mr_bones
Gormless Moderator
Having wanted to explore abroad for a very long time, i was very excited when it finally came into fruition.
With a few ideas and suggestions in the pipeline, Jaff Fox, Valan and i headed for Belgium armed with a Fiat Panda, a laptop and GPS.
Owing to it being a bank holiday, the only available ferry crossing was 4.45am (GMT) so we arrived in Calais with plenty of time to swan into the local patisserie, stuff our faces with sugar and pastry and head off for Kasteel Van Mesen....
.....Except our genius idea of thinking it was actually in the town of Mesen turned out to be a bit wrong, eventually we arrived in 'Lede' (60 miles away from Mesen) and was greeted with this - Belgium's very own ROYAL beedingwood house.
After admiring the fact that most of the stained glass had survived, the attention to detail every part of the building was immense and the floors were almost immaculate we retired for the day as we had been up for a very long time! The local chavs weren't happy to see that we were in their smashing ground anyway!
The next day we headed for a place that i had only seen in 1 other report and on 1 website - Chateaux Noisy, a 19th century sibling to the 12th century Chateaux further down the same hill. Aesthetically this place was amazing, despite being of relatively new build - the exuberant use of marble and ornate plasterwork combined with turrets, towers, carved wood and metal castings brought the place to life.
We bumped into a group of 4 other explorers who were from the Netherlands and Belgium respectively. They told us some of the history of the place and pointed us up the half removed staircase to the central clocktower, which in my opinion is the most prominent feature and gives an amazing view all round.
After we left here, we headed towards 'Hasard à Cheratte', not named 'Hasard' for no reason. The entrance was hazardous enough, but when we finally did reach the buildings themselves, we were greeted by random holes in the floor that led to 30ft drops!
This was some sort of mining facility and while the main building looked almost 'castle like', there was a huge concrete tower in the middle of the site that stood out as a landmark for miles around. As we reached the higher levels we saw that a huge group of 15 or so other explorers were pouring in, we eventually greeted them and they were pretty friendly - and showed us a much easier way out!!!!!!
After deciding against the appropriately named 'Dentiste de S***thole' due to rumours of needles and junkies we headed off in sight of an army barracks but it wasn't where we were told it was!
The next day we headed towards 'Joseph Lemaire' hospital which i am told was very grand in its day, today it was host to the most grafitti i have seen in a single building, it could almost even be appreciated here.
With a few ideas and suggestions in the pipeline, Jaff Fox, Valan and i headed for Belgium armed with a Fiat Panda, a laptop and GPS.
Owing to it being a bank holiday, the only available ferry crossing was 4.45am (GMT) so we arrived in Calais with plenty of time to swan into the local patisserie, stuff our faces with sugar and pastry and head off for Kasteel Van Mesen....
.....Except our genius idea of thinking it was actually in the town of Mesen turned out to be a bit wrong, eventually we arrived in 'Lede' (60 miles away from Mesen) and was greeted with this - Belgium's very own ROYAL beedingwood house.
After admiring the fact that most of the stained glass had survived, the attention to detail every part of the building was immense and the floors were almost immaculate we retired for the day as we had been up for a very long time! The local chavs weren't happy to see that we were in their smashing ground anyway!
The next day we headed for a place that i had only seen in 1 other report and on 1 website - Chateaux Noisy, a 19th century sibling to the 12th century Chateaux further down the same hill. Aesthetically this place was amazing, despite being of relatively new build - the exuberant use of marble and ornate plasterwork combined with turrets, towers, carved wood and metal castings brought the place to life.
We bumped into a group of 4 other explorers who were from the Netherlands and Belgium respectively. They told us some of the history of the place and pointed us up the half removed staircase to the central clocktower, which in my opinion is the most prominent feature and gives an amazing view all round.
After we left here, we headed towards 'Hasard à Cheratte', not named 'Hasard' for no reason. The entrance was hazardous enough, but when we finally did reach the buildings themselves, we were greeted by random holes in the floor that led to 30ft drops!
This was some sort of mining facility and while the main building looked almost 'castle like', there was a huge concrete tower in the middle of the site that stood out as a landmark for miles around. As we reached the higher levels we saw that a huge group of 15 or so other explorers were pouring in, we eventually greeted them and they were pretty friendly - and showed us a much easier way out!!!!!!
After deciding against the appropriately named 'Dentiste de S***thole' due to rumours of needles and junkies we headed off in sight of an army barracks but it wasn't where we were told it was!
The next day we headed towards 'Joseph Lemaire' hospital which i am told was very grand in its day, today it was host to the most grafitti i have seen in a single building, it could almost even be appreciated here.
