Flashback: Wolverhampton well gave real time look at Greece

Visitors to Wolverhampton's Mander Centre were able to say hello to shoppers across the continent and see what was going on 1,500 miles away.

And thanks to what at the time was cutting edge video technology, people in Athens were able to look right back at them.

"People will be able to wave at each other in real time and hold up written messages of welcome. It's a unique and fun concept that should really capture people's imagination," said shopping centre manager Graham Evans before it was launched.

The well linked the city with The Village Leisure and Retail Park in Rentis - the first shopping centre of its type in Greece - using webcams in the first twinning project of its kind.

The ground-breaking Hole in the World, paid for with a £10,000 injection from Barclaycard, was unveiled on April 13, 2006 and immediately proved popular with young and old alike with thousands flocking to wave at people thousands of miles away in Greece.

The Mayor of Wolverhampton, councillor Phil Bateman, launched the project in Wolverhampton, with his Greek counterpart, Mayor of Rentis George Loakamidis, via the internet link-up.

Speaking at the launch Alison Russon, aged 45, a carer from Penn Fields, Wolverhampton, said:"I think it's absolutely marvellous and itπs lovely for Wolverhampton to have a first like this.

"It will give people more of an idea about what life is like in Greece and vice versa."

Stuart Ray, a 24-year-old fire alarm engineer from Pendeford, Wolverhampton, said:"It's very good and I'm sure it will be very popular, especially with children. It's great for Wolverhampton to have something like this."

His colleague Dean Bradley, also 24, from Wednesbury, said: "This is the first time I've seen the well and I'm quite impressed with it. I think it will be quite well used, people will stop off and have a look what's going on as they are doing their shopping."

Student Caroline McGarrell, a 21-year-old student from Penn Fields, said: "It's amazing what you can do with modern technology nowadays.

"It's bound to be a big crowd puller, the kids will absolutely love it."

John Woods, aged 47, from Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, said: "I think it's a brilliant idea but it is strange to think that you can see people who are on the other side of the world in your local shopping centre.

"I think it will be really popular especially with the school kids who are into technology," he added.

A delegation from the Mander Centre and the Mayor and Mayoress of Wolverhampton had been invited to visit the centre in Athens a couple of months earlier February.

They then invited a group from Rentis to visit Wolverhampton giving them a tour of the Mander Centre and a tour of the city as well as a VIP lunch in The Haywood Suite at Molineux before watching Wolves against Cardiff.

"We were really able to get a feel for retail in Athens and in order to repay the hospitality, we were keen to show off our fantastic retail environment, and give them a good old Black Country welcome," said Mr Evans at the time.

He added that the differences between the two countries made the twinning project perfect.

"The Village Leisure and Retail Park can be described as Athens' first purpose built shopping centre.

"Grecians traditionally rely on their high streets and local shops for their requirements, so this was quite a leap of faith for the developers.

"In order to generate interest it was important for the facility to have a leisure offer as well as retail. It is interesting to note that the original proposals for the Mander Centre included a cinema and a dance hall.

"I'm sure that as the relationship develops we will both be able to adopt, adapt and improve best retail practise initiatives," said Mr Evans, who retired in 2009.

Following his visit to Wolverhampton, Eftychios Triantafyllidis, operations manager of The Village Leisure and Retail Park. said: "I was very impressed with the professionalism of the management team at The Mander Centre and the standard of football at the Molineux."