real time web analytics
A Life in Ruins - 100 Photos From 10 Years of Exploring the UK | Noteworthy Reports | 28DaysLater.co.uk

A Life in Ruins - 100 Photos From 10 Years of Exploring the UK

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

Speed

Got Epic?
Regular User
December 24th 2004 at approximately 4:00pm. As you might have guessed I remember the afternoon well!

I was 18, fresh out of school barely 6 months previously, just past my driving test. It was Christmas eve and i was sitting at home bored, much like i am as i write this! After seeing someone's photos from the simply mind boggling abandonment that was Cane Hill and subsequently discovering Simon Cornwells 'urbexuk' website i had become hooked on the idea of this new 'urban exploring' thing. In all honesty i was shit scared of it, scared of getting caught doing something i shouldn't, scared of what or indeed who i might find lurking in such places i should not be. However i knew right from the start it was the life for me. After several months of umming and ahhing i decided this was it and i hopped in the car to take what at the time seemed like a pretty lengthy 20mins drive to the outskirts of Colchester. I found myself standing by the hole in the fence calmly considering my plan of action but no sooner had i put one leg through the adrenaline took over. This all sounds so stupid nowadays but this was the first time id consciously done an 'urbex' and crossing that simple line between were your 'supposed to be' and 'not supposed to be' was enough to overload my brains usual rock solid common sense and i almost instantly found myself running towards the building, why i was running i don't know. There was no logical need i just felt vulnerable out there in the open. At the time every door on that side of the building was wide open but for some reason i found myself climbing in a window, it was the closest point to the fence i guess! Crunching down on the broken glass i was finally in and all of what you see here began.

Yeh so Severalls was my first really. In East Anglia the UE scene was virtually non existent back then. There just wasn't any other explorers in Suffolk or Essex. At least none i could find. That meant there was no places to go either, or so it seemed. There was no 28days yet, not even a dedicated UE forum yet other then the American one. There wasn't really any Google maps. Virtually no online news, digital cameras still cost a bomb and i certainly didn't have one, my mobile phones most advanced feature was Snake! Yep the world has changed somewhat since then! The big change UE wise was 28DL coming along. Thats what really kick started the scene in this country, it brought everyone together and gave everything a purpose and a sense of competition and dare i say it 'sport' that had been missing for me. As time went on i met a few locals who liked doing the same thing and then progressed onto meeting real friends in their own right. By 2006 we were travelling for 5 or more hours to see somewhere and after that there was no going back. Now approaching 2015 ive been conscious of this milestone coming up and thought that something should be done not only for me to remember all the darn cool places ive been but also for some of the new people in UE to see just whats possible if you put your mind to it.

So here we go i guess, 100 photos from 100 places that ive been trying to whittle down into 'The Best' for what seems like ever now. Compromise has had to be made as once you really look theres just so many good memories and photos from places is virtually impssible to get down the 100. Ive been to over 50 Asylums and 80 Cinemas alone and it feels like half of them should be in! Ive tried to take into account the place itself, the fun of accessing it, the fun of exploring it, the challenge faced, what we found, how suprising it was. Theres just so much you can think about when choosing! So let me know what you think. One day il get time to write a little about each and turn it into a book for now im too busy working out where i need to go explore this holiday!




1

5035966808_4e1752e88a_b.jpg


AJ Parkers Armoury Works

2

9365470231_e566d51a5e_b.jpg


Aldwych Tube Station

3

7349581686_f5569140e8_b.jpg


Alexandra Palace

4

4416922962_8a8574451a_b.jpg


Ardeer Dynamite Works

5

3602938265_54e08be96a_b.jpg


Barbour Threads Lisburn

6

5600893103_970bb71e99_b.jpg


Barcley Curles Titan Crane

7

6569724587_5cf6d7a2c3_b.jpg


Barking Powerstation

8

4193198278_02a70d9a80_b.jpg


Battersea Powerstation

9

6080353667_b5dd4f4571_b.jpg


Bawdsey Rotor Bunker

10

3593223658_55d662abc5_b.jpg


Belvoir Park Hospital

11

8054111212_649e110628_b.jpg


Berkyn Manor

12

4425089023_25fa14b6a7_b.jpg


Birmingham Municipal Bank

13

5658845557_364bbb8904_b.jpg


Bishopton Royal Ordnance Factory

14

16071155346_988e62ae3a_b.jpg


BNG Littlebrook

15

5164795157_4c89462327_b.jpg


BOCM Selby

16

13390483164_8eae240af3_b.jpg


British Celenese

17

4374967989_d6123c18a3_b.jpg


British Cellophane

18

3757983340_5a130cdda6_b.jpg


British Sugar Ipswich

19

4444705405_8e64d35360_b.jpg


British Xylonite

20

3826298623_01c180d3ed_b.jpg


Broadford Works Aberdeen

21

6719783003_7df3cfbf45_b.jpg


Brompton Road Disused Tube Station

22

5466058774_8e0ee90672_b.jpg


Bull and Bush Floodgate Control

23

4240908378_520b0c0757_b.jpg


Burnley Empire Theater

24

5090407512_ac2209bdfa_b.jpg


Bush Boake Allen Works

25

4607510024_f2d2959205_b.jpg


Cabot Carbon

26

6116892038_e05ed074d3_b.jpg


Cadburys Summerdale

27

6837386525_bf9aa0319a_b.jpg


Cane Hill

28

4564829455_6315997517_b.jpg


Cardiff Civil Defense Bunker

29

7585887848_df9a89b102_b.jpg


Ceulan Mill

30

3864805933_bdc2d7fd8c_b.jpg


Crane Foundry Ipswich

31

4712781804_27c4ea34a0_b.jpg


Curtis Fine Papermill

32

5077998286_c033c33541_b.jpg


Dalton Mills Keighley

33

15202340755_4be0e2b5e0_b.jpg


Denbigh Asylum

34

10785463545_c61169551d_b.jpg


Derby Royal Infirmary

35

6455222665_7bb1687730_b.jpg


Doncaster Grand Theater​
 
Last edited:

Speed

Got Epic?
Regular User
36

5445025158_0288d5aba9_b.jpg


Dreamland Margate

37

3352886109_81ed7feeef_b.jpg


Fletchers Papermill

38

15182517694_9c9294cb3d_b.jpg


Ford transit Factory Southampton

39

6073784369_7597f15f4b_b.jpg


Fox Brothers Tone Mills

40

7585896754_a368f0ed46_b.jpg


Gee Printworks Denbigh

41

6124427619_b652694037_b.jpg


George Barnsley and Sons

42

4679793344_5407921d42_b.jpg


Gillette Factory Clock Tower

43

3107854200_7a7d5e446a_b.jpg


Hartwood Hospital

44

3834648045_2aa85ab589_b.jpg


Grays State Cinema

45

9547245491_34793ea78b_b.jpg


Greenwich Powerstation

46

4625877605_7923e2c1a4_b.jpg


Grimsby Ice House

47

4272401102_031b7df091_b.jpg


GWR Chain Shop

48

4144644510_46ff165f84_b.jpg


Hams Hall Powerstation Control Room

49

15778046956_d507c967fa_b.jpg


Haslar Hospital

50

2124964821_637f6efcf0_b.jpg


Hellingly Asylum

51

4212983994_6623bc7c49_b.jpg


Heron Tower

52

15910843099_5602b12d85_b.jpg


High Royds Asylum

53

3754988410_8af3ef8b37_b.jpg


HMS Ganges

54

6207462149_81f000ef5c_b.jpg


Hume Hippodrome

55

3111939954_110430d5d5_b.jpg


Inverkip Powerstation

56

5129479522_f3d2771fae_b.jpg


Kimberley Brewery

57

11877292814_65fc45efcc_b.jpg


Kingsway Telephone Exchange

58

4974123469_34ac145f4d_b.jpg


LDV

59

6350988346_e3cf7b13bf_b.jpg


London Cable Conduits

60

13938888983_82b540f857_b.jpg


Maltby Colliery

61

6102881360_5d3ef71f40_b.jpg


River Fleet

62

5854575932_6b8d0a7629_b.jpg


McMullens Brewery

63

2680151015_ef6f35fbbd_b.jpg


Methil Powerstation

64

4081665566_fbcb99cd7f_b.jpg


Middleton Mine

65

2551554456_7192710ed0_b.jpg


Millennium Mills

66

5554004742_838e3bd1e2_b.jpg


Mitchell Grieve Needle Works


67

2915250618_648fecb1d6_b.jpg


Monkton Farleigh CAD

68

8163765726_b382fc802b_b.jpg


NGTE Pyestock

69

15179320806_70d6f85e54_b.jpg


Old Joe University Clock Tower​
 
Last edited:

Speed

Got Epic?
Regular User
70

5631770111_f558713b2a_b.jpg


Pontypridd Townhall Theater

71

6505730303_4fa2b73515_b.jpg


Preston Odeon

72

14656158346_4d02077351_b.jpg


RAF Fauld

73

3476427001_4c92849bbe_b.jpg


Rank Hovis Mill Hull

74

8068155975_e3b7ae3290_b.jpg


Rover Longbridge

75

5960862904_be4f26424e_b.jpg


Severalls

76

15474652474_927d7314d5_b.jpg


Shard

77

2825050077_0c985c6f67_b.jpg


Shoreham Cement Works

78

3681863542_be41dc9b45_b.jpg


Spillers Mill Waterford

79

8307784663_94205eae01_b.jpg


Spring Quarry

80

5954246100_bbf271f1d1_b.jpg


St Gerrards TB Hospital

81

3180894238_6b96d4b83d_b.jpg


St Joesph's Seminary

82

3659595264_ec2ece6173_b.jpg


Stanton Iron Foundry

83

3874013927_1da4c4ff4a_b.jpg


Steetley Mangnesite Works

84

2947793570_65b16c2094_b.jpg


Stewartby Brickworks

85

4482168574_aedd2f67be_b.jpg


Stirchley Baths

86

5589359487_d266e2df7b_b.jpg


Stockton Globe Theater

87

3497426973_c8382cc50f_b.jpg


Stone House Asylum

88

7522965062_5117e57a83_b.jpg


London Transport Substation

89

3616676043_029cea02be_b.jpg


Tenby Mortuary

90

6182267514_3f0829df52_b.jpg


Terrys Clocktower

91

3888314824_44299fbbd4_b.jpg


TG Green Pottery


92

5094151339_c0bc72ae4e_b.jpg


Tolly Cobbold Brewery


93

8221684712_9e4bdcf5e2_b.jpg


Turner Brothers Asbestos Mill

94

4181820541_54e15e46d9_b.jpg


U475 Soviet Submarine

95

5393177645_1241ae57f9_b.jpg


Welbeck Colliery

96

14059531653_9c35651c93_b.jpg


West Bromwich Spring Works

97

15909654460_8bb13fecde_b.jpg


West Park Mental Hospital

98

5713850775_4b4e6aa2b4_b.jpg


Weston Point Powerstation

99

3107022321_ecdc7492c9_b.jpg


Wetherby Potteries

100

2938262013_4f5411e942_b.jpg


Harold Wood
 

Ojay

Admin
Staff member
Admin
True PR0!

Compromise has had to be made as once you really look there's just so many good memories and photos from places is virtually impossible to get down the 100

Amen.
 

Oxygen Thief

Admin
Staff member
Admin
Unreal that is, thanks Speed. I know you've done hundreds that aren't there as well.

I couldn't do a thread like that, not for numbers, but my pictures are an embarrassment compared to that.
 

Boomstick84

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Awesome.

Enjoyed the read almost as much as the pictures. Certainly inspirational for someone relatively new to the scene and shows just what amazing stuff is out there if you're willing to look.

It was interesting to hear your recollection of your first explore and reassuring to know even you old heads also suffered from those initial nerves!

Thanks for taking the time to share all that :thumb
 

Speed

Got Epic?
Regular User
Ha i think ive fixed all the errors now. Its insane how long it took to do this, ive been making the list on and off for a month or two but spent about 4 hours today making it into a format i could post and naturally changing my mind a cock load of times! Theres probably a pool of 100 or more places that could easily take the last 20 places on the list and not diminish it at all.

All that remains to say is thanks to everyone who helped me over the years, couldn't have seen half of it on my own. Merry Christmas!
 

Who has read this thread (Total: 511) View details

Top