Elite

Anchor House, Anchor Road, Aldridge, Walsall, WS9

The spiritual home of this blog is Anchor Road, Walsall. I've written before about my long fascination with the artwork on Elite's 1987 job advert and it's Gerry Anderson-esque vision of Anchor Road as the Moonbase Alpha of the Midlands. A trip to Anchor House was inevitable at some point. It just took slightly longer than expected because The Great Petrol Panic of autumn 2021 put paid to my first set of plans. It's going to be a while before the Travel Tube brings us to Anchor Road and before that address, before in fact Elite was even called Elite, the company had a more humble origin.

Melbourne House

Castle Yard House, Castle Yard, Richmond, TW10

Melbourne House was my first stop on an August 2021 trip across London, the day after Argos failed to deliver my washing machine (this bit is not relevant and would be removed by any decent sub-editor). It was my second full day of scouting old offices but only the first time I'd actually done any sensible planning. The first trip was done on an impulsive basis, like one of those films where Mickey Rooney suddenly goes "hey why don't we put on the show right here."

Software Projects

 Bear Brand Complex, Allerton Road, Woolton, Liverpool, LS25

Another day, another Tesco superstore. This one is in Woolton, Liverpool and it's built on the site of the old Software Projects office, a place with the odd name of Bear Brand Complex.

The Bear Brand Complex was a massive factory in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton. Like Blenheim House, System 3's home in Pinner, it seems to have been taken for granted and despite being a huge blot local landmark there are surprisingly few photos. Google brings up some pictures of the building being demolished in June 1997, around the same time Blenheim House was also being knocked down and ironically Blenheim House met the same fate in the foundations of a Tesco superstore.

System 3

Blenheim House, Ash Hill Drive, Pinner, HA5

It's lunchtime on a grey Sunday in November. I'm walking up Elm Park Road, in Pinner, towards Ash Hill Drive. When I arrive I will take a picture of a Tesco superstore. I don't need to take a picture of Tesco superstore but it's built on the site of an old System 3 office and thus must be done for completeness (Gollum-like whisper, completeneessss, my precious). My walk takes me along Marsh Lane, past Elm Park Court, along Pinner Green, with a final turn left just before Cuckoo Hill. It gives this slice of Metroland a rural feel; lovely. I hope the toilets are open. 

Ultimate Play The Game / Ashby Computers and Graphics / Rare Limited

The Green, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, LE6

Ultimate Play the Game was the trading name of Ashby Computers and Graphics. You probably already know the name if you're interested enough to read this blog but not including Ultimate would be like writing about football teams and not covering Manchester United because they are too famous.

Their first game, Jetpac, was released in May 1983, initially for the 16k ZX Spectrum and followed by versions for the VIC-20 and BBC Micro. The lead time of magazines in 1983 was so long that the first review comes two months later in COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES issue 21 (July 1983 page 136) where the unnamed reviewer can't wait to tell us, "the tape loaded successfully first time and while the game was loading an impressive title screen was displayed."

K-tel / Front Runner

620 Western Avenue, London, W3

I was a ZX Spectrum kid, and I don't want this blog to over-focus on Sir Clive Sinclair's rubber-keyed wonder. I should make a gesture to potential readers out there who chose a different path; but what? Back in the eighties my knowledge of other home computers was limited to: 

• a friend with a ZX81, whose parents refused to upgrade. 
• my aunt who brought a Dragon 32.
• a weird Superman comic in which he teamed up with some kids who owned a computer*.
• a couple of kids in my class with Commodore 64s.

Martech

Bay Terrace, Pevensey Bay, BN24

DATELINE 1985, PEVENSEY BAY. I like to imagine a group of designers and programmers from the Electronic Pencil Company walking along the seafront arguing over the hierarchy of Zoids. Their forthcoming game Zoids: The Battle Begins required the player to recover the scattered pieces of the mighty Zoidzilla and your personal Zoid becomes more powerful as each piece is found. Obviously the player must start as a lowly and weak Spiderzoid before climbing the ranks to become (the mighty) Zoidzilla, but what comes in between? More importantly, what were Zoids and why are they in an East Sussex village?