Urban Exploration

[millzy]

Since buying my camera at christmas I have found this subject more and more interesting and after looking at various UE websites I want to give it a try. Whilst out and about over the weekend I noticed my old workplace is now in a delelict state and fenced off awaiting demolition to make way for a housing development. The site consists of multiple industrial factory buildings dating back to the early 1900s when the company first started, so theres plenty of history and reason to take pics (IMO). I worked there for 4 years on the maintenance department so I know the entire site inside out and am curious to how it looks now all machinary etc has been stripped out. There used to be 24 hour security on site but the gates are chained up and the security office looked empty when I passed. There are cameras covering every part of the site, but being no security the cameras are unmonitered. I had a walk around the perimeter of the site and a section of the fence has completely gone (probable pikey attack), so access wouldnt be a problem.
Does anyone from this forum have any knowledge in this area? Would appreciate any advise at all... dos, donts, camera settings, law etc etc.
Many thanks in advance!

 

[Lagerlout]

®Andy is the man to ask. He's done loads of UrbEx.

 

[Jungle_Jim]

have a look on www.28dayslater.co.uk at the FAQ section they have details about laws on trespassing etc as well as advice on asbestos and other nasty stuff you might find

 

[Andy.]

^^like pikeys.

 

[millzy]

When I go to FAQ on 28DL it only leads to FAQ's about the actual forum (vBulletin), but im sure iv seen these before, may have been moved. Anyone have any direct links? or any other good sites? ta

 

[millzy]

The following users were not found:

1. ®Andy

??

:S

 

[White16valver]

I think it's ® Andy with a space

There are some more of us on there too

 

[mace¬]

Does anyone from this forum have any knowledge in this area? Would appreciate any advise at all... dos, donts, camera settings, law etc etc.
Many thanks in advance!

I'm glad on your advise you wanted to know camera settings before the law, LOL

 

[millzy]

yeh that little issue.... pah.. not a problem...! lol

 

[® Andy]

Sorry for the slow response ... it's half-term and so I've been busy encouraging my children to wander around places most people wouldn't bother with .

The law is actually the easy bit . As long as you don't damage anything yourself or carry tools (whilst of course taking full advantage of any points of entry pikeys/chavs might have caused), and you don't take anything from the site ... then it's simple trespass. Trespass is a civil offence, and nobody is going to bother taking you to court over it. So if you're caught simply explain you were only taking pictures, smile, be polite and leave. Don't delete your pictures if told to either ... nobody has the right to make you do it, including the police!

Other concerns ...
- Pikeys/chavs/junkies - try to avoid them since your camera might be of interest, and so if you're exploring alone be sensible where you go.
- Asbestos - again be sensible, and avoid crumbling rubbish around pipework etc.. I do carry a P3 rated mask, but must admit I'd rather avoid the risk than have to put it on.
- Other risks - be sensible around heights; always use a torch, especially in industrial settings since some buildings can have huge unmarked drops when things are removed; dry dusty pigeon s**t isn't good for you either; and 101 other things but what would life be without risk .

As for photography tips ... I have but two! Don't use your flash. Always take a tripod and light paint with your torch.

And finally, my main advice is just go for it ... and go for it now. Far too often I've dragged my heels about getting somewhere, and then it's gone ... forever!

Here are some of my pictures and videos ... ue.veehicular.net

 

[White16valver]

The man speaketh sense

 

[millzy]

The man speaketh sense

indeed he does!

cheers Laingo for the point in the right direction and ® Andy for advise!

 

[millzy]

This did actually go completely to plan but iv just not had a spare half hour to update the thread, so below are some pics. Took in excess of 200 pics, all handheld as i was not too keen on lumping a 2 foot tripod around with me, maybe next time. no tripod, freezing cold and nervous as hell leaves quite a shakey hand, so some pics could probably be better. Not many 'arty' photos either, i am a novice and was completely paranoid about getting busted. anyway, in no particular order...

 

[Marky_]

Got some good snaps in there. Where is that?

In a strange coincidence, having completely missed this thread 1st time round, i was browsing some local news last week which got me into doing some research into an old abandoned hospital. I ended up stumbling into the 28dayslater website and saw an avatar i recognised - ® Andy

Fascinating stuff and i ended up spending hours reading about Nottingham Victoria rail station.

 

[millzy]

Its an old engineering works in Bloxwich, Walsall.
http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/02/05/jobs-axed-as-firm-split-up/

Some pictures are ok, if theres much interest il post some more

thanks for the comment tho!

 

[Clart]

I've been wanting to try some of this for a while, but probabyl don't know where to go or have the balls to do it alone. lol

 

[Andy.]

There are a load of old WWII bunkers around here but they are pretty tough to get to and apparently surrounded by quicksand and who knows what else. I dont really fancy uncovering a mine on my wombles across the dunes...

 

[Naith]

this is a topic that really interests me, along with abandoned towns, the underground... people rip me for it but love the stuff!

alot of good material about londons underground is worth going for!

 

[derv]

Its an old engineering works in Bloxwich, Walsall.
http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/02/05/jobs-axed-as-firm-split-up/

Some pictures are ok, if theres much interest il post some more

thanks for the comment tho!

cool, there is loads of good places in the west mids, many places are quite secure, personally i have been to St margarets (now demolished) Wolverhampton low level station (now being redeveloped) the old m&b brewery, got busted by security there but blagged it easily, there;s an old militry base in Whitchurch which has no security whatsoever, not much there except a few old buildings and a very rusty talbot sunbeam. and been to a few other little places. Haven't done any for a couple of years but wouldn't mind having a go at urbex'ing again!

 

[McBunny]

my camera tutor does rectified photography for english heritage on buildings that are getting pulled down etc so he gets to do it legally lucky sod im going to ask him if he does any locally if i can go with him

 

[JJ!]

I went in to the old Hellingly Asylum (Hellingly Hospital) about 8 years a go.... would love to go back with my camera now but its got guard dogs and CCTV around the place now... bugger!

Someone got some good pics though:

http://www.abandoned-britain.com/PP/hellingly/1.htm

Dead creepy inside, padded sells... window guards etc!!

 

[Marky_]

^That place looks really eerie. Would be very interesting though and some cracking pics from that guy.

 

[JJ!]

Its a shame they boarded it all up... its a massive place!

 

[Rhino172]

that hellingly looks just like an old asylum near me...i got in there a few times when i was about 17ish but i wasn't into photography back then so never got any pics....now the place is a load of new build fancy arse flats lol

http://www.abandoned-britain.com/PP/canehill/1.htm

this one is another palce near me that i think is still in that state...might have to go and have a butchers...

 

[JJ!]

Hellingly like a lot of old asylums is a listed building so it just site there. They built the new hospital round the back which is modern and much more secure!

Trouble is, when the old Hillingly was closed, the new one was not built so some of the people in there were just let out!!

 

[Andi-B]

How Ironic ...

Nice photos .. Will have to do this myself sometime. Just finding somewhere to visit really.

 

[Naith]

not 100% on topic but search was vague, spent a while on here tonight, some of the pics are mind-blowing. mostly glasgow, MCR. liverpool and leeds. i love this stuff.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=539842

 

[DeeKay86]

Dying to do something like this! So freaking cool!

 

[M26]

Did some urban exploring at an abandoned hospital near me recently, thread http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...Lanarkshire-August-2012&p=8911720#post8911720

 

[Ray Gin]

I love stuff like this. I was addicted to the 28DL forum. I would love to do this.

 

[Derelict-UK]

I'm traveling to Germany/Poland/Luxembourg/Belgium/France in September to 'Urban Explore' the s**t out of the place!!

We did Germany last year but this year is planned to be something else.

I have found that I have either done everything local or there just isn't the amount of derelict buildings in the UK as there was 5 years ago. I think it is due to a new building tax that is applied to derelict buildings that are not in use. So once they stood abandoned for years, now they are either converted straight away or demolished.

Now you have to travel far to see the best of the rest.