Wednesday 12 December 2007

A Few Minor Trips 12/2007





Short on both time and cash at this time of year we just did a few visits to some relatively un-interesting sites.

Tuesday 20 November 2007

Henbury school Macclesfield 11/2007



To date this is the only school I have ever explored as they dont really interest me. The only thing I found exciting about this trip was the hiding from the security guards inside after they spotted us. After they give up trying to find us they buggered off so we were free to roam around and get a couple of snaps.

Saturday 10 November 2007

West Pennine Hotel Oldham 11/2007




We headed down to Oldham after hearing that an old hotel we had tried previously had all of its power cut off which in turn cut of the security alarm. After a tricky climb over a sheer 8 foot fence and a very dodgy climb inside the lift shaft we were inside. We were amazed at how many rooms this place had and how good condition they were all in.

Sunday 4 November 2007

Barnes Hospital Cheadle 11/2007





Having not yet visited anywhere that was "haunted" we decided on a trip to Barnes Hospital just off the M60 motorway. After discovering a lack of security guards we decided on a front door entry. Once inside I was blown away by the stunning Victorian brick architecture giving this place its haunted look. After seeing a strange orb floating down one of the hallways and a room which somehow managed to turn all our torches and cameras off we proceeded to the clock tower only to see a guy in a high viz jacket shining a torch up at us, at this point we started to make a swift exit only to bump into a security guard. Thankfully he was a nice guy who had a laugh with us especially after telling him of our strange finding and "ghosts", he just sent us on our way.

Bleach Works Cheadle 11/2007



On the way to Barnes hospital we decided to have a quick trip to this derelict bleach works. One of the most derelict building I have ever seen with its roof now located on the floor in some section. Not really much to see to be honest.

Thursday 1 November 2007

Air Raid Tunnels Wigan 11/2007


After the success of the Stockport tunnels we headed over to Wigan's Meznes Park. We spent almost an hour trying to find this place, which happened to be located near a college. Once inside after a small ladder climb we were in and sadly we were very disappointed, as compared to Stockport this place was tiny and had very few features.

Sunday 30 September 2007

Fletchers Paper Mill Mossley 09/2007






I wasn't very excited about this trip as most mills are just square, big and empty or so I thought. Once inside this mammoth of a place I discovered that mills can indeed be exciting. Never before had I been to a place which had so many strange sounds and old equipment lying around. After spending many hours wandering around we stumbled across some pristine looking offices with working computers, internet access and even a server room which was hidden in a room behind a broom cupboard (which to this day i dont think any other explorers have managed to find).

Monday 17 September 2007

Brinksway Air Raid Shelters Stockport 09/2007




One of 3 shelters within the Stockport area, Brinksway is the largest and the one with the most tricky entry. After squeezing through the tiny entrance and seeing the array of long red coloured sandstone tunnels, we were overwhelmed at the sheer size of this place and got lost a few times.

Thursday 30 August 2007

Blackburn Royal Infirmary 08/2007




I heard from a friend that a hospital had closed down in Blackburn so we decided a trip needed to be done. After an "interesting" entrance we spent many hours inside wandering around taking pictures of this place in pristine condition being carful to dodge the many patrolling security guards. However we heard a strange sound in a small room on one of the upper floors, intrigued I put my ear to the closed door and it sounded like a radio, how odd someone must of left a TV or radio on inside, we entered cautiously only to discover a figure stood up and absolutely lifeless. Think it was maybe a manikin dressed as a security guard we jokingly taped it on the shoulder only to discover it was actually a real life security guard sleeping stood up. As we were standing their gobsmacked he woke up and immediately began radioing for backup, we were in the shit big time so we ran like hell while being pursued and after a few wrong turn and near misses we made it outside to the car. Thank god

Monday 20 August 2007

Underground Arches Bolton 08/2007




After a mooch along the culverts of the river Croal, we found a bridge behind steel gate which led to a series of underground arches, which to this day i have no idea what they were used for. Strangely we found some x-mas decorations hung up in certain places.

Monday 13 August 2007

Philips Park Hall Manchester 08/07




This old night club was on my to do list for a while, It proved to have a tricky entrance through a hatch on the roof which we needed to drop down onto some kind of water boiler. This place was very trashed with the bar completely smashed and the stairs wrecked from people trying to open the safe which assumed involved it being rolled down the stairs many times. Although upstairs we managed to find intact photo frames with some pictures of previous parties.

Saturday 11 August 2007

Withington Hospital Manchester 08/2007





Digging deeper into the reports within the exploring community specifically hospitals after our awesome trips to Whittingham we found out about this place. Sadly when we arrived we found it was located opposite a brand spanking new police station, however undeterred with hopped over a few 6 foot fences and had no difficulty finding a way in. Once inside we found an wreck of a hospital with missing floors, missing walls and smack needles everywhere. This is the only place i have visited to date which i honestly thought i would bump into a smack head as there was DIY bed, empty cans and even clothes everywhere. Luckily however we only bumped into 2 other urban explorers who we had a good chat to and managed to extract a few leads.

Sunday 5 August 2007

Whittingham Metal Asylum Goosnargh 08/2007




A the time this was one of the most popular destinations for urban explorers as in its day it was the largest mental asylum in Europe with many 1000s of patients. Armed with my new digital SLR camera a canon 400d i decided it was time for a visit. It took a few trips to get some photos as we had one or two "incidents" with the patrolling security guards. This has to be my favorite hospital ever with awesome long corridors which really help you get a fell for how big this place really is.

Friday 27 July 2007

Premier Travel Inn rooftop 07/2007





In the few months since my previous adventure i had learned from the community that urban exploring wasn't limited to just old building but people also explored live sites such as tall building in Manchester city centre. We set off to Manchester and arrived at our destination, the Premier Travel Inn armed with a plan. Less than 2 minuets later we were on the roof, wow what a rush. After spending over an hour 26 floors up we decided to head back down, 2 minuets later we were on the way back home in the car.

Friday 23 February 2007

ROC Bunker Bolton 02/2007



From the newly discovered urbex community I found out that during the cold war a group called Royal Observation Corp had over 500 small bunkers around the country that were manned 24/7 to report on any nuclear strikes that the soviets launched at us, Thankfully non ever were!!!.
I also discovered that there was a pristine example of one of these underground posts located only 2 miles from my house which was abandoned in the mid 90s, so we fashioned a torliff key to open the hatch from aluminum and off we went

Monday 1 January 2007

Fall Birch Mental Hospital Bolton 01/2007




Almost 1 year after the bunker explore in Goosnargh, a friend of mine stumbled upon an internet forum which had 1000s of reports in which explorers had gone into unusual derelict places and taken photos. From this point i discovered the urban-exploration community / hobby as well as an old derelict mental health hospital located right on my door step which i hadnt even known existed. So off me and my mate went armed with our new cameras (fuji 6500)