# Your Urbex Stories



## Zotez

Through a discussion with a friend we thought this would be a good idea for a thread.

I love it when people put a story about their trip on their reports and I enjoy reading about other peoples experiences so I thought we should have a place to share those moments where something has gone wrong, or something funny has happened, or any urbex stories that you have which you would like to post.

I'll start off with one from one of our West Park visits, this was actually a "consolation" visit once we had failed to get into NGTE Pyestock and the Cambridge Military Hospital - we decided to take a different way into the asylum as opposed to the entrance everyone used (you all know about it but i'll stick to the rules and not mention access) anyway, we were walking along a path that ran beside the hospital which also passed the morgue and we heard some very obvious vandals/"chavs" trying to break their way into it, on further inspection (well, looking over the fence) we could make out the usual suspect tracksuits and white trianers with some odd language whilst they were trying to kick the door in, we decided to leave them and find our own way through the fence.

We got into the asylum eventually and while walking one of the corridors I noticed the vandals seemed to be following us at a distance, I didnt mention it to the group because there were many explorers there at the time (this was during the time where everyone visited west park), our next decision was to venture into the service tunnels (which, I may add are horrible, I wouldnt reccomend it unless you like massive dead spiders, live electricity and asbestos), we were about to climb under the hospital through a vent and I could see one of the undesirables climbing out the same window we did through the corridors that linked the wards, he looked over at what we were doing with a shocked expression and quickly hopped back over the window and started walking away from us at the quickest speed possible!  Goes to prove some people really do have limits!

But after my rather unfunny story, does anyone have any better ones to share? Any memories, stories, anything that would be of interest to this thread? I'd love to read it.

Thanks!


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## RedDave

My story also involves an encounter with chavs, in Belgium.

It wasn't long since I entered Hasard Cheratte. I had already taken some photos inside an adit, and also in the tower over puit 1, which I was just leaving, when I saw four youths walking past. They didn't notice me. I heard some banging in the building they had entered and concluded they were up to no good. I tried to keep away from them as long as I could, still taking photographs, but eventually had to hide inside a small building. One of them entered it, and would have found me. So I shone my big LED torch in his eyes, and he ran off screaming. I heard no more of him nor any of his friends, so presumed they had left the site. I stayed around for a while, but was so discombobulated by the experience that I forgot to enter the rest of the main building. I left the site, and took the bus to Liege, so that I could explore La Chartreuse, where I stayed until it got dark, before taking the train back to Brussels.


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## mookster

Ahh I've got a few entertaining tales (at least to me!)

First (and probably best one) was from my trip to West Park with UKMayhem and co. We'd had a good quiet day exploring, and had stopped for a spot of lunch in Huxley ward (near the live stuff) and it's here the day took a strange twist...As we're sat quietly discussing stuff, we hear an alarm go off in the live section quite near us. We think it must be idiots trying to urbex the live buildings but the alarm doesn't stop, it's hard to tell where it's coming from as it's echoing everywhere, but eventually it stops and we make our way downstairs. Passing the door that looks out onto the live road section we see a police car drive past. So we move ourselves away from that area and finish our day in the morgue. As we make our exit back onto the main road we start to walk back to the nature reserve where we'd parked. A police Jeep screams past us, and seconds later a police car follows, but slows down almost to a stop beside us before continuing and turning into the car park. "Oh shit" we think to ourselves, but when we get to the carpark we see the officers out of the car searching for something in the woods. As we're gathered around the cars talking about the weird events of the day the officers get into the car and leave. A minute or so passes, and the silence is broken by a man running out of the woods dressed in only a womans vest top and red lacy underwear, diving into his car and speeding out of the carpark! A few seconds went by whilst we processed what had just happened, before we all fell about in hysterical laughter...

The other most interesting occurance on an explore was at Pyestock. The explore started terribly - we chose the worst possible moment to make our way from the main fence to the heras, resulting in one of us being collared (by the worlds nicest security guard) and me and my girlfriend legging it all the way around the south end of the site, and hiding in an old electrical transformer building. A few frantic phone calls and texts followed, and eventually we regrouped and started the explore. Now we'd heard rumours of security having a new Jeep toy, but nothing had been confirmed so it was only in the very backs of our minds. The actual explore was uneventful until we came to leave. We emerged from Cell 4, and were standing on the bit of tarmac between the raised Weir Road and Cell 4 when we heard the unmistakeable low growl of a diesel engine headed along Weir Road. We choose to try and hide ourselves behind the Photography building in between the tarmac and the road but to no avail, we realise we'll be seen. So we dive under the raised section of the road as the Jeep comes towards us, no way they didn't see us. It stops above us and honks it's horn. We think they'll come down and nab us but they don't - instead we hear it reverse back down the road. So thinking 'wtf' we clamber out from under the road only to hear it heading our way again! So we dive back under cover, and it stops above us and honks louder and longer. We stay put, and once again the Jeep reverses off! We clamber out and I can hear it's gone a fair way away, so I tell my companions 'now, we RUN' and we made it to the fence, and got out relatively unscathed.

Other than those 2 tales, nearly being eaten alive by brambles on my way to Hellingly, my embarassingly undignified escape from Pyestock on another visit and being chased by guard dogs inside Wispers School, and the trip I took in June where absolutely nothing went right at all rank pretty high on my list, but I'll save them for another time.


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## Lauren444

Thanks for putting you're stories up I have really enjoyed Reading them, WTF was he doing running around a derelict building in nothing but lacy underwear hahaha
oddball lol!


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## tom83

Think my funniest story happened late last year, my exploring friend had heard about a disused rail tunnel near Uppermill in Saddleworth Moor, so one Saturday afternoon we decided to go and have a look for it, now my friend is all for exploring, but his planning leaves nothing to the imagination. After an hour of Driving we arrive at a little car park to what looks like a nature trail, get our bags and head off through the bushes in search of the Portal. Its about 7pm in December, its pitch black and its been raining, so its very boggy. Like I said earlier my mate doesnt do planning an explore, so we got completely lost walking around the Moors, after an hour, and using my Phones Sat nav to recover the path we had lost, we decided end our search and call it a night and make our way back to the car.

As we approached the Car Park, through the tree's we could see a few cars parked up, and with it being a saturday night we though the local Chavs were having a bit of a cruise...............WRONG. As we emerged through the bushes into the head light lit car park, we realised we had parked in a very active and very busy dogging spot. With looks of suprise on everybodies face, theres and ours, we made our way between the cars, trying not to make eye contact, got in our car and drove off.

It was a very disapointing and strange night, and to make it worse, when we got back home, we realised we had parked in the completely wrong place, and was absolutely nowhere near where we should have been.


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## tom46

Not a particularly interesting one from me but it was quite nice at the time. Me and Kent-urbex were at the Klinger factory in Sidcup. After hopping over the wall from the main road, we had a little look at a caravan parked outside. Nothing unusual there, so we had a pretty good explore. On the way out, KU went to get a picture of the caravan (for some reason) and out popped a rather bemused security guard, who had evidently not noticed that we were there despite jumping over the wall right next to his caravan and walking past it several times. He asked what we were doing, we said (sweet as anything), 'Oh, just taking photos, but we've finsihed now'. Ok, he says, I'll just open the main gates for you so you don't have to jump over. Opened the big old main gates, we shook his hand, and he went back to his cup of tea/bed/Razzle  Always nice when you get a nice one like that.


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## TK421

Good stories, especially the dogging one!

I was exploring a local live quarry early on a Sunday, theres a public right of way through it, but the bits I was interested in were off the right of way. I had been all round the quarry, and was making my way out when I hear a car draw up. I froze, and gave serious thought to legging it for fear of an encounter with a security guard or the police. I was just about to climb over a wall, when a blokes voice shouted 'excuse me', slowly I turned around, and stood there was a fella with a rifle, 'I'm fucked' I thought, and then the whole scene from Deliverance went through my mind quickly, "squeal piggy"... you get the drift.

I then had what I can only describe as a 'moment of clarity; 'Sod this', I thought and decided to front it out, 'yes chief' says I, the bloke takes a step back (after all, I'm not a small fella), "Oh" he says, "do you happen to know where the gun club is mate?"

I carried on walking past, "not a fooking clue me old fella" says I "good day"......sharp walk to car for change of underpants


Final one from me from when I was a lot younger and cameraless. A mate and I had been exploring the grounds of a retirement home (grand old place, once someones posh house), and in the woods was an old summer house that had fallen into disrepair. As we approached we heard something strange, and decided to creep round whatever it was and take a closer look, the route took us past an old clapboard fence. As we peeked through a small hole, there was the caretaker of the place, pants down, porn mag in front of him, having a good old open air "J Arthur Rank" One has to do the decent thing of course when confronted with such sights, we shook the fence and made a gutteral shouting 'aarrgrgrgrgrh' sound, he nearly shit himself, whilst of course we beat a respectful retreat by legging it Some days its a good thing you dont have a camera, now where's the eye bleach?


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## Anthillmob74

our most recent visit to west park a good few months back. kindly professor frink gave some valuable info and we found our way in via laundry, shit ourselves at the pigeons a few hundred times, tried out the ancient exercise equipment and failed to find any doors that were open to take us through to the next part of the hospital.

made our way back out, re-covered the entry point and wandered round to where the corridoors are on the outside loking for a way in. 

stopped for a drink and a fag behind a massive tree but were spotted by security who came over and started patronising us, telling us about ghosts, monsters and snakes as big as his thighs and insisted in escorting us back to our a via the long route right way round the hospital [parked in car park 7] and trying to get us to exit the grounds via a large hole out onto the busy bypass where we argued with him because we didnt enter that way but he insisted we did and way very rude to us making threats until i counteracted his threats of police with me calling them and having him for harrassment as i have been told before by one of the site owners [have his phon number though not sure if he still has anything to do with WP] that we had permission to be outside provided we didnt enter.

anyway, i think what probably pissed him off the most was that 'urbex peg', my cousins little patterdale terrier that always comes on explores with us, she dont take kindly to people in high vis vests/jackets and when he tried to shoo her away from him she bit him. not hard, just a warning nip.

ooops.

anyways we refused to get in our car until he had pissed off as we didnt want him taking a note of the reg.


another time there when me and me cousin and the dog got inside when it was like swiss cheese last year, we came down a flight of stairs and found one door which opened into an abyss that i very nearly blindly stepped into. no floor at all, it was only the dogs hesitation that stopped me. thus meaning i failed the golden rule ;test the floor first'

other than those 2 we've not really had any bother, just look like a couple of dog walkers though we did have an epic fail after a 2 hour drive to hellingly and got nabbed walking up the driveway by security.  i had more luck walking the perimeter there when i took the kids for a reccee. we hadnt helped matters that day by walking straight into some blokes garden, think he must have called security.

im going to a party at my aunts in polegate in october/november and hellingly is right nearby but no one wants a night time prowl with me lol [my cousin is on the opposite side of the family]


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## Anthillmob74

also since discovering/partaking in UE ive become a bit distracted when driving/pain in the arse as a car passenger as i am constantly looking around me when in the car. the driving whilst looking bit had distracted me a bit too much, am now trying my hand at concentrating on the road and looking at maps in the safety of my living room instead.


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## tommo

was down in a quarry at the begining of the year looking round, its still a live site next door, but some "travellers" had got in at some point in the last week and started to strip all the cable, so was looking up the slope shaft to see 5 "travellers" open the door and come down, the heart started to race and i turned my headlamp off, with my quick thinking or down right stupidity i turned my light back on and started to walk up the slope shaft, they shouted down to me, to which i responded "i am security from the company next door" shinning my light in there eyes so they couldnt see me with an exchange of words for 10 mintues i managed to trick them in to turning round and leaving to which i ran to the top and locked the door from the inside with 3 big metal bars, i could hear them kick it in, trying to get in and then finially they lock the door from there side with a bar thinking they had locked me in

we dont use they entrance they where using so it didnt bother us, shame though they got back in about a week later and the place is a right mess now even down to the lights of the quarry ceiling which is about 40ft up, being dragged down and the cable stripped 

it was a very nice quarry up until then, then they decided to break in to the said company next door which is "special site" the whole place got locked down for along time


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## mookster

I think mine, Landie Man and TBM's fraught trip to the Millenium Mills site in London deserves a post...

The day again started badly - I overslept meaning we left about an hour and a half late from Aylesbury, at 11.30am ish. We made good progress down the M40 despite a small jam, and made it to the M25 on Junction 16. All was good, until the dreaded signs flashed up 'congestion Junctions 27-30', when we needed to come off at Junction 29. After crawling along in the traffic for about an hour we make it to our junction, and pull into Thurrock services at about 2.30pm for some lunch. Lunch was devoured, and as Landie started the Landie up it makes an awful noise. So we waste 2 and a half hours waiting for the RAC, and get going again at about 5, finally arriving at our destination at about 5.30, a full 6 hours after we left Aylesbury.

By this point we had considered giving up and going home, but we were there and weren't gonna waste the explore. So throwing caution to the wind we meandered our way down the gravel paths towards the looming hulk of the mills. Finding the access we entered Rank Hovis and had an uneventful explore apart from TBM nearly falling through a floor. On exiting though we found our access point sealed, and as we walked across the palisade over the front of the mill, I saw nothing but both Landie and TBM started running saying they'd seen the security Jeep. We hid in a bush for about 15 minutes before we walked to the end of the building and got met by security who were perfectly pleasant although warned us not to come back and get caught again. They followed us down the dirt track out of there as they wanted to see where we got in, luckily they assumed we'd climbed over the gate so didn't find our real access point. And on the way back down the M25 we nearly crashed!


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## Lauren444

My only story from an eventful explore is from when I was 17, It's not a great story but ill post it anyway to contribute lol.

Me and my sister where in the old Seddon Atkinson building's just off Shaw Road, we where in one of the back buildings when my sister saw someone run past the window, so we went out to look who was around, only to find two men in Fatigue's with some kind of air rifle, ducking and doing army roll's on the floor.
me and my sister were terrified, a mess, convinced we were going to die.
anyway we kept on walking as they ran around us, I think they were only trying to scare us, but they bloody did that!!
we made a last dash for the exit, but they didn't follow us out, we ran all the way home lol Idiots!


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## scrappy

i was on a explore with my mate Over in doing a hotel rooftop, it took us 5 mins to find a way to the top. to are delight there was a window open to get on to the roof it was the size of a small person! we both managed to get out on the roof and started setting are cameras up and a guy walks around the corner(obviously doing some work up there) and he just stood next to us not doing anything! we got are pics and he went back around the corner he came from on the phone so we thought lets get back through that window as with it being so small it was not a dainty affair get through!

another one was at a mill we had explored it and most of the out buildings, the biggest of the out buildings had not been explored from what we know about. after an age of free climbing to access we dropped in and set off walking only to find a security guard with his feet up watching tv, dont know who was more shocked him or me! he open door and told us to go away.

last one now, i was on my own looking at a old hospital up north that has not been done really, iturned up and every window and door was boarded as well as every drain pipe being removed! i thought thats why its not been done much! i then saw a un boarded window that was open and i hurried over thinking im in, i stuck my chest upwards through the window without looking in first only to be right in front of my face a security guard and dog both fast asleep! you can just imagine my face!! i quickly left without disturbing either of them!


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## Lamb Phall

This Summer.

1 Entered a room full of what looked like fresh blood everywhere, pools of the stuff on the floor and splashed up all the walls. Didn't find a body though.

2 Entered a 3 story bulding which I thought was empty, but on a previouse visit got disturbed and had to make a run for it. So I enter the building and do a quick check of the ground floor all clear, quick check of the second floor all clear, runs up to the 3rd floor opens the door to the main corridor I turn around and there in the middle of the corridor is this big candle burning away, thinking back its now funny, but at the time it was one of those WTF moments.

3 Was out on a reccy and got bit by a dog, trip to A&E and 3 stiches.

4 Got locked in a multi storey car park.

Anybody in the Plymouth area want to hook up


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## nij4829

This story is about Kook and myself.

We were on the hunt and recce for a few places in the morning, and decided before a spot of lunch to go into a old folks home.
I had seen a report on this place on another forum. After a mini recce, Kook decides that the best entry is through a cellar window, where as I decide the front door looks promising. As in we go (through the unlocked front door), the place has been lived in (hobo style) but was empty at that moment in-time.
Our plan was to start at the top and work our way down - we climb the stairs and enter into one of the res bed rooms, lining up a shot we hear a banging noise (possibly wind) so cautiously carry on.
The next minute, it sounds like someone is knocking ten bells out of a door with a sledge hammer. SO we quickly pack our cameras away and make a swift exit (wasnt gonna mess with anyone with big tools). 
Kook thinks that they were inside the building - either way I wasnt gonna go back in to find out.


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## leanneh123

yes Lauren i remember that.... bloody scary !!! has Seddon Atkinson gone now ?? Ahhh, it was a great explore


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## Zotez

One hell of a story from today!

Pyestock - my now official bad luck charm.

Today was the third trip after two failed attempts at Pyestock, there was a fairly dreary atmosphere due to everyone being slightly uncertain about getting in etc, and the fact I had my girlfriend with me and her safety was my main concern. It started out like any normal explore, a bit of a laugh and a joke on the way up there, we stopped for lunch a bit before, we finally got to the Pyestock fence and me and my other half were stood at the top as look out while a mate was trying to find a way in, I searched my bag for the rest of my food when at the bottom ( I generally leave my bag with a torch in it) I had some side cutters and long nose pliers (I must add these were and have NOT been used to enter any derelict place - I have them for use with my interest in banger racing and the bag I took is taken everywhere). I didnt want to discard them becuase they were a rather expensive set but I was talked into leaving the cutters behind and hiding them near a tree, the long nose pliers I kept (although these had a small cutter on them they were nowhere near powerful enough to cut a fence, I only used them for stripping wires). 

We stayed lookout until we saw the security guard drive up - they are said to patrol every 90 minutes so we just hid and thought they would go (we were outside the grounds anyway but it was obvious what we were doing), a few minutes later we checked again, he saw us, took a picture then sounded his horn, at the time I was getting more and more annoyed because it was my third trip and I was determined to enter that day. We stopped for a rest for a while and went back to the entrance point we had found, entered and continued into Pyestock - exited that we had finally found our way into the place, especially myself because I had been trying for nearly a year. We spent a few minutes getting our bearings and taking photos etc, as you do.

Things then took a turn for the worst - we were climbing some steps and one of my companions pointed out a German Shepard that was running towards us, moments later we heard shouting "POLICE POLICE THATS A POLICE DOG GET DOWN FROM THERE AND COME HERE", our instincts were to run but when the shouts turned into "its trained to bite!" we stopped and made our way to the owner - we didnt want any trouble especially from the police. We were told that security already knew where we were and that we were tresspassing, that we had cut the fence open (which we hadnt at all) and some other things that I dont recall, we were brought back to were the dog carrier vehicle was situated and told to wait, I contemplated running but didnt want to leave my friends behind, shortly two police cars arrived and our bags were searched and names and addresses taken, one of the officers asked to see the pliers ( Iadmitted to having them but claimed that they were not powerful enough to cut the fence - which they werent). I was informed that he was going to try them on the fence and if he can cut it then I will be arrested and taken to the police station, my girlfriend was told to be prepared to leave me in the police car and not to interfere, I was told that it was likely that I would be arrested, I thought it was scare mongering because one of the women talking to us seemed to think we were wasting her time.

The policeman returned, informed me that he had not managed to cut the fence but still asked why I had the pliers, I explained my motor racing enthusiasm and after a brief discussion about stripping wires and the Aldershot banger track not far from Pyestock, a few jokes were spared between us and the officers and they ended on the statment "Look lads, we know its fun but these guards have nothing else to do except catch you, so dont come back", and we were escorted out and left. 

If I had been caught with something worse than the pliers i'd have been in deep deep trouble, the moral of the story is dont go tooled up even if its not intentional - make sure you cooperate with anyone of authority and realise that no matter your opinion of these people, they are just doing a job they are paid to do - they dont want a hard time, and neither do you.


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## krela

Zotez said:


> One hell of a story from today!
> 
> Pyestock - my now official bad luck charm.
> 
> Today was the third trip after two failed attempts at Pyestock, there was a fairly dreary atmosphere due to everyone being slightly uncertain about getting in etc, and the fact I had my girlfriend with me and her safety was my main concern. It started out like any normal explore, a bit of a laugh and a joke on the way up there, we stopped for lunch a bit before, we finally got to the Pyestock fence and me and my other half were stood at the top as look out while a mate was trying to find a way in, I searched my bag for the rest of my food when at the bottom ( I generally leave my bag with a torch in it) I had some side cutters and long nose pliers (I must add these were and have NOT been used to enter any derelict place - I have them for use with my interest in banger racing and the bag I took is taken everywhere). I didnt want to discard them becuase they were a rather expensive set but I was talked into leaving the cutters behind and hiding them near a tree, the long nose pliers I kept (although these had a small cutter on them they were nowhere near powerful enough to cut a fence, I only used them for stripping wires).
> 
> We stayed lookout until we saw the security guard drive up - they are said to patrol every 90 minutes so we just hid and thought they would go (we were outside the grounds anyway but it was obvious what we were doing), a few minutes later we checked again, he saw us, took a picture then sounded his horn, at the time I was getting more and more annoyed because it was my third trip and I was determined to enter that day. We stopped for a rest for a while and went back to the entrance point we had found, entered and continued into Pyestock - exited that we had finally found our way into the place, especially myself because I had been trying for nearly a year. We spent a few minutes getting our bearings and taking photos etc, as you do.
> 
> Things then took a turn for the worst - we were climbing some steps and one of my companions pointed out a German Shepard that was running towards us, moments later we heard shouting "POLICE POLICE THATS A POLICE DOG GET DOWN FROM THERE AND COME HERE", our instincts were to run but when the shouts turned into "its trained to bite!" we stopped and made our way to the owner - we didnt want any trouble especially from the police. We were told that security already knew where we were and that we were tresspassing, that we had cut the fence open (which we hadnt at all) and some other things that I dont recall, we were brought back to were the dog carrier vehicle was situated and told to wait, I contemplated running but didnt want to leave my friends behind, shortly two police cars arrived and our bags were searched and names and addresses taken, one of the officers asked to see the pliers ( Iadmitted to having them but claimed that they were not powerful enough to cut the fence - which they werent). I was informed that he was going to try them on the fence and if he can cut it then I will be arrested and taken to the police station, my girlfriend was told to be prepared to leave me in the police car and not to interfere, I was told that it was likely that I would be arrested, I thought it was scare mongering because one of the women talking to us seemed to think we were wasting her time.
> 
> The policeman returned, informed me that he had not managed to cut the fence but still asked why I had the pliers, I explained my motor racing enthusiasm and after a brief discussion about stripping wires and the Aldershot banger track not far from Pyestock, a few jokes were spared between us and the officers and they ended on the statment "Look lads, we know its fun but these guards have nothing else to do except catch you, so dont come back", and we were escorted out and left.
> 
> If I had been caught with something worse than the pliers i'd have been in deep deep trouble, the moral of the story is dont go tooled up even if its not intentional - make sure you cooperate with anyone of authority and realise that no matter your opinion of these people, they are just doing a job they are paid to do - they dont want a hard time, and neither do you.


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## Zotez

What exactly has made you unsure?


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## KooK.

Ha, yeah that was pretty freaky nij, as was the small hobo man living in a closet in Midland Mill (British Mohair).

I have a story about when 5 of us spent a day around Leeds and Bradford. Our 1st proper explore of the day was at Denso Marstons. Squirrell found crazy access along with Sol and Kitty, but then found a nice fire exit to let Bug and myself in. Bug and I had scoped the site before entering and seen on site security, but he was in a little outhouse thing and there were no windows, so we carried on regardless. After being there for a good while we decided to try the offices, as we were wandering around them Squiz noticed PIRs, so we decided to leave the offices alone and keep looking. Sol, Bug and Kitty were in one part of the factory whilst Squiz and I were trying to find a way outside to an older looking part. Once we found one he went to tell them, but as he was coming out of the corridor into the area where they were the security guard was stood across the way and just turning round but Squiz ran just in time, whisper shouted "RUN!" at me and we pegged it for the fire exit.

There was a police car parked outside, so we just walked away from the site, gathered our composure and went and sat in a cafe over the road with a good view of the factory. After a while the other 3 emerged, escorted by the police and security. Squiz and I were almost finished with our sarnies when they walked into the cafe and Kitty clocked us saying "You set of ba*tards!". Lovely. They recounted to us that they had been threatened with arrest and were made to delete their photos and then made to show them their access point. It was a window high up a wall, but it led them right past the fire exit we'd run out of. They were asking them where the rest of our group was, all the while them insisting that there were only 3 of them with the fire exit door banging in the wind behind them.


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## krela

There is no legal impetus for the police to make you delete your photos.


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## lost

They are easy enough to recover though, saves messing...


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## Zotez

We were told yesterday that they can seize them as evidence but cannot make you delete them or delete them themselves.


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## krela

Zotez said:


> We were told yesterday that they can seize them as evidence but cannot make you delete them or delete them themselves.



Not without a warrant they couldn't, and they would have to arrest and charge you to do that...


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## Zotez

Yes, I think the discussion was along the lines that if we admitted to having a photo of how we got in then we could be arrested and it could be used as evidence etc, but they werent really interested in arresting us, just a little annoyed I think.


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## krela

Zotez said:


> Yes, I think the discussion was along the lines that if we admitted to having a photo of how we got in then we could be arrested and it could be used as evidence etc, but they werent really interested in arresting us, just a little annoyed I think.



They were also talking utter shite, unless the photo happened to show you breaking in with those pliers of yours... which is what they may have been hoping.


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## Zotez

Well either way it was in a general conversation - never once did they say they were going to take our cameras or anything, one of our group asked if they could legally delete our photos, thats all.

The dog handler actually asked if we'd got any good pictures of the place and took a look at a few, it would have been a pleasent experience if I hadnt been worried about getting arrested.


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## krela

Half the time the police don't even know what the law is, so it's better to know it yourself. 

Ah well, lesson learnt on your part I would imagine!


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## Zotez

I was contemplating questioning the security guard on whether or not he is allowed to actually stop us from leaving, but he had already called the police and I didnt really want to start a lawful rebellion ending in us walking out the exit as the police arrived! At the end of the day next time i'll make sure anything suspicious that I do have is hidden before I enter a building, and also I wont be returning to Pyestock again! 

Ah well it was an experience either way!


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## krela

Zotez said:


> I was contemplating questioning the security guard on whether or not he is allowed to actually stop us from leaving, but he had already called the police and I didnt really want to start a lawful rebellion ending in us walking out the exit as the police arrived! At the end of the day next time i'll make sure anything suspicious that I do have is hidden before I enter a building, and also I wont be returning to Pyestock again!
> 
> Ah well it was an experience either way!



Why take any thing suspicious at all?


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## KooK.

WEll seing as how 2 of us had photos, and its easy enough to recover them, nobody argues, no point. Was the first of a long day of exploring and no point getting into arguments with police over photos that can be recovered. Sol actually managed to switch his card before being caught and take a few quick crappy photos.


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## Zotez

krela said:


> Why take any thing suspicious at all?


I had not realised I had the pliers and cutters until I checked in my bag once we were in the woods at Pyestock - although I still do carry spanners and things for use on my bike when we're on bike rides (often to explorable places).

I didnt go there intending to break in at all.


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## krela

Zotez said:


> I had not realised I had the pliers and cutters until I checked in my bag once we were in the woods at Pyestock - although I still do carry spanners and things for use on my bike when we're on bike rides (often to explorable places).
> 
> I didnt go there intending to break in at all.



I don't for one second think you did, but you're putting yourself at risk just by carrying them, however justified it may be.


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## Em_Ux

Thanks for sharing.Have enjoyed having a read


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## spungletrumpet

krela said:


> Half the time the police don't even know what the law is, so it's better to know it yourself.



Totally sound advice.

Many people have been asked to delete photos by the fuzz. What a lot of people fail to realise is that, if the officer is suspicious that you may have committed a crime, then deleting photos is tantamount to destruction of evidence. That makes him a very naughty copper indeed.

It's easy to 'just go along with what they say because you don't want to cause trouble', but every time this happens the cops just think they can get away with it. 
Stand your ground. Know your rights. Tell them nothing.


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## Zebra

> Stand your ground. Know your rights. Tell them nothing.


You can only do that to a certain extent before they start a-yupping at you, but great advice


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## Foxylady

When I was at art college myself and a few friends used to explore a few places during our breaks & free time, including a gorgeous old Arts & Crafts style house which had been abandoned for some time. One lunch time we decided to go to the house again. Myself and another girl were the first to arrive and were sploring upstairs when my friend looked through the window and saw the lads coming up the drive. "Quick", she said "Let's hide and jump out at them". So we ran into a room where I leapt behind the door and, with a scream, promptly fell through the floor!  Fortunately not all the way through, lol, and despite us both helpless with laughing my mate managed to pull me out. Anyway, when we got back to college (me covered in plaster and stuff), we collared hold of the guys and asked what happened to them. "Well", said one "We were half way up the drive when we heard this terrible scream, so we legged it." 

My first visit to Racal Electronics was just a reccee, but my luck was in and the gate to the fence was open. I was pretty new to the idea of 'urbex' then, despite having mooched around derelict stuff in my earlier life, and it was my first factory. Anyway, I snuck in and took some pics around the exterior (it was late on a January afternoon and starting to get dark), then found an open door. Grabbed a couple of pics from just inside and was wondering whether to go further in when I heard mens voices and footsteps on the stairs. So I quietly left the factory and was swiftly making my way up the alley between buildings when I heard "Oi!!!" behind me. Jesus H Christ on a bike, I very nearly had a heart-attack!  Then the guy shouted my name...it was a guy I knew, and he and another bloke were shifting out the kitchen equipment. Hee.

During my second visit to Shapwick Grange Quarry I was having a mooch around the excavations and to get a better look decided to jog up the top of a slagheap. Trouble was, it was chalk limestone and had been raining for several weeks......ever get that sinking feeling?  Before I knew it I was almost up to my knees and stuck fast. The only way I could get out was to literally dig out one foot first, and then the next. It was January too and bloody freezing!


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## 227angrydonkeys

So im at hellingly with my ex, whos terrified of dogs, more of that later though. and we had been there a week previously and just walked straight in through the front door, this time , however , it was al lfreshly boarded up, so we walked around it and it had all been done, even the conservatory. however, round the front they had missed out the boilerroom windows, so bingo, we are in, and its cool, cos for once its pretty deserted in there. so we wander around for a while , then bump into two kids who look a bit spooked. "how did you get in?" says I. "over a roof" they say, "but i think security saw us". "fabulous", says I. we chat a while longer and they say theyre going to try and leave by the way we came in and off they trot. So we decide to see how they get on and go up to the top floor near the front block by the watertower, just in time to see them both being hauled off my security towards another security guy with a dog the size of a small bear. (not a koala bear, something like a small black bear, a proper bear though) then the police arrive and i had a little special moment where one of them looked up and we made eye contact. i felt special for a second, then remembered the serious nature of our predicament. "we have to leave, now" says I. and we quickly move down to the ground floor. no way out and we cna hear the security car going round the perimiter and back al lthe time. in the end we settle on a first floor window with access to a tree and make the jump onto the tree, we had to time the descent of the tree and hiding in a bush wih the car coming past, then again over the perimeter fence and then a long crawl thorugh the grass to that gap in the hedge, al lthe while with police and security a whisker away. we climbed out through the hole just in time to see the two kids wave at us from the back of a car as we strolled down the drive like a pair of lost ramblers. I have to say, it was probably the most exciting thing that had happened to me in years. (probably since that time i got run over)


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## Mercury

Me and a friend decided we'd have a look round the hippodrome in Derby. So, as darkness fell we entered unseen via the normal route. To begin with the explore was rather uneventful, until i spotted an open area about a floor above where we were standing. Like the ninja he is he decides to climb up the wall to have a look inside, leaving me by myself below. From where i was standing i had a view onto the street below. All of a sudden these two blokes come up to where the fence around the outside of the hippodrome is and start looking in my direction...shit. I hear one of them they can see a face in the dark, i rather quickly make my way into the shadows. They then both disappear then reappear carrying a knackered sofa between them make there way to the fence. They throw the thing over and proceed to leg it. I call to my friend to hurry the hell up, and we get out of there as fast as possible.


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## mookster

227angrydonkeys said:


> ~snip~



That's class reminds me of my 2nd (and sadly last) visit to Hellingly in November last year, almost being devoured by brambles and dead trees on the way in (and out) the long way round to avoid the contractors and demo men on The Drive who at that stage were finishing destroying Park House before they began the move onto the main site was just that start...me and my friend visited at the end of a particularly bad spell of wet and windy weather, luckily for the visit it was lovely winter sunshine but still was blowing a gale so throughout the explore we had not only the sounds of doors slamming, metal crashing, the wind howling down the corridors and through stripped windows, but also the ever-present sounds of mechanical destruction mere yards away. Was a fantastic atmosphere, my favourite explore I've ever done, I managed to see almost the entire site and I'm so glad I did.

Although looking back on the moment we were in an upstairs ward near the tower, watching Mr. Security Guard wandering around outside the gate on his phone oblivious to our presence and me deciding it would be a good time to engage 'mr butterfingers' and drop my camera on the floor with a loud bang makes me embarassed, luckily the sound was drowned out by the aforementioned mechanical sounds and wind.

The other encounter I feel worthy of expanding upon was the one I mentioned in my first post with the guard dogs...

The venue was Wispers School for Girls in Haslemere. The people were the same as for my Hellingly trip - me and my friend Adam. The date was December 8th 2009. The events were funny, bizarre, and exhilarating.

Those of you who know this location will know just what it is like - absolutely untouched. It looks, for all intents and purposes, like it is still in use. The grounds are still maintained. No big fences, no vandalism, not even any broken windows. Just small keep out signs. So me and Adam, on a bright and chilly Tuesday morning, pick our way across the neatly mowed lawn and manicured bushes to the access point and began our explore in high spirits. It went without a hitch for the first 45 minutes or so. We worked our way methodically through the beautiful building and soon arrived in what appeared to be an old store room or caretakers room. This is where the explore took a weird turn. Inside this room were cupboards, and in amongst the packets of new fire door signs, old electronic equipment, safety signs and manuals, were numerous very sharp knives, a band saw, a normal saw, masks, a jerry can half full of petrol and a bottle of diesel fuel. We had a bit of a laugh with the masks and stuff, until we heard a car pull up in the car park outside the building, by the window of the store room. Two car doors open and close, followed by the sound of the boot opening and some barking.....

Minorly crapping ourselves, we decide to get out of the room we are in and try and get as far away from them as possible. We emerge back into the corridor, when Adam hears a key turn in a locked door at the end of the hallway. At that point we leg it upstairs, and, like something out of a comedy, take cover in a shared bathroom, hiding in individual shower cubicles next to each other. After about ten minutes of whispered plans accompanied by the sound of footsteps and barking from downstairs we decide to try and sneak out and go around wherever the dogs were. So we venture along the upstairs and down the big carved wooden central staircase, and find ourselves after a lot of tiptoeing in the canteen area. Shutting the door behind us we take a breather, listening out for any signs they are near us. All seemed dead so I made my way over to a closed door behind the serving area, and as I reach for the handle, a huge amount of barking erupts from behind the door. At that, we fling the door we'd just come through open, and leg it through the ground floor making our way to the big reception/meeting rooms at the front of the building. Through pure luck earlier in the explore, Adam had found and noted a tiny door set into one of the big window frames, which could only be opened from inside. We found the room it was in, hurriedly opened it and squeezed through onto the patio outside, leapt over the wall separating the patio and lawn and legged it all the way back over the lawn and down the drive, only stopping when we reached the main road, as we started laughing and trying to comprehend what we'd just escaped from. Biggest rush of my life.

After that encounter we headed over to Harold Wood Hospital in Essex, starting on the roof of the maternity hospital and working our way down we got caught by security one floor from the bottom, got led back to the cabin and met a rather hot female security guard. And as a final effort we did what remained of Tangley Place in Guildford in the rain and fading light of a December evening. An interesting day!


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## UrbanX

Love that storey Mook! You got me nervous just reading it!



OK then, a couple of funny stories about getting busted then! 

I’ll start with a certain site that has a missile training dome...

Anyone that’s been there will know about the epic echo one experiences inside the dome. It can last for what seems like a lifetime, a camera shutter echoes to the extent it sounds like a chopper is hovering overhead. 

Anyway there’s a rumour that a duck’s quack doesn’t echo, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to test the theory. In the absence of a real duck, I had a good old quack to myself. Embellished of course with a few flaps of the wings for good measure. 

A couple of mins later a security van screeches up outside, and they know exactly where I am. “
How on earth did you find me so quickly?” I asked. 
“We’ve got CCTV in there” he says with a smirk on his face. 
“Even got a mic too” he replies, barely able to contain his laughter. 

How embarrassing.


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## UrbanX

Another time, we had just got back over the main fence at Sev’s, just as security was arriving on the other side. We legged it through the woods, and literally straight into the path of a police car which was just cruising down the track!

“Stop there lads! Why are you running?” asked the lady officer. 
“It’s good for you, keeps you fit” 
She was less bemused than we thought she’d be with the situation. Although she was bright and twigged the 8 tripods, and tens of thousands of pounds worth of kit. 
“So you’re trying to tell me you’ve driven 5 hours, a 10 hour round trip...to take pictures of a derelict building?” 
“yep...” 
She gave us all a look that just said “You really need to get laid more” 
“Anyway we’re doing some dog training in the area, and if you get bitten by one of my dogs, it’s a mountain of paperwork for me, and a right pain in the arse” 
Someone quickly replied “Not as bad as the pain in my arse would be if I got bitten” 
She liked that one, and sent us on our way.

Oh, in Pripyat – Our guide was telling us the precautions, staying off grass, not touching things, and then your mouth / eyes etc. When Eugene dropped a bit of muffin he was eating onto some moss. 
_He then went to pick it up_... 
“NO, NO!! RADIATION KEEP AWAY!!” Barked our guide. 
Eugene just looked up and replied “You’ve never heard of the 3 second rule in Pripyat?”


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## nij4829

UrbanX said:


> Oh, in Pripyat – Our guide was telling us the precautions, staying off grass, not touching things, and then your mouth / eyes etc. When Eugene dropped a bit of muffin he was eating onto some moss.
> _He then went to pick it up_...
> “NO, NO!! RADIATION KEEP AWAY!!” Barked our guide.
> Eugene just looked up and replied “You’ve never heard of the 3 second rule in Pripyat?”



That really really made me chuckle. Go Eugene.


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## LiamWg

Other than the Pyestock story that you posted up mate i only have one other which was during our explore to Colthrop paper mill.

Me, Zotez, his Girlfreind and a mate of mine were walking round the paper mill taking a few pictures, we had explored this place many times and never seen any kind of security. (apart from one time i see a tractor parked up with a man enjoying a sleep inside ) So we were shocked when we noticed someone walking there dog around the field. We decided it would be a good idea to travel around the back of the factory just in case it was a farmer because we had only been there for a little while and still had much more to see. So as we travelled round the back i was taking a picture of a tower when we see the dog run around the corner. We were getting ready to explain ourselves but the "farmer" turned out to be a women just walking her dog. So we had a friendly chat to her about the site after she asked why we were taking pictures. Then Zotez asks "out of interest how did you get in here?" When she replied "oh through the same hole in the fence as you"  It turned out she lived in the houses just down the road from the paper mill.

Not really a very interesting story but t was very funny at the time 

LiamWG


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## DigitalNoise

It think my worst moment so far was on a solo night mission down to Winchester. there's a gorgeous disused viaduct next to the M3 and I'd been meaning to shoot it for years. I walked along it after getting a few shots and headed towards some old 'plague pits' a mile or so further up the embankment. Having not found these, I gave up and walked back along the embankment. I reached a fence which blocked the route, and as I had noticed it earlier, I thought I knew where I was, so scrapped walking the long route down the embankment, and decided to take the short route so I climbed round the fence. I started walking for a few metres and suddenly froze. If I put my foot down, there would have been nothing under it other than a 10m drop onto a tarmac road. There used to be an iron bridge there which had been removed. My head torch was dying and I don't really know what made me stop as I couldn't see anything. Thank God I did, it would have been messy, no battery on the phone, in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. 
That was that. I felt sick and shakey, I'm not scared of much, but that was so close it got my heart beating!!! I had to just sit down and relax for a while before I could go anywhere!
It's taught me to check my footing everywhere I go, let alone in derelict buildings.


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## mmd34

In my more immature and rebellious years (a couple of years ago ) there was a disused old peoples home. i think this is were urban exploration really started for me. well basically me and two other friends decided we were going to get in. and after realizing that it was sealed extremely tight we thought we should just muck around on the roof tops. that is when our genius mission impossible plan came into place. after finding some blue builders rope we lowered ourselves in. after being scared we decided we would come back the next day. So as i said at the beginning these were my rebellious years and we ripped a board of the window and put it through. so we climbed through and started having a look around. after hearing a loud bang and someone shout get out its the police we crapped our pants and legged it to the window. So as i was about to climb through my friend pushed me out of the way and climbed through first, at first i though cheers "mate" but it soon became clear that was a wise move for me . my friend being the cool kid he was had an orange tshirt on saying down with homework, well it soon turned red. what had happened is a shard of glass had been left pointing down and sliced his back open. well after 12 dissolvable stitches on the inside and 16 stitches on the outside we calmed down and rebellion and now enjoy urban exploration as a sort of hobby


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## groundunder

i'll always remember the time when me and a few others had a mooch round Fairmile.-we'd had a pretty good explore round the main building,and were walking round the outside.-we walked right by the security hut but thankfully,no-one was in.then,we spot a small building very close by so decide on investigating that,but alas it wasn't meant to be.-we tried a door but it was locked.
-t'was a good thing tho,as we didn't realise until we got to the front of said building that it was the bloody social club!!!which was still in use!!!(and on this day we all wore our full camo gear so can you imagine the look on the club member's faces had we walked in?!)


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## mookster

I remember fondly the Fairmile trip I took in the snow just before Christmas last year with vmlopes and Ali. We posted Ali through a tiny window that me and Victor soon realised we wouldn't fit through, so Ali went off on the inside and we walked around to try and find another way in. Remember this was in the snow, so not only did we have the cameras to consider but we had left a trail of footprints leading up to the fence and restarting on the inside of the fence. Me and Victor walked brazenly across the front of the admin block behind the fence as the cameras didn't seem to be working that day, and we found an open door leading into the kitchen area. Access to Fairmile on a plate!

After finding Ali we returned to the kitchens and started taking pics, Ali wanders off down the end of the kitchen and suddenly runs back saying he'd seen a guy in a hi-vis walking along the corridor but he himself hadn't been seen. So we go upstairs and camp out in a room for a few minutes before continuing. We got to the room at the end of the ward with the two baths - one of the cliched Fairmile photos - and heard a load of banging and sawing from down below us. Peeking out the window we couldn't see much but the banging and sawing was coming from the nicest, wooden panelled wards of the hospital. So we continue the explore not thinking much of it and we decide to see how close we can get to the people who are boarding stuff up. We get to a small internal hallway near the panelled wards and can see fresh boarding, hear a radio playing and the workmen talking. It's then we realise that where we were, if any workman was to walk out of a doorway on either side we'd be cornered, so we beat a hasty retreat back along the ground floor and finish the explore. 

We expected to find the unlocked door with all our footprints leading to it locked, or at least a pair of security's footprints in the snow. But there was nothing. So we go out the way we came, and apart from a hairy moment retracing our footsteps around the outside where we saw the security guy walking away from us, we got out scott-free.

So it was a day of varying success - asylum in the snow = win, access handed to us on a plate = win, not seeing the best part of Fairmile = lose.


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## possessed

Thanks for the anecdotes people, they are very interesting 
On my first proper explore, I was in a derelict glass factory, exploring it with my older brother. We were walking along a first floor room, with large glass windows, which looked out onto the street. Suddenly, a Police Officer walked past the window, less than 10ft from where we were standing! That caused me to havw a mini- heart attack, but luckily he didn't see us. Funnily enough, we were discussing the legal issues of urbex when he walked past the window! 

Anyway, later in the day, we went to check out Forest Mills factory, which is about 15 minutes walk away from the glass factory, and we were just getting in, and a voice said "Oi! What are you doing in there?" Trying not to faint, I looked round to see the figure of a local looking suspiciously at us. We then told him that we were just looking round the place and taking pics. He then warned us that "Teddy would beat the s*** out of us if he caught us in there". According the local, Teddy was the owner. I then got scared out of my wits, and refused to go any further. Funnily enough, my older brother and his mate met Teddy during the explore, and he turned out to be reasonably friendly, although he told them not to return. 

Thanks


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## Zotez

Thought i'd share one from my most recent explore with LiamWG.

I had promised him a trip to the Courage Brewery and we went one weekday (I think), the day started normally, we got the train to Reading West & walked up to Reading like usual. We observed the bus times & waited for a bus to near the brewery. Finally our bus arrived! We were watching it as another came shooting past and stopped right infront of us, the doors opened and the driver asked where we were going, on telling him he beckoned for us to get in quick & took our payment & pulled off. He seemed agitated throughout the trip & we both could swear that he broke the speed limit on the way there! The journey is supposed to take ten minutes & he took just over half that. We got on our way to the Brewery & used the usual entrance points & we were inside the site!

This is where the fun started - it had snowed & there were fresh tyre tracks & footprints which indicated some activity. We headed straight for the entrance point & up to the best parts of the brewery. An hour or so was spent taking arty shots and talking, trying out different things & generally messing about. We then headed downstairs to the large glass fronted room where we encountered a problem - we could hear grinding going on in a fairly close room & Liam spotted a man walking around outside looking through the windows! Straight away we hid but our efforts were put to waste when we spotted a large van behind us which we were in full view of! 

We ran. Maybe a silly idea but we wnated to stay in the brewery for a while. The grinding was getting closer (it was soemone actually cutting something out) so we decided to leave through the same door. We walked out thinking we were home free until a builder walked out directly infront of us! Looks of shock were all round & he asked why we were there. After much discussion including the fate of the building we were escorted away by security who took our names & addresses & had a quick look at our pictures before letting us go!


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## theoss

It's a good few years back, the site long gone, and most of the people present that night have moved on, so;

Scottish and Newxastle Breweries. About four years ago.

Nine of us. 

We had been hanging around a statue decinding how to approach the site. One of the lads was mucking around the statue- 'I see Police in your future'- and we almost did.

Up the scaffolding holding the wall up, taking it it turns to break cover from the street. We met back up in a half demolished building, and needed to cross open ground to the first intact part of the building. Five of us took the rough route, over broken concrete with rebar protruding, but three took the easy root, and were spotted on CCTV. Security guard comes running over, our group is hiding and can hear chat on the radio, 'three spotted, track them on camera, heading for the perimeter'. We go down into the basement, and find a cupboard to hide in, by now the Police are on site and we can see green jackets walking past the basement window, radios crackling, from our hide. When they pass, someone turns a torch on, and it turns out we're in the main switch room. Not a great place to be caught really- copper bars hanging from the wall. 

We discuss just giving up (hanging on to the forum 'advice at the time' which suggested the Police never arrest exploreres (!). Next thing one of the lads gets up and says 'Give up if you want, I know where I'm going' and heads to roof. Now a decision has been made and we all follow and hide behind the roof parapet, under a balmy nightsky Some of the floor has been removed and the only way over is to balance on the joists. Again, a discussion, one of the lads isn't keen on the risk, but is persuaded. Although as humans we're generally quite good at assessing what level of risk is appropriate to our abilities, We couldn't really afford to attract attention with uncertanties at this point.

To get to the next building, the one where the good stuff starts, we have to cross a three foot gap and onto a pipe gantry traversing the yard. We maintained momentum to avoid any doubts setting in, and swiftly crossed onto the gantry, but to cross onto the next building required squeezing through pipes and another, smaller gap to crawl across. I'm second across, but there is a pause waiting for the next man and so I go back to see why. 'Can't fit through between the pipes'' 'But I hve just done it, it's tight, but the pipes will flex, your not as fat as me, nowhere near'... but there is a problem becasue he begins talking about returning to the other side of the gantry. By now, our 'leader' has come to find out what's happening. In the end, the guy has to be guided round the end of the pipes, climbing external to the gantry, and at far greater risk than necessary. Fortunately our 'leader' had a lot climbing experience and knew how to handle the situation. 

The explore then carried on without incident. We ended up on the highest roof siganalling by torchlight to the other lads who had been evicted earlier. 

I didn't take any photos that night. It was too much of an adventure to fath about, I'm often happier just enjoying the site for what it is when there is already ample glass pointing at the place. There were a nice variety of challenges, each one of them overcome, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable night. One from my first year exploring which was definately the best year.. I have since been arrested whilst exploring, first time I have ever seen the wrong side of the bar in a police station, and if a similar explore happens in future I think the memory of arrest will override the feeling of adventure and spoil the experience.


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## UrbexHunter

This was it: the big one.
My first explore. 
Me, tictac and urbexcox were planning on heading to houghton grange along with shoelace and gravy. On the morning of the explore shoelace and gravy announce they cant come and that they forgot to bring us some masks. So when the time came me, tictac and urbexcox set off cross country through forests and what turned out to be somebodys garden. Finally tictac showed us the access and we ended up in an open field next to the grange. Halfway across it all went to pot. A blue bmw rolled up to a gate at the other side. Stupidly we decided to duck, despite the fact we were totally exposed. A bloke in a hi vis coat got out and watched us. Once realising how stupid we looked we stood up and trudged back to the access. Tictac and cox wanted to go home but because of my curiosity (or ignorance) we walked the perimeter until we reached a dead end. After some ninja rolls under the barbed wire we were in. At least, we were in a compound in the adjacent field. We stuck to the thick grass, reasoning that the guard wouldnt plough his 30k+ BMW through it. We walked further but the others said no. Theyd had enough so finally i gave in. I was dissapointed that we diddnt see it all but i wouldnt risk getting my mates caught bcos of my ignorance. Not a very interesting story but my first explore and wanted to contribute to thread


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## alex76

Well my story is as follows; myself and my very good friend Chris34 was exploring an old pub called the riverside inn, from are leads found the place to have been closed for 30 years and were expecting a mint old pub but to are disappointment all we found was a rotten old shell inside as we was mooching around trying to find some old features on the upper floors and chatting away, too Chris’s shock:shocked: I had disappeared when he turned round there was me buried to my chest in the floor hanging on for my life which I think its funny now but not at the time. But was a nice place to drop in for a drink and hang around for a while


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## nelly

It was a visit to Severalls with Skeleton Key.

We got to the first line of fencing, this was the temporary Heras type and SK gave me a leg up, I was nearly over and on the ground when two things happened at once, firstly the leg of my jeans got caught on the small bits of metal on the top where they hadn't cut it off short enough and secondly my hand got impaled on the same stuff.

I didn't have time to hang there while SK unhooked my jeans as the blood was now starting to flow from the hand, so I had no choice but to lift the hand and fall to the ground.

There was a massive ripping noise from the jeans which were ripped from the ankle to the crotch and I had four puncture wounds in my hand.

SK got over quite neatly and we recomposed ourselves, crawled through the bushes and noticed that the gate was open 100 yards up the road and we could have just walked in!!!


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## LiamWg

On my last explroe ( a few months ago, which i'm ashamed to admit  ) Me and Zotez decided to take a trip to the Courage Brewery in Readiing, Zotez had explored this site two times before so he knew the access points and we were looking forward to what we thought would be a care free explore.. however it turned into quite the opposite -.-

As we approached the site we noticed some tire tracks in the semi melted snow... we decided to carry on with the explore anyway as we thought the tracks could be a few days old. after a few hours exploring me and Zotez decided to go to the roof of the site to get some views from above, however as we were approaching the roof i took a look out of on of the windows and discovered that we weren't alone. we saw what we though at the time was a security guard (i took a cheeky picture ;P) 







After realising he was complatley oblivious to our presence we decided to carry on with the explore but just take a bit more caution...
From that point onwards we started to hear strange drilling noises coming from around the site.. however we once again decided to ignore this.

After realising he was completley oblivious to our presence we decided to carry on with the explore but just take a bit more caution... a few hours later we were exploring the bottom of the brewery when i spotted the same guy walking a few meters infront with just a window between us!! my ninja mode then switched on and i managed to duck and follow the 'security guard' around untill we were around the corner and out of site. i then stood up looked at Zotez and said 'Phew, That was a close one' only to see Zotez dive to the ground and shout 'VAN' as a white transit van parks up meters away from us.. we then realised that maybe being there wasn't really the best place to be. so we decided to walk around the grounds and get some external pictures before leaving (knowing full well we would most likely be caught) 

in a matter of seconds of walking out of a set of doors we were approached by a bloke who turned out to be a contractor, he asked what we were doing on the site and called security to come get us and all the usual business.. he proceeded to tell us that the site was being stripped after a recent auction and the were around 20 contractors on site :O we were astonished at how we managed to not be caught the whole time, but it got better. after going to the security hut and going through the normal process we then saw a computer monitor with loads of images of cctv around the whole site that we managed to dodge and not get seen on one... we came to the conclusion that we are 'Accidental Ninjas!' The security let us go and were actually pleasant people


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## mookster

I'm sure many of you read about my recent group explore to Denbigh but if for some reason you missed it here is an account of the events.

At 10.30am the initial 8 of us (there would be a pair joining us later) met up in Denbigh town centre and headed off to the gorgeous asylum. After a nervy trip across the fields to the site all 8 of us made it safely inside and we began to relax and begin the adventure that is navigating around Denbigh. Our first scare came when the two stragglers who'd made their own way to the asylum met up with us and reported walking in on the two riflemen inside the chapel. Now knowing we weren't alone we were more on edge than before but continued our explore. Fast forward a couple of hours, 2 of our group are spotted by the same riflemen who are wandering outside and have a brief conversation with them before the two explorers run to us, and instinctively we find an awesome hidey hole and stow ourselves away whilst the riflemen wandered off.

About half an hour later, Beardy turns up with his dog. We were at the back left of the main front block on the 2nd floor looking at the site from the road and we hear Beardy and the barking dog walking around outside near our location...and the next thing we know he is in the same corridor as us! Quick as a flash the 8 of us there at that point leg it down the stairs, out and around the front of the building past the bemused looking rifleman and out the front gates as fast as our legs would carry us and Beardy, following, jumps in his van with the dog. Back on the public road we are catching our breath and as he catches up to us in his van, some of us whip our cameras out and start filming the events...

[nomedia]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD-miDB9oGI[/nomedia]


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## The Archivist

Excellent thread and very entertaining too, I'd not noticed this before in my trawling of old threads.

My own contribution features a visit to Portsmouth Greyhound Stadium last year. As one of the first explorers to see the Old Stadium, two months after it closed, I count myself lucky that I got to see the place before it was completely trashed. Demolition had barely started, the buildings were still full of betting slips, tickets, trophies and all manner of other things and the bar still had the last, unfinished round sitting on it. It was just a tad unnerving in fact. 

Unfortunately, my visit coincided with that of Tipner's finest volunteer demolition team. This became apparent when I was in the former restaurant and loud smashing noises started coming from from the stands at the other end. Emerging cautiously onto the sand track, I saw about 6 tracksuit-clad youths attacking everything in sight with hammers, planks of wood and bricks.

The smashing stopped. the youths grunted some brief conversation and nodded agreement - I was sure they'd give chase at any moment but instead they went back to their destruction ignoring me completely. An uneasy situation followed, with the youths working their way around the stadium and me following behind with my camera and trying not to be too obvious. The smashing finally stopped when I was in the scoreboard tower and I assumed they'd left. I made my way round to the grandstand and was just about to go upstairs when a volley of crashes revealed that the youths had not left but were in fact in the commentator's box directly overhead. Funnily enough I didn't stay long after that.


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## mookster

Bloody idiots Maybe we should find them, go round their houses and smash the windows in and burn their chavved up hatchbacks out....one can dream


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## ImmortalShadow

I have a few stories...

1. Last year after a culvert trip that saw 8 of us do Markeaton Culvert, we decided to go and explore Derby Hippodrome, so we split into 2 groups, and the first group of 4 go in and the group I was in waited for about 20 minutes before we went in. The first group were heading down a corridor, we could here their voices which were coming closer. They saw torches but didn't realise who it was until they saw us! They were so scared  I completely failed to text someone in the first group to let them know we were coming in.

2. I was taking photos on the roof of the old police station in Derby after exploring it, and I went into where the machines for the lift were, and a pigeon flew out of that building and scared the lift out of me!

3. Me and a friend were walking around Derby GNR Warehouse (this was ages ago now) looking for a way in when I heard voices from inside the building with me going "this is so surreal, this is so surreal" and we both shut up for a moment just to check I wasn't dreaming, and so we walked around to where the voices were coming from. A minute later, we saw a car tyre come flying out of one of the windows  then we see 3 guys climbing out of said window. One of which is now a close urbexing friend of mine! It's amazing how friendships can be born from the most unlikely of places.

I have no stories about running into security or seeing them as I've never actually been caught. Famous last words....!!


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## themousepolice

*stop and search*

ive lost count the amount of times ive ran blindly, hidden skillfully, lay down on shit ridden floors, scaled fences or even comfronted, talked my way out of situations, blagged escape when in a derelict building over the years.

too many stories maybe i shouldnt tell. But this one was Lannans flour mill in Cato street, Vauxhall, Birmingham (see Brums finest excellent report on his visit somewhere on here). this was few years ago before i was a member and to be honest i didnt think other people did what i did .......

unbekown to me there had been a robbery in the premises next door to the disused mill and my wondering in had been noted by some jittery owners. had no tools, no mask, infact i was wearing a floresant jacket as id come to view the place straight from work and after 10 - 15 mins of exploration i wondered out into the yard of the mill straight into a female west midlands police officer.

this took her somewhat by suprise as she didnt hear me comming, where upon i was pounced by 3 other officers and a dog handler with his canine appeared from inside the mill.

after a quick search and some explanation of what i was doing in there they just wanted me off site and we even chatted about the place, tresspass laws, junkies, spray can teenagers etc. the whole thing was amicable. i was just about to get into my car when Mr bolshy stuck up Sargeant arrives in his panda with all light flashing.

the friendly atmosphere soon went and he man handled me against a wall, shouted in my face and at the other officers. he demanded this and that, called me a liar, quoted laws, shouted a bit more and so forth. there is no point in argueing back to poor police men so i tried to rerson with him about the amount of paperwork he would do if i was hauled in, what damage had i actually done etc.

this seemed to make him more angry so i kept my gob shut from there on. 10 mins of deliberation later he came nose to nose to me and whispered something like 'if i ever catch you in abandonded buildings again i will make you crawl'. at that he left and the other officers seemed relieved he had gone and we shook hands and i went.
they did give me this though... A WEST MIDLANDS POLICE STAUTORY POWER STOP AND SEARCH RECEIPT. My only momento of the day, dont what it to become a badge of honour or suchlike but everyone should have at least 1.



IMG_0007_NEW by annoyingly good, on Flickr




IMG_0006_NEW by annoyingly good, on Flickr


so get a good policeman you'll be ok get a bad one and things could get messy. no problem really as theres never much they can do, just look back and laugh now


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## themousepolice

*scottish accent*

heres one i was reminded of over the weekend.........

10 years back on a trip to Scotland with guys who like visiting galas, railway preservation places and walking old lines i got bored of their hobby as being on trains all day i didnt really want to look at them when i wasnt at work and decided to split from the group for the afternoon in order to find someplace to explore.

around the fair town of Montrose, i forced myself past several pubs and eventually found, just off the road, a detatched forlorn house, unkept, grey and looking very solitary. gate hanging off its hinges, grass upto my waste either side of deshevelled path i proceeded upto the front of the house.

to one side there was a field with a sorry looking pony and cattle and a man, he clocked me approaching the house and made his way over to a wire fence and i waded through the wet grass to meet him at the boundary.
at this point try and put a thick Scottish accent in your mind, as being a 'southern softey' with no real acent i really had to listen hard just to understand the old fellow, ive no doubt yourselves may have been in a similar position when trying to talk to a jonny foriegner or indeed some old Glaswegian.

after a brief hello and some small talk (with 2 second gaps inbetween while my brain decifered what he was actually saying) i got to the point.......

me : "does anyone live in this house ?"

scot :" ney fucker lives there"

a bit crude i thought, must just be a local way of saying it i thought and he motioned with a quick jolt of his neck towards the house.
me :" that will do me, thanks very much"
and i proceeded to the front door. it was locked and quite sturdy so pressing my face to the side window and cupping my hands in the time honoured fashion i attempted to see waht was inside........

well it was like something out of the kids programme THE WOMBLES, newspaper wallpaper, clothes, magazines piled high, dead flys on the window cill. i was getting excited. i moved round to the side of the house and peered through the next window, once my vision had got used to the almost black net curtains i could make out more junk, really old furniture and even a scalectrix track.

the side of the house had really long grass, weeds and thorns and i stepped backwards while looking up see if there was an easy entrance, my concentration was aveerted slightly when i looked down at wet trouser bottoms and sodden trainers, at this point i thought i sore something move in one of the windows...........

thinking my mind was playing a trick i went around the back of the house, into what was a garden....... i started to get more suspicious when i noticed neat rows of vegetables in like an allotment patch with well attended cabbages and carrots.

scouting around i noticed a back door and started to make for it when the old Scottish man appeared, quite flustered and beconning me. i put 2 and 2 together and thought he must be using the vegetable patch for his own growing as the rest of the garden was so over grown it hadnt been tended in years.
then he shouted.....
"I TOLD YE, NEY FUCKER LIVES HERE"

" i know i heard you 1st time, didnt think you would mind if i just looked round, im not interested about your extra growing activities i just want to take a quick look"

at this he grabbed my arm a tried to urge me to the front, i shrugged him off but followed him anyhow as i didnt want to cause a fuss. when we reached the front door again he was about to knock the door whjen he noticed an envolope sticking out he letter box, he wrestled this free and trust it in my face.

"see, i told you ney fucker lives here"

reading the letter it was addressed to :

NATHAN THACKER
SUCH N SUCH HOUSE
SUCH NSUCH ROAD
MONTROSE
SCOTLAND

it then dawned on me. speechless with wet feet and not knowing what to say.... NEY FUCKER translated into the queens english was NATHAN THACKER.

as we walked away after replacing the letter he explianed that he lived next door and Nate was an old retired guy who was a bit of a hermit and not of sound mind. i think we would now say he just wanted to be alone or it was aspergers syndrome. i said sorry and we laughed about the misunderstanding and with one last look at the house from afar i went to the pub.

the morale of the story ? well i leave that upto you. (sorry for my poor spelling and keep smilling)


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## Snips86x

@themousepolice: Funny thing is I can see facial expressions while reading this. Great stuff. lol


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## theasdaprice

LOL I remeber a couple of funny urbex adventures in my teens. 

1st, I was doing a explore on an industrial estate in Haslenere, when my mate shaun decided to ride his BMX over a piece of wood he's made into a ramp and smacked into a police car that had parked outside Royal Mail on police buisness. I watched in horror from the window and saw him get knicked! 

2nd advenure was also in Haslemere in 2 boarded up cottages near the station that were at one point earmarked for a new library. (fail, it never happened!) Harry Sean and I decided to explore the attic, which was useful, as there was no wall inbetween and you could get to the other fire damaged cottage. ( for some reason both had the attic hatch st8 above the toilet bowl!) Anyway we had a look round both and then it was time to go, so we had to get up the dodgy stairs and stand on the boxing above the loo and walk up the wall. I got up, Shaun got up, but when Harry tried, disaster struck! Shaun had gone to look at the water tank above the back bedroom, as it was cast iron. As he walked over the bathroom, the rotting beam snapped, Sean grabbed the eves of the roof and harry got the beam straight in the head, sending Harry flying back into the room below and if that wasn't enough, half the celing as well. To make matters worse, the bathroom floor then gave way, sending harry another 12 feet down and landing on the kitchen floor. 

We realised what had happened and helped Shuan back onto the beams and used the beams we used to get to the other side of the roof as quick as we could. We dropped down into the bathroom, back out the kitchen window and decided we needed to get help, but remain cool and not let people know what we had been up to. (Back then we didn't know about tresspass law) 

So, we walked down the road, past the railway bridge to the library and walked up the main road and walked into the indian restaraunt and explained to a waiter that we heard someone screaming help from the boarded up cottages behind the restaraunt. He subciquently told us to leave. (ASSHOLE!) We knew Harry needed urgent help, so next place was Alldays across the road. This time, we asked for the manager and we told him what had happened. Thankfully he beleived us and dialled 999. We ran up with him to the house where he shouted through the boarded up window and by now the indians had realised we were telling the truth. 

They came out armed with a hammer a screw driver and what ever else they could find. We all worked to get the board off, but it was weded tight. Then Surrey Fire and Rescue came and used the jaws of life to cut the board off and then cut the door board off. Harry was taken to the Royal Surrey, where he suffered a major head injury, back trauma and a crushed pelvis. He made a full recovery and wasn't grilled too much by the police, apart from being told not to play in empty buildings. Thankfully for us lot he also kept his gob shut, though if it wasn't for our quick action, Harry may of died on that day. 

The moral of this story.... Watch where you step, you don't know what's safe and what's not... Also if you have to go and get help, don't go to a indian, as without being racist, they are as much use as a chocolate calculator! The best thing to do is to always carry a charged mobile phone! 



Zotez said:


> Through a discussion with a friend we thought this would be a good idea for a thread.
> 
> I love it when people put a story about their trip on their reports and I enjoy reading about other peoples experiences so I thought we should have a place to share those moments where something has gone wrong, or something funny has happened, or any urbex stories that you have which you would like to post.
> 
> I'll start off with one from one of our West Park visits, this was actually a "consolation" visit once we had failed to get into NGTE Pyestock and the Cambridge Military Hospital - we decided to take a different way into the asylum as opposed to the entrance everyone used (you all know about it but i'll stick to the rules and not mention access) anyway, we were walking along a path that ran beside the hospital which also passed the morgue and we heard some very obvious vandals/"chavs" trying to break their way into it, on further inspection (well, looking over the fence) we could make out the usual suspect tracksuits and white trianers with some odd language whilst they were trying to kick the door in, we decided to leave them and find our own way through the fence.
> 
> We got into the asylum eventually and while walking one of the corridors I noticed the vandals seemed to be following us at a distance, I didnt mention it to the group because there were many explorers there at the time (this was during the time where everyone visited west park), our next decision was to venture into the service tunnels (which, I may add are horrible, I wouldnt reccomend it unless you like massive dead spiders, live electricity and asbestos), we were about to climb under the hospital through a vent and I could see one of the undesirables climbing out the same window we did through the corridors that linked the wards, he looked over at what we were doing with a shocked expression and quickly hopped back over the window and started walking away from us at the quickest speed possible!  Goes to prove some people really do have limits!
> 
> But after my rather unfunny story, does anyone have any better ones to share? Any memories, stories, anything that would be of interest to this thread? I'd love to read it.
> 
> Thanks!


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## sparky.

This Thread is brilliant


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## PaulPowers

While attempting to gain access to a certain cresent shaped building in Buxton I climbed a 9 foot fence, looking down from the top I couldn't see the ground for all the long grass and decided that to be on the safe side I would hang and drop down.

I didn't realise the actual ground level on the other side of the fence was another 4 foot drop so as I fell one of me feet clipped the wall and pushed me off balance, I ended up on my backside lay on a pile of rubble and stinging nettles.

The worse part was the ground floor of the building was bricked up and there was no way in so I had to climb back over the fence


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