a glimpse into the future of travel. In fact, when it was built by the Sydney Botanic Gardens Trust, it was actually built as a futuristic novelty! People thought that, in the future, all pavements would move, making getting about really easy. Problem was, moving walkways are very expensive and difficult to maintain. Besides, most people prefer to just walk. Today, moving walkways are taken for granted, with short versions appearing in shopping centres and various other places. For children, they have 'always' been there, and are just part of life. To learn more about the moving walkway, click here or here.