Sunday 31 December 2017

Happy New Year

Although it's abundantly clear that very few people ever view this blog, I will still wish you all a Happy and prosperous New Year for 2018.

Hopefully it will be a better year for me too, as bad weather & ill health has marred my 2017, though touch wood I think I'm past the worse of it all now. 2018 should (hopefully) see me a bit more active on the Urbex front, so if anyone can be bothered, have a butchers now & the and you might just see something interesting...

Monday 4 December 2017

The truth might just very well be out there ...

For years, we have sought to know whether or not we are alone in the universe! Personally, I think we are – but hold on a minute... WTF is that behind Yvette Fielding in this 2003 episode of Most Haunted (s3, ep5, Aberglasney House, West Wales)??!!??

Is that a grey? Is that an extra-terrestrial?? Is that a freaking ALIEN?? Just WTF is that to Yvette's left, the clear face staring out of the wall at her (as they sit discussing Ouija boards). Tilt your head level with hers, and to her right (our left) you will see a face, with two distinct eyes, and eye sockets, a squat nose, slit of a mouth and a pronounced chin. What is most compelling of all, is that the features are symmetrical, suggesting it's not JUST the rough stonework of an old wall!



Is it the ghost of Jimmy Hill – or is it just matrixing? Whatever, there definitely IS a distinct face looking out from the wall at the Most Haunted host – so, perhaps the Welsh are aliens all along!? Time to call Mouldy and Scullery? (Joking aside, I like the Welsh and love the country!)

Whatever this is, there is a precise science, by the way, of seeing faces in everyday objects. It's called pareidolia, apophenia or anthropomorphizing (google it!). I don't know what this face in the wall is, but it's certainly like no other bit of matrixing I've ever seen before... (Granted, adjacent to the word 'pause' is a skull, and at least two animal 'faces' can be found elsewhere, but...)


(Feel free to share this blog post, but please credit me with its discovery, thank you).

Friday 1 December 2017

You cannot be serious ...

Ha ha ha, ha-ha-ha, hoo, hoo-hoo-hoo, ha ha HA!!! Ooh, god, my sides ache!!!

O-M-G – is this the world we've created???? Frigging snowflakes!

My god, just what the hell is this planet coming to, sad, USELESS scum who can't live without a stupid app for just a few minutes! SCUM!!! How many people committed suicide, I wonder? UTTER FREAKING USELESS (ANGLO-SAXON SWEAR WORD) SCUM!!!!!!!!!
I'm 47 and I do NOT allow my life to be dictated by some pointless app – my social media extends to this blog and nothing else! When I left Facebook, yes, I lost a lot of my Urbex contacts – but I can live with that! Sorry, but I'm still living in the 80s and 90s, thank you, and email is good enough for me!!

God, this country is literally frigged, if the crashing of an app causes headlines like this (unless it's fake news!?!).


(Screenshot from Manchester Evening News website)

Friday 10 November 2017

And the point is?

Gloucestershire Police are reintroducing a mounted section to its arsenal of resources after a 70-year break, and these two magnificent beasts (the horses, not the riders!) are Boris and General, currently on loan from the Met – but, er, is there not something slightly, shall we say, unusual, about the horse on the left?

Yes, it looks as if the boys in blue (or hi-vis yellow) in Gloucestershire are about to deploy a frigging UNICORN to the streets!!!!


Okay, the observant among you will point out that a) a unicorn is a beast of myth, and b) its horn is not on the top of its head. Yes, I know, I did go to a grammar skool, thank you, but I'm just being pedantic, as usual. The photo (from website policeoracle.com) was either very carefully posed or was genuinely inadvertent. Either way, I rather like it!!  

Friday 13 October 2017

Support a good cause / smash the state (!!)

We all like to do our little bit to help others (don't we?!).

I think that what this couple have done is brilliant and, with a bit of imagination and the blind-eye turning of the State, we could all do something similar - I know I would if I wasn't so old!!

Sadly, North Devon Council want to evict this couple: see here.

To stop this, sign the petition (I have - URL link in the story) and let's hope it might make a little difference?!

Thursday 5 October 2017

Honestly...

I swear the world is populated by brainwashed idiots - I dunno what you call these people: conspiracy theorists, paranoid, or just Richard Craniums? Whatever or whoever they are, these two idiotic comments were found scrawled on the wall of an outbuilding at a disused factory / mill complex in Brimscombe, Stroud (not Ham Mills).

More photos of my exploits in the Stroud area, and in general, due on my Flickr over the winter months!


Thursday 28 September 2017

Bit of a mess...

Welcome to my world – Urban Exploring takes many forms, but I prefer to visit anything that's old, disused, abandoned, previously-broken-into, wrecked, unloved and generally forlorn, such as this former mechanics 'shop at a depot in Dudbridge, Stroud, Gloucestershire. Trashed, burnt & wrecked since my previous visit, debris- and graffiti-strewn this, to most, is not the kind of place they want to visit. For me, well, there's a weird kind of attraction, despite the obvious dangers from asbestos, yobs, homeless sorts, druggies, etc. But that's not going to stop me...


Saturday 9 September 2017

Devastation...

When we saw it on TV in June, we were all rightly shocked and appalled by the horrific fire that so rapidly engulfed London's 24-storey Grenfell Tower, claiming eighty-odd lives. But to see it in the 'flesh' is even more stunning, I feel. For starters, the building looks considerably bigger and taller. And the sheer brutality of the fire really hits home.

The whole area is now sealed off, a crime scene – with human remains needing to be preserved inside the charred shell of the structure. I believe efforts have begun to shroud the building in sheeting, though the scaffolding is barely off the ground.


I rarely show emotion – but I had a lump in my throat reading the hundreds of messages pinned to railings, fences and trees for hundreds of metres around – messages of support, messages of hate directed to Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council, messages of solidarity from total strangers or fire brigades in others counties. But most of all, the 'missing' messages – have you seen so-and-so, or such-and-such is still missing... Heart-rending and disturbing.


A needless tragedy, these stark photos are for posterity, not for any sense of anything else. Signs posted everywhere ask visitors not to photograph, or to do so with respect. Absolutely – insensitive I may be to many things, this is one disaster that really shook me!


Saturday 2 September 2017

This ain't no technological breakdown / Oh no, this is the road to hell...

Finally – found it!!! The Road to Hell (with apologies to Chris Rea)! Yes, the A666, here at its start in Irams o' th' Height, Manchester. And believe me, it was a Devil to cross...!

(Don't forget folks, my comments are usually tongue in cheek - plus I'm sure there are thousands of pics on the Net about this road...)

Thursday 10 August 2017

Black plaque

Information sought, please – a couple of these seemingly unofficial looking plaques have popped up on the walls of Bristol in recent weeks, commemorating / condemning the slave trade, which is still (!) a hugely controversial subject in the city! (sigh: move on, please – it'll ALWAYS be Colston Hall to me, thx!!!)


Can anyone shed any light on these, anything? As of 9.8.17, the Internet had no info at all, surprisingly! The plaque carries the English Heritage logo, though I doubt it has anything to do with them. Any info greatly received. This plaque was on the wall of the Galleries car park, Newgate. (12.9.2017: I have since discovered another on a factory wall on Coronation Road, at its jn with Clift House Rd.)


Update: Like anyone cares, but this might explain the phenomenon.

Thursday 27 July 2017

In the middle of nowhere...

Look carefully, but tucked away in this photo is a railway station and two Megabus coaches! Dwarfed by the immense cooling towers of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire, is East Midlands Parkway station, a remote, desolate spot on the East Midlands Trains franchise. One of the newer stations in the realm, it opened in January 2009, and lies very close to the borders of Leicestershire and Derbyshire (by all accounts), at SK4972829658.


Tuesday 18 July 2017

A little plea...

Please, please, PLEASE - if you are checking in here after seeing I have moved from Facebook, then hell-oooo!

But, if you have viewed me on FB and messaged me there, I will NOT reply, as I no longer check my old Facebook page (can't log in anyway, forgot the password!), so if you feel the need to message me, please ONLY do so via my Flickr or, if you know it / want to talk privately, via my email (which can be found on my Flickr anyway...).

Thank you.

Monday 17 July 2017

An abandoned road...

Yes, it's not just railways and buildings that get abandoned, roads too, such as this stretch of the A30 in Cornwall.

There's an abandoned dual carriageway at Yate, near Bristol, which has starred in TV and film, plus features in the current 'QuickQuid' advert (the one with the motorist). All good fun, eh.

In fact, if man were to go off the planet tonight, it wouldn't take long for the whole world to become abandoned. Check out the fascinating article in The Times, 12.10.2006, page 33 (available on local library websites).

Wednesday 12 July 2017

Nottingham revisit

Took a trip to Nottingham recently and, with the permission of the owners, spent an enjoyable hour inside the city's disused Sneinton tunnel, in use since the early 1960s as a firing range. The bulk of the tunnel survives in its original state, with only the first few metres having been converted into a two-storey affair – complete with spiral staircase! The tunnel was part of the Nottingham Suburban Railway that was in use from 1889 to 1951. This is the only surviving tunnel on the route, as the other four are now buried.


Massive thanks and respect to the guys from the shooting club who invited me to visit – a great experience.


Saturday 8 July 2017

A blast from the past...

To kind of celebrate my planned trip to Nottingham tomorrow, I just thought I'd share this shot of Mansfield Road tunnel in the city from one of my last trips. One of the longer disused bores in the UK (37th), Mansfield Road weighs in at 1189 yards (1087 metres), and was in use on the Great Central from 1898 to 1968. At its south portal, the station opened out into the long-gone Victoria Station in a very deep cutting (extant, though now housing an NCP!). The tunnel gently slopes and curves, and it's northern portal is buried, though accessible via a hatch.


Wednesday 5 July 2017

New torch test

Greetings...

Recently bought a new torch (off Amazon, came from China!), purporting to be 4000 lumens. Hmm...

Attached is a test photo from a flooded tunnel in Gloucestershire - not good!!

Granted, it was taken right in the portal mouth, and the humidity in the tunnel was high, plus it was on my older camera with a shorter exposure, but it just looks shyte! Sorry, but it does. I spent the princely sum of £10.99 (ahem!) and the torch is crud! Yeah, alright, you get what you pay for...

Granted, with a longer shutter on the other camera & a darker tunnel it might look better, but ... It looks rather blue too. (The white lump is where the roof's caved in!).


Monday 3 July 2017

The same Stockport tunnel

Just thought I'd share this photo of the other (east) end of Tiviot Dale tunnel in Stockport, found at SJ8950090828. Beyond the concrete fence (apologies for the rude word!), lies the busy M60. The portal lies a few metres inside this new concrete bridge. The tunnel has been infilled to within a few feet of the crown but, as this photo does NOT suggest, it can be easily accessed, apparently!


Wednesday 28 June 2017

A Stockport tunnel

The gated west portal of the disused, part-infilled Tiviot Dale tunnel in Stockport (WJP1 80 / SJ8933590703), part of the Cheshire Lines Committee route opening in 1865. The 205metre-long bore closed in 1980, along with its nearby cousin, the 225m-long Wellington Road tunnel. Both can be easily reached alongside the busy M60 to the north of the town centre.

Thursday 22 June 2017

Bored? Try THIS website...

Ever get so bored you could watch paint dry? Ever wonder what that dreadful noise is in the sky, or where that aeroplane's going?

Well now you can find out with Plane Finder, a real time website that tracks civilian aircraft world wide. Simply HOURS of fun just waiting to be had at the click of a mouse!! Ooh, a glider's just taken off from Aston Down...

(In no way am I endorsing any trades, products or companies, I'm just promoting a fun website!)

A list of airport codes (worldwide) can be found here.

Wednesday 14 June 2017

Er, poor taste journalism - or tempting fate...

This surely has to be the least good taste bit of news on the web today, or was it just put together innocently but wrongly thought out - read the headline on the right first!

I truly never thought I'd live to see the day that an entire tower block could be gutted like that! Thoughts and prayers tonight go out to those who died and to all those poor souls who've lost everything. I live in social housing and I value my possessions. Yes, possessions can be replaced, but some folks in these flats have very little anyway through poverty, so to lose it all is utterly sickening.

Monday 12 June 2017

Hello

Hello - I'm still around, just going through an idle spell right now. Don't expect any postings any time soon (later in summer I expect), as I'm not in the Urbex zone right now. Hope to get back there in July or August though.

As always, my older photos can be found on my Flickr page. Cheers.

Friday 26 May 2017

A world without people...

They say only cockroaches would survive a nuclear explosion. Maybe, but it seems cats and dogs survive in a world without people, as these photos show, here. Sadly, only a couple from the UK. But abandonments look good anywhere, from good old Blighty, to Russia, China and the US-of-A. Click here.

Wednesday 24 May 2017

We will NOT be beaten...

To avoid saying anything controversial, I'll just re-post this badge that appears to have become the symbol of defiance since the disgusting act of Monday night. I only walked past that arena last Wednesday. Peace!


Friday 19 May 2017

What you crowin' about...

Ever wondered where your Corn Flakes are made, or are you not really bovvered? Well, here, in the Kellogg's factory on Mosley Road, Trafford Park, Manchester (where I nearly got a job in 1995, despite not officially living in Manchester!). (Other breakfast cereals are available...)


More trips to Manchester are planned for later in the year (tunnels, etc), so stayed tuned (as they say) for some more 'opp north' exploits - not that the Kellogg's factory is disused, by the way!!.

Monday 15 May 2017

Picture query

Hello! I have been asked where my 'mysterious, yet intriguing' header picture is from.

Well, its the ROC post at Avebury, Wiltshire, which has been open since at least 2009, I am led to believe. The site was one of numerous Royal Ordnance Corps' posts in the UK, this one in use from June 1961 to September 1991. Located at SU1038469221, it is in a farmers field on private land. The interior is flooded and vandalised (naturally). The hill on which the post is located overlooks the stone circle and avenue at Avebury, plus Silbury Hill (the largest man-made mound in Europe), and is deep in the heart of crop circle country.

It is my opinion that this part of Wiltshire is steeped in mystery and intrigue (apparently) and is just one the most fabulous parts of the country. Why go abroad when you have such an incredible amount to do in good old Blighty!

Tuesday 9 May 2017

A black hole ...

The approach to the south portal of Tidenham tunnel, on the former Wye Valley Railway. Tucked away down a narrow Gloucestershire lane, this south portal has recently had the trackbed cleared and trees felled by the road bridge. The portal is as secure as it looks – razor wire, anti-climb grease and, worst of all, a puddle!! There was a plan once to reopen this tunnel and the old line as far as Tintern as a cyclepaff but this appears to have come to nothing after the council couldn't agree on the planning app!

Sunday 7 May 2017

No more brmm brmm?

In the depths of Neolithic Wiltshire, found this ancient bit of transport stuffed away in a barn. Amazing the things you find knocking about in farmers' barns (ancient threshing machines seem popular!). In quite good nick, preserved at some point, I would suggest, it is now home to nothing more than tarpaulins!


Anyone know what make of car it is?

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Signs

If ever a trio of signposts better epitomised an area, this lot in Wiltshire pinpoint the epicentre of the UK's crop circle activity – an area that appears to centre (though not always exclusively) on the World Heritage site of Avebury, a fabulous part of the world absolutely steeped in history, myth and wonder.


Am I a believer? Not exclusively, for it's obvious many of the formations are man made, though after the Julia Set at Stonehenge and the Triple Julia at Milk Hill above Alton Barnes, I really cannot see how some of these things were man made (I've been to Milk Hill, very remote and the complexity of that formation is nigh on impossible, surely, in the dark!!


2017 circles so far have appeared at Waden Hill, Avebury, beneath the Cherhill White Horse and at Oliver's Castle, Devizes. For more on each years circles, keep up to date here. (These are my photos, and not taken from Google Streetview. Site visits: 10.4.2017 and 2.5.2017)


Saturday 29 April 2017

Great website

Fancy seeing how your neighbourhood has changed over the years, by checking out old aerial photos? Or are you just a history buff?

Then visit Britain From Above, simply register and there are thousands of archive shots of Blighty for you to get nostalgic over! With great features like zoom and changing angles, it's fun for all the family! You can even download photos too.

Monday 24 April 2017

Open day at Rhydymwyn tunnels

Just in case anyone has a free Sunday, why not check out these tunnels at Rhydymwyn, in Flintshire, north Wales. While I applaud open days such as these, it's a pity that you only get to see the areas they want you to see, not the entire complex - damn that Health and Safety ethic this country is being strangled to death by...

See here for info.

Thursday 20 April 2017

Work afoot?

Hello. Does anyone know what's going on at the former RAF Yatesbury near Avebury/Calne in Wiltshire? Since my last visit it seems a large amount of contruction work has begun, indicated by the red crosses, as some form of large structure is being built? The rest of the site is clearly still totally abandoned.

Tuesday 11 April 2017

A bit of Wiltshire history...

Deep in the very heart of 'crop circle country' (!), a microcosm of Wiltshire history for you in one photo – this is Cherhill Down, off the A4 between Calne & Avebury. The oldest feature here is Oldbury Castle Iron Age hillfort (between the horse and tower, but not really visible), which is c.4,500 years old (older Bronze Age dikes dated c.5,000 are also on the hilltop). The figure of the horse (the Cherhill White House – a pub in the village below is called the Black Horse, ha-ha!!) dates to 1780. It was turfed over in WW2 (to confound Jerry, what!) but restored to its current state in 2002.

The tower is the Lansdowne Monument and dates to 1845. Currently sealed off from the public for safety reasons, the tower was designed by Sir Charles Barry and built by the Third Marquis of Lansdowne in memory of his ancestor, Sir William Petty, physician and surveyor, 1627-84.

The hill is the highest point (258m) on the old A4 coach road between Bristol and London. The site has been owned by the National Trust since 1979, and is part of the North Wessex Downs AONB, an area of fabulous rolling chalk countryside.

All of this history overlooks the disused RAF Yatesbury to the north, now clearly the scene of construction work, hence me not revisiting today! Nearby too, is the 6,000-year-old Avebury Stone Circle and Avenue (plus the disused 1961-built Avebury ROC post, the reason for my visit), let alone the amazing Silbury Hill!


Close up photos of the horse and tower on request.


Thursday 30 March 2017

Anyone there...

If anyone is reading this, (hello?), who has followed me over after I closed my Facebook account, then hello - but I get the impression no one bothers anymore!? I'll write this anyway - maybe traffic will pick up in the coming months (yeah, right!).

Been quiet recently, though took trips (non-Urbex) to Exeter, plus the delights of Swindon(!). Soon, very soon in fact, now that the Spring is here, I will be resuming my Urban Exploration, so if ANYONE does EVER visit this page (viewing figures suggest not), then keep your eyes peeled on both here & my Flickr for forthcoming trips to weird & wonderful places like Manchester, Preston, Sheffield, Londinium, north Devon, Wrexham and, hopefully, Glasgow!! These are just a few of the 2017 targets I've got lined up, plus lots of local stuff across Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol, etc.

So, hope to see you soon - please...

Wednesday 22 March 2017

All stand together

No, we will not be beaten, we are not afraid, we will never give in to terrorists!


I am planning a trip to London in April, and was to cross Westminster Bridge. Nothing they can do will stop me, I am not afraid!

Thoughts to the deceased.

Friday 3 March 2017

A trip to Oldham

Popped up to Oldham yesterday for the first time. There are several disused tunnels in the Oldham area, but only had time to try the three. Werneth (SD9191204622) and Central (SD9246304512) tunnels are on the line that shut in 2009 which ran through the south of the town centre. Two of the stations (Werneth and Mumps. Yes, Mumps!) have also been demolished. The tunnels are, naturally, gated!

Then popped out into the sticks east of the town to view the west portal of the long Lydgate tunnel (SD9730304394), which is 1,322-yards long and closed in 1964, pictured below. This too is locked & gated, with the bars greased. Later in the year, I plan to visit the other end and other tunnels in the area, plus the city of Manchester, etc.

More of my Greater Manchester tunnel photos can be found here.

Wednesday 1 March 2017

New TV show of interest

I'm not sure if anyone can even see this blog, but I'll plough on regardless!


Starting next Tuesday on the Yesterday TV channel, is a new series about abandoned structures, inc. dams, resorts and entire islands. Coo, sounds fun! Click here for more info.

Tuesday 28 February 2017

Hello.

Well, it was a sad evening this evening, as I logged into my Facebook account for the final time (boo hoo), but the decision was taken a few weeks ago and despite howls of protest from some people, I have decided not to go back to Facebook. It was a good and interesting four years, I 'met' a lot of fascinating people (not to mention one or two odd ones, ha ha) but all good things come to an end.

From today, ALL my Urban Exploring exploits (what there are of them) will be posted on this blog only, with photos at my Flickr, so if anyone ever finds this blog, welcome...

Thursday 23 February 2017

Another one bites the dust...

Oh dear - why is that many of my Urbex targets get busted before I get to see them??!!

RGHQ Chilmark has just been busted as a drugs factory - good (I am totally anti-drugs), but that means it'll now be sealed up as tight as a duck's whatnot! Typical. I actually passed the place last month but had no time to visit - just as well, with it being under surveillance for months!! It was on my summer 'to-do' list!

I guess travelling the country by bus, coach and train is NOT the best way to go Exploring...

Saturday 18 February 2017

Coo

And you wonder WHY I love Bristol so much!!

Honestly, apart from maybe London, where else in Britain would you find whole-building murals like this (apart from Belfast!) that have been painted legally? This work of art was part of the annual Upfest street art event in 2016, painted by Gamma Gallery, and can be found on the corner of Clift House Road and Coronation Road (ST5722571876) in the city's Southville area.


(Before you bombard me with other cities with murals like this, ok, ok, I get the point...!)

Friday 17 February 2017

Welcome

Hello to everyone in the land of Urban Exploration.

For those of you who are now following me here rather than at Facebook, then hell-o, good of you to follow me! For anyone new, welcome.

It'll take me a while to suss this new blog thingy out, so I may not post much just yet, but I will do in due course! Cheers.