# Former Victoria Working Men's Club, Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey, Kent.



## colin haggart (Aug 16, 2011)

This was a nice club, closed now for sometime, it was going to be converted into flats, sdaly for some reason this has not yet happened and the club buildning is now looking more like a ruin.

My photos.

















View of the bay window, seen to the left of my first photo.













Window frame.


----------



## TeeJF (Aug 16, 2011)

It looks more like a bl**dy harem with those windows and that paint scheme... you sure you've not been urb-exing in Pashtunistan???


----------



## krela (Aug 16, 2011)

Yeah not too keen on the decor, it's a beauty of a building to let rot though


----------



## colin haggart (Aug 16, 2011)

TeeJF said:


> It looks more like a bl**dy harem with those windows and that paint scheme... you sure you've not been urb-exing in Pashtunistan???



As far as I know, it was untouced by boming in both world wars, even though Sheerness was a Navel town.


----------



## oldscrote (Aug 16, 2011)

Fond memories of this place It had a large purpose built theatre out the back which the Sheppey theatre group used to put their plays on in.My mum was a stalwart member of the group and I spent many happy hours helping out when I were a lad.

http://www.pbase.com/luckytrev/image/58966889

That's my mum 2nd from left.

Shame the place has gone to ruin but unfortunately that seems to be a common occurance in Sheerness


----------



## colin haggart (Aug 16, 2011)

oldscrote said:


> Fond memories of this place It had a large purpose built theatre out the back which the Sheppey theatre group used to put their plays on in.My mum was a stalwart member of the group and I spent many happy hours helping out when I were a lad.
> 
> http://www.pbase.com/luckytrev/image/58966889
> 
> ...



The theatre I think is the hall to the left of my first phots, it's out of sight as it is set back, as far as I know, that's now the club house.


----------



## oldscrote (Aug 17, 2011)

colin haggart said:


> The theatre I think is the hall to the left of my first phots, it's out of sight as it is set back, as far as I know, that's now the club house.



As far as I can remember to get to the theatre you went through the club into a garden at the back and the theatre was at the back of the garden.


----------



## colin haggart (Aug 17, 2011)

oldscrote said:


> As far as I can remember to get to the theatre you went through the club into a garden at the back and the theatre was at the back of the garden.




Could this be the remains of the theatre?


----------



## oldscrote (Aug 18, 2011)

colin haggart said:


> Could this be the remains of the theatre?
> 
> To be perfectly honest Colin it's 45 years or so since I last saw it so I really couldn't really say.


----------



## Em_Ux (Aug 19, 2011)

Such a shame it has been left to rot.

I enjoyed your photos thanks


----------



## smiler (Aug 19, 2011)

Sod the décor, whether it’s a working mans club or an ex knocking shop, It is an utterly stunning building and I hope very much that it is saved, Thank you for sharing.


----------



## oldscrote (Aug 20, 2011)

a couple of shots of how it was 

Club to the left of shot.All the buildings visible here have gone





Club to right of photo


----------



## manof2worlds (Aug 20, 2011)

Fantastic building, a real derelict treasure in my eyes.


----------



## maximus (Aug 20, 2011)

Fab pics so sad to see it in this state 

I want those lions!!!!


----------



## nelly (Aug 24, 2011)

Its a great shame that a majestic building like that is left to decay 

But hey, good news for us eh???

Nice photos


----------



## night crawler (Aug 25, 2011)

After looking at Oldscrotes photo's I do feel it a shame that all those wonderfull looking buildings have gone to be replaced by some ugly office block in the name of progress.


----------



## strokesboy21 (Aug 27, 2011)

*hey*

such a shame to see a building like this left to rot


----------



## Ckingston (Nov 24, 2011)

The photos you have on here are NOT from August 2011. The contractors have been working on it and its not so sad now. Those photos were last year or the early part of this year at best, as I personally restored the lions in April and they are now black!! 

It's come a very very long way since those photos were taken. It's only a small team working on the build. You should be more positive about it as thank god its not a pigeon coop anymore!!!!!!


----------



## Ckingston (Nov 24, 2011)

AND ITS NOT GOING TO BE AN OFFICE BLOCK. 

The inside flats in the main building are looking fantastic and the plans for the new build on the back of the land have now been fully approved and look stunning. So please don't be so quick to judge. We have transformed some amazing builds all within one year so bare with us, before slating us. 

Check out www.reclaimthatspace.com!


----------



## Ckingston (Nov 24, 2011)

Hi Colin,

How did you get the photos of the inside last year, as we were in possesion of this for the last 18 months and it is private property that we did not authorise anyone to enter. 

We have had theft on the site which we hired an external security company to help us with, these were deffinitely taken prior to the time we contracted them. How did you obtain access, did you climb over the wall???? Are you aware that it is an offence to tresspass on private property, or were your photos in actual fact taken prior to our possesion in September 2010, if so please correct your post.

Many thanks,
The owners


----------



## wirelessmast (Nov 24, 2011)

Ckingston said:


> Hi Colin,
> 
> How did you get the photos of the inside last year, as we were in possesion of this for the last 18 months and it is private property that we did not authorise anyone to enter.
> 
> ...




There, fixed that for you


----------



## KingRat (Nov 24, 2011)

TeeJF said:


> It looks more like a bl**dy harem with those windows and that paint scheme... you sure you've not been urb-exing in Pashtunistan???



Sheernessingstan ?


Seriously, I hope this does get saved, it's a beauty !! (even if the colours are a tad .... er ....)


----------



## Priority 7 (Nov 24, 2011)

Nice pics and I guess Ckingston has answered the question it has been saved. I would like to say though Ckingston it doesnt say when it was visited and there is no need to be quite so aggressive. We take only pictures and actually appreciate the fact that you have invested time, money and effort to prevent this historic building going the way of so many others....decayed, burnt to the ground or demo'd. So kudos for that but please bare in mind we only document we would never destroy, steal or damage.


----------



## Ckingston (Nov 25, 2011)

Yes I was being agressive, as piping has gone missing from site, tools have gone missing, wires have been stripped out, copper has been taken to name but a few. Whilst yes you are correct that it may not be a criminal offence to tresspass, theft is and we have had alot of it on site. 

It has been increadibly frustrating and when a potential investor came accross this post and brought it to my attention I saw red. Colin posted those in August this year and to be fair he said it's looking more like a ruin, not great for a potential investor to see when deciding whether or not to buy in. As he is in Cork I have been keeping him posted via email, he has yet to see the property so when he is doing preliminary research and comes accross this it doesn't look good for us. He informed me it was a Criminal offence to tresspass, so sorry for getting it wrong! 

It would have been nice to have stated that those photos were pre 2010 and as he posted in August he must have seen it recently??? Why couldn't he mention how far it had come?!


----------



## jools (Nov 25, 2011)

,,,,


> the potential investor came across this post



,,is he a Urbexer or was he just looking for cheap properties with development potential??

,,,,,our reports here could well be used as a derelict estate agency


----------



## wirelessmast (Nov 25, 2011)

Ckingston said:


> piping has gone missing from site, tools have gone missing, wires have been stripped out, copper has been
> 
> It has been increadibly frustrating and when a potential investor came accross this post
> 
> ...



A number of good points there. 

1. If you have that much level of theft, then you are simply not securing your site well enough. A well secured site will deter all but the most determined. Many urbexers wont bother. If tools have gone missing, then your breeching a fairly basic rule - dont leave tools unattended on site.

2. A potential invester looking at this site? Hardly sound financial research is it. I suggest your potential invester invest some of his cash on a ferry ticket and train fare and bother to visit the property himself.

3. Posted in august, taken when? How do you know Colin was giving correct details? Again taking at face value something that may or may not be accurate.

4. See 2 above

5. Again taking someone elses word as gospel, neglecting to do your own research. Surely as a site owner/manager you would have saught advise on the law and security from a reputable agent?

6. It may have been nice, but under what obligation? This is a hobbiests site, not a legal framework. No one has to do anything for anyone elses benefit. Certainly not for someone whos interest is pecuniary.

Did you read the forum rules? did you research the etiquette of urbexing, and its unwritten rules and guidelines? I would suggest not. Did you read other posts? If you did, you would have understood that we want these places saved, and in honest use. Ideally with many original features retained, but what we dont want to see if ongoing destruction. This is why dates and locations are deliberately obscured, because we know this is an open board and the scum and pikeys might be able to read it. So we are careful not to reveal details that are not in the public domain.


Rant mode to standby...


----------



## oldscrote (Nov 25, 2011)

Ckingston said:


> . As he is in Cork I have been keeping him posted via email, he has yet to see the property so when he is doing preliminary research and comes accross this it doesn't look good for us.
> 
> I find it odd that you hadn't told your investor the true state the place was in and I assume you were being economical with the truth which is why you are now getting all upset having been found out.I'm glad that something is being done for the poor old place as I have fond personal memories tied up there but please don't blame urbexers for your lack of security.


----------



## RichardH (Nov 25, 2011)

oldscrote said:


> ...I have fond personal memories tied up there...



I read this as you having fond memories of being tied up there, and for a moment I thought that it was a quite different sort of club.


----------



## Ckingston (Nov 25, 2011)

jools said:


> ,,,,
> 
> ,,is he a Urbexer or was he just looking for cheap properties with development potential??
> 
> ,,,,,our reports here could well be used as a derelict estate agency



No he already had interest in our project, he was googling it and this is what he came accross.....No need to worry  ! 

Just read back through my messages, man PMS is a B&%$H! sorry folks. Only created an account to snap at the original post, but you have a great site, i hope people wont use it like that!


----------



## Priority 7 (Nov 25, 2011)

It would be great if they would, it would help save many more sites around the country. Hopefully your investor will look at this post and see the effort you have already invested by seeing these before pics and your after ones. 
As for thefts its bound to be pikeys...just from the list of the missing its their sort of shopping trolley items. I am sure all hear are upset to hear of your losses alas you aren't the first and wont be the last Lillesden school is a perfect example had all its roofing lead stolen and when it was replaced by the owners it was stolen again.


----------



## oldscrote (Nov 26, 2011)

RichardH said:


> I read this as you having fond memories of being tied up there, and for a moment I thought that it was a quite different sort of club.



whoops, my lousy English as well as awful punctuation,mind you they old actor types from the 60s did have some peculiar habits.......
Please post some pictures of work in progress and also of completed job,would be nice to see the resurection of a grand old building.


----------



## Derelict-UK (Nov 26, 2011)

Ckingston said:


> Hi Colin,
> 
> How did you get the photos of the inside last year, as we were in possesion of this for the last 18 months and it is private property that we did not authorise anyone to enter.



I take it, as these photos were taken so long ago and your previous posts on how good the place is now looking, it should be a lot more secure than what I have seen.

The picture below (I hope Colin doesn't mind me editing/using his image for this reason) shows how *I* think someone might have accessed this property...








Maybe you could learn from this and protect your projects better in the future. As much as it would obviously be worse for us explorers to have better security, it makes me feel better that an owner who has an amazing building has taken steps to keep thieving scum out and the property stays in good condition. 

We can always ask for permission into sites, I'm more fussed about the building and it's future rather than open the flood gates to thieves and seeing the place get ruined before your very eyes.

Anyway, do you have any recent pictures of the conversion you can share with us?


----------



## Ckingston (Nov 28, 2011)

www.reclaimthatspace.com


----------



## alex76 (Nov 28, 2011)

All urban explorers stick to a very tight rule as we all have a passion for history of which these buildings carry and in no way will we cause or want any distress to any buildings we document.
Most of these buildings have been around since long before us.
And all buildings of fine craftsmanship which we have grown to love and are children will love which we need to protect or in are case document because it don’t take long to bulldoze and the history is gone for ever.
Urban explorers (urbex) we are not bad people far from it


----------

