Euro-Trip - 5 Days, 1400 miles, And loads of pics....

[Derelict-UK]

Me and my mate went down to Dover to start 5 days of explores.

In Dover we visited many of the old WWII placements and some of the even older forts.

We then set to sea and crossed the channel before quickly entering Belgium and making our first foreign stop at the SNCB Train Graveyard.

After this we continue to drive to North-East of France arriving at about 2am.

The next morning we drove to the biggest bunker I have ever been in (Thanks go out to OT from 28days for the help), it was built as part of the Maginot Line which was to stop the Germans from entering the country (however the Germans just went around it lol). The bunker held 601 soldiers in the 2 years before it was captured by the Germans.

The Maginot line took 10 years to build (1930-1940) and cost around 3 Billion French Francs to build!!

After the war the bunker was renovated for use during the Cold War but soon became abandoned.

Dover (A mixture of many places)

Citadel Battery:

St Martins Battery:

Western Out Works (Fort Burgoyne) / Western Casemates, Built in the 1860's.

About 250m from the edge of the White Cliffs of Dover (below) are The Plotting Rooms (WWII) which are connected by a warren of underground tunnels.

The White cliffs on a VERY foggy day...

Down to the tunnels...

Fort Redoubt with one of the biggest dry moats I have seen...

As we made our way to our next destination, a Spitfire & Lancaster Bomber flew overhead...

(cropped)...

Our next stop was the Grand Shaft, this was built in 3 years (1806-1809) and was designed to allow the maximum number of troops down to the city below in the quickest possible time. The shaft is divided into 3 stairwells.

After we had finished taking pictures, I noticed 2 men come though the main gate that leads off the shaft, this then turned into probably the quickest accent of the shaft in recent history!!

For the complete Dover series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624394888519/


SNCB Train Graveyard, Belgium

For the complete SNCB series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624519638178/


Ouvrage Latiremont Bunker (North-East France)

Bloody shopping trolleys get everywhere!!

For the complete Bunker series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624394995219/



Continued in the next post...
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[Derelict-UK]

Continued...

We finished at the bunker and left for the SMTR Train Repair Workshop which is just meters from the France/Luxembourg border.

After the SMTR workshops we continued the stones throw distance to the Terra Rouge Steel factory and then we moved on to Central Thermique Power Station which again is in the immediate vicinity.

The Power Station used to make electricity from the gasses from local furnaces but when the last furnace shut down, the plant closed in 1997.

To complete the day we drove to a village just inside Belgium, this is home to hundreds of abandoned vintage cars, all in a stretch tall trees. I could have spent a whole day in here but we didn't want to push our luck.


SMTR Train Repair Workshop

For the complete SMTR series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624395102535/


Terra Rouge Steel Factory

For the complete Terra Rouge series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624395118399/


Central Thermique Power Station

For the complete Central Thermique series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624519912156/


Car Graveyard

For the complete Car Graveyard series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624395232249/


Continued in next post...
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[Derelict-UK]

Continued...

The next day we went to an abandoned train station with a few trains and wagons scattered about. According to my mate, there was a working diesel engine parked on the mainline just outside which used to be in use by us in the UK but after we thrashed them, we sold 30 or so off and here they are, a new lick of paint and back in use hundreds of miles away.

After the station we drove to Le Crypt, a catacomb of graves in Brussels. A small section is open to the public but if you venture further you get to see the cream of the crop.

Then we drove north to t' Spookhuys, a closed gothic themed restaurant.

To finish the day off we drove to Doel, a village near the port of Antwerp and Rotterdam. Doel has been mostly bought by the harbour as they want to expand, demolishing the entire village. Not many villagers remain and usually on a weekday this place is deserted.

Well we got there and it was like the village had a new lease of life, cars were everywhere, it was like a car park! On the dockside hundreds of people were looking out to the water, then a massive tall ship went past and we realised that the Tall Ship Race was going on.


Abandoned Train Station

The British Loco sold off...

For the complete Abandoned Train Station series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624520003110/


Le Crypt

For the complete Le Crypt series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624520808910/


t' Spookhuys

For the complete t' Spookhuys series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624395791911/


Doel

For the complete Doel series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624520938978/


Continued in the next post...
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[Derelict-UK]

Continued...

Fort 7 is the next port of call. A Napoleonic fort in Antwerp. This fort rarely opens to the public and takes a bit of research to get in. But when you do it certainly pays for it!

And to finish the tour off is Dadipark, a theme park that first opened in 1950 and closed in the year 2000 after a series of accidents that eventually ended when a man lost his arm when on the water slide!!


Fort 7

For the complete Fort 7 series please visit the Flickr page...


http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624520996426/


Dadipark

The end of the ride that claimed the parks last victim...

For the complete Dadipark series please visit the Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39746360@N06/sets/72157624396345509/


Munk.​

 

[Nick_P]

wow. that is all.

 

[Omid]

Absolutely amazing!! Dream trip!

Love it, thanks for sharing.

 

[Greeny.]

wow amazing pics and locations, ill be looking through your albums for the next hour then

 

[Andy.]

Beyond Epic! What a thread!

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Brian]

Brilliant! Fascinating stuff

 

[planetx]

amazing stuff, and in my opinion - this is what HDR was designed for.

 

[MikeB]

Awesome as always!

 

[Ads_172]

Wow. A remarkable set of pictures.

I dream of being able to use my camera that well!

 

[jamboyscott]

wow awesome pictures

 

[Billy]

Stunning work, some great images, well documented.

 

[Derelict-UK]

amazing stuff, and in my opinion - this is what HDR was designed for.

I do agree, although I may have gone OTT in Le Crypt, the only other times I have used it is when I have had trouble due to the amount of light from the Sun. To get the contrast right in extremely bright areas or even to add a small amount of extra light to a shadow HDR is a winner, but using it day in, day out is a big fat no.

When people think of HDR they usually think of pictures like from the Crypt series but the image below is made up of 5 images, all to get that little extra from the image, but not over the top...

 

[Gally]

Brlliant read mate, thanks for sharing!

 

[Marky_]

Fantastic stuff.

 

[Riad]

Awesome!

 

[Curtis!]

Amazing trip/pics!

Inspiring to go out there and explore. Shame I don't usually have someone to go with though.

 

[Rob]

Looks like a really amazing trip, and as ever, some excellent shots.

Thanks for taking the time to post it up

 

[Paul_G]

Great trip, nice pics, really like this one.

 

[ptfuzi]

fuckin amazing pics...

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Bloody amaizing. Cheers for sharing them. Will be spending the next few hours looking through your albums.

 

[Mike@MJCycles.com]

Brilliant
Well done, a good credit to the World of 28days.

 

[Derelict-UK]

Brilliant
Well done, a good credit to the World of 28days.

Although I am now banned forever for posting pictures in 'public'

Although some of these pictures (like the Bunker) are in their non-public section, so by banning me, they have forced me to continue to post in public lol.

 

[Snails]

Some absolutely amazing photos in here. I will direct my brother to this thread as he too will absolutely love seeing the pictures you took.

 

[DeeKay86]

Ive been searching and looking at Derelict-UK's posts and seriously, those pics are epic!

What is this kind of photography/hobby called? What is 28days?

Am I being stupid?

 

[Rob]

28 days later, it's an urban exploration forum.

This style of photography is often referred to as urban exploration.

 

[SharkyUK]

Thanks for sharing and posting up these great images - really enjoyed looking through them.

 

[bully]

Me too, missed them 1st time around. Those bunkers and tunnels are in great nick. I do a bit of urbex here (Jersey) and whilst there are some great places, none of them are in this condition. Brilliant shots, wish I was half as good.

 

[Toby]

Can't believe I missed this.

What a trip!

 

[Lucaio]

Those pictures are amazing, great work mate!

 

[Jason_E]

Absolutely brilliant! Even outdone yourself this time, love it.

 

[DeeKay86]

So glad I bumped this thread!

 

[DeeKay86]

28 days later, it's an urban exploration forum.

This style of photography is often referred to as urban exploration.

Thanks!! :approve:

 

[marcushookdale]

really great pici's , thanks for putting them up


.

 

[White16valver]

As above, can't believe I missed this the first time round.

f**king epic urbex trip, I am jealous!

I agree with the HDR comments - that one highlighted above as being HDR but not looking HDR is what HDR should be about!

 

[Scott™]

What a great thread. Can't believe I missed it. What sort of planning/organisation goes into this? Every time I see your threads I want to go with you

 

[Tigger]

Awesome stuff as always!

What a great thread. Can't believe I missed it. What sort of planning/organisation goes into this? Every time I see your threads I want to go with you

+1 lol

 

[yellowbelly]

Some amazing shots there i must say, well impressed. on a side note how/what do you use to apply the black boarder around your photos?