So once again I thought its about time I put into words my experience on the continent and share it with you all.
Well I can start with saying what an excellent way to use the bank holidays to my advantage, the only downfall was the price of the ferry and a few other hiccups, but I'll explain that later on, with work done and dusted for the weekend it was time to head home.
Being the true gent that he is J4M35_UK picked me up from my humble abode here in Cheshire, with the car packed it was time to go and sit in traffic for the vast majority of the journey down to Kent, where we would drop off UrbanNoodle at Mr Bones’ house.
We reached Mr Bones’ house around 1am and with our ferry not being till 4am we had some hours to kill, so being the typically British citizens that we are we sat and drank tea whilst conversing about what our goals would be for the weekend.
With our whistles wet it was time to make the short journey down to Dover.
After checking in and boarding the ferry it became very apparent that we had got on the boat with what felt like every school trip going, this made our two hour sail to Calais almost a living nightmare, 6am came round relativity quickly thank the lord, back in the car and it was time to make headway to Belgium for our first location of the trip.
I remember the first time I laid eyes on this site almost 4 years ago when it was in complete working order, and after having the realization that it was the same place, safe to say I was pretty damn stoked to explore the site.
HFB is only what can be described as fucking massive, a steelworks including a power station and a blast furnace, the site dates back to 1817 supposedly, anyway, after making our way into the site the scale of the place really made my just stand back for a minute or to an just think “fuck” this is industry on a epic proportion.
Making our way into the hall where the base of the blast furnace sits and making our way round the site was entreating, a maze of pipes and steel gantries makes you question yourself more than once if you’re actually heading in the right direction or if you’re really just doubling back on yourself.
The power station that is situated in HFB was real nice, one of the cleanest I have ever seen, considering everything is an inch thick in dust, but you get the idea, it was just after mid day when we made our way out of the site, and after nearly getting hit by a train it was safe to say it was time for a beer and a Big Ron’s (McDonalds)
So filling our bellies with beers and burgers was probably a bad idea, I now had to make the 4 and a half hour drive to Pierre and Becci's with a food baby and sleep deprivation, that wasn't fun considering my co – pilot slept for most of the journey.
Finally arriving at the humble abode of Pierre and Becci it was time to freshen up and then go and collect my German partner in crime from the train station, Lucas.
Now we were finally all together it was time to eat a lovely home cooked meal and sink plenty of beers, sitting on there back porch overlooking their beautiful garden and German countryside it was something close to perfection, after drinking ourselves to bed it was time to get some well earned sleep after 52 hours without any, my head hit the pillow and I was out like a light.
Saturday morning soon came round and with the arrival of Tristan and Lewis it was time to go exploring, all 7 of us embark to the next location after a traditional German breakfast.
Zeche DB would be our next location on the list, and considering I've been wanting to see this place for around 5 years, I was more than stoked at the fact that it was our next location.
Access was different, that’s all’s ill say due to the ubend code, I don’t want to upset anyone.
Once again it became apparent that this site was extravagant, a coal mine with its own wash plant isn't going to be exactly small now is it, once I found myself up and down gantries and staircases, up out onto the roof made for some spectacular views of Gelsenkrichen Scholven, so I had a beer and took in the view, soon after it was time to climb the
head stock and have a look right up top.
So the headstock at Zeche DB is around 89 meters tall I think? Someone correct me if I am wrong but google wont tell me, all I can tell you is that it’s a long way up with a lot of beer in your back pack, once we reached the top we were greeted by the winders and some more spectacular views across the German countryside, once again pictures were taken and a few more beers were drank, time was now pressing on and we still had another location to visit.
We made our way out of Zeche DB and back to the cars, it was now time to head to one of my favourite cities in Europe, Düsseldorf.
The next location was to be a abandoned prison, I wasn't that stoked on the explore to be totally honest, but when getting there I soon changed my own mind, funnily enough I'd never been to a prison, and once again this place was on a massive scale, but there is only so many photos you can take of a prison right?
Word on the grape vine is that this prison closed down because it was cheaper to build a brand new facility than renovate with one, not that we are complaining as it gives us yet another location to explore, gaining entry was stupidly easy considering it was a prison, oh the irony.
There isn't any great detail I can really go into about the prison as it is what it is, and the photos really speak for themselves, the place was slightly disorientating to be totally honest, I lost all the others for a short while and I hadn't got a clue which direction they were in, so I resorted to sitting on a stair case and drinking more beer till a short time later when they returned.
It was getting towards late afternoon now, the light was fading so it was time to head home, and in our true and typical fashion, it was time to get the BBQ on, Pierre is one of the finest BBQ masters on this planet, and as for Becci’s salads, well its salad I like and I don’t usually like salad so you get what I'm trying to say, we ate copious amounts of meat, consumed plenty of alcohol, had a “Easter bonfire” they celebrate Easter by having loads of bonfires, I think that’s so much better than a chocolate egg, but that’s another story, so as the flames started to die down from the bonfire it was time to go to bed, as we would have another day ahead of us exploring.
I got a phone call from Pierre saying that we should head back to his house as dinner was on the table, so being one for ever turning down food we made our way back to his home only to be greeted with a Sunday dinner that his mother had cooked for us, and he had brought back for us, this was such a nice gesture considering we were so far away from home, now with full bellies it was time to head back out to our last location before heading back to this stupid little island that we call home.
Schacht Rossenray was out last location on the card, another coal mine closing very recently, this was a big one, the mine shaft is exactly 666 meters deep and it is in the shape of an inverted cross, the work of the devil some may say, the climb to the top of the headstock was certainly hellish.
In true fashion once we reached the top we cracked a few beers open whilst trying to walk off our jelly legs from the climb whilst looking at the winders for the lift shaft, looking out of the windows at the top we could see all the Easter fires across the land, that was pretty awesome in itself, never mind the massive infrastructure I was inside.
It was time to make are way down and back to the cars, this is now the part I hate the most, having to head back home, so myself and James said our emotional goodbyes to Becci and Pierre, I hate leaving these two, I'm so thankful to of met them back in 2012, and the are now friends for life, I guess I have to thank the urban exploration forums and community for that also, so thank you.
Driving back to the ferry, playing some of my favourite bands, drinking beer (as always) and the sunset made for some spectacular viewing through the Netherlands.
Sailing back on a big rusty dilapidated ferry wasn’t a nice way to end the trip, “The Pride Of Canterbury” is probably the worst place I've ever been, that’s two hours of my life I'm never getting back, however the full moon light the sea beautifully so that was quite memorable.
Arriving back at the humble abode of Mr Bones it was time to get our heads down with it being 2am and with more exploring ahead and a long journey home, sleep was needed.
Well I can start with saying what an excellent way to use the bank holidays to my advantage, the only downfall was the price of the ferry and a few other hiccups, but I'll explain that later on, with work done and dusted for the weekend it was time to head home.
Being the true gent that he is J4M35_UK picked me up from my humble abode here in Cheshire, with the car packed it was time to go and sit in traffic for the vast majority of the journey down to Kent, where we would drop off UrbanNoodle at Mr Bones’ house.
We reached Mr Bones’ house around 1am and with our ferry not being till 4am we had some hours to kill, so being the typically British citizens that we are we sat and drank tea whilst conversing about what our goals would be for the weekend.
With our whistles wet it was time to make the short journey down to Dover.
After checking in and boarding the ferry it became very apparent that we had got on the boat with what felt like every school trip going, this made our two hour sail to Calais almost a living nightmare, 6am came round relativity quickly thank the lord, back in the car and it was time to make headway to Belgium for our first location of the trip.
I remember the first time I laid eyes on this site almost 4 years ago when it was in complete working order, and after having the realization that it was the same place, safe to say I was pretty damn stoked to explore the site.
HFB is only what can be described as fucking massive, a steelworks including a power station and a blast furnace, the site dates back to 1817 supposedly, anyway, after making our way into the site the scale of the place really made my just stand back for a minute or to an just think “fuck” this is industry on a epic proportion.
Making our way into the hall where the base of the blast furnace sits and making our way round the site was entreating, a maze of pipes and steel gantries makes you question yourself more than once if you’re actually heading in the right direction or if you’re really just doubling back on yourself.
The power station that is situated in HFB was real nice, one of the cleanest I have ever seen, considering everything is an inch thick in dust, but you get the idea, it was just after mid day when we made our way out of the site, and after nearly getting hit by a train it was safe to say it was time for a beer and a Big Ron’s (McDonalds)
So filling our bellies with beers and burgers was probably a bad idea, I now had to make the 4 and a half hour drive to Pierre and Becci's with a food baby and sleep deprivation, that wasn't fun considering my co – pilot slept for most of the journey.
Finally arriving at the humble abode of Pierre and Becci it was time to freshen up and then go and collect my German partner in crime from the train station, Lucas.
Now we were finally all together it was time to eat a lovely home cooked meal and sink plenty of beers, sitting on there back porch overlooking their beautiful garden and German countryside it was something close to perfection, after drinking ourselves to bed it was time to get some well earned sleep after 52 hours without any, my head hit the pillow and I was out like a light.
Saturday morning soon came round and with the arrival of Tristan and Lewis it was time to go exploring, all 7 of us embark to the next location after a traditional German breakfast.
Zeche DB would be our next location on the list, and considering I've been wanting to see this place for around 5 years, I was more than stoked at the fact that it was our next location.
Access was different, that’s all’s ill say due to the ubend code, I don’t want to upset anyone.
Once again it became apparent that this site was extravagant, a coal mine with its own wash plant isn't going to be exactly small now is it, once I found myself up and down gantries and staircases, up out onto the roof made for some spectacular views of Gelsenkrichen Scholven, so I had a beer and took in the view, soon after it was time to climb the
head stock and have a look right up top.
So the headstock at Zeche DB is around 89 meters tall I think? Someone correct me if I am wrong but google wont tell me, all I can tell you is that it’s a long way up with a lot of beer in your back pack, once we reached the top we were greeted by the winders and some more spectacular views across the German countryside, once again pictures were taken and a few more beers were drank, time was now pressing on and we still had another location to visit.
We made our way out of Zeche DB and back to the cars, it was now time to head to one of my favourite cities in Europe, Düsseldorf.
The next location was to be a abandoned prison, I wasn't that stoked on the explore to be totally honest, but when getting there I soon changed my own mind, funnily enough I'd never been to a prison, and once again this place was on a massive scale, but there is only so many photos you can take of a prison right?
Word on the grape vine is that this prison closed down because it was cheaper to build a brand new facility than renovate with one, not that we are complaining as it gives us yet another location to explore, gaining entry was stupidly easy considering it was a prison, oh the irony.
There isn't any great detail I can really go into about the prison as it is what it is, and the photos really speak for themselves, the place was slightly disorientating to be totally honest, I lost all the others for a short while and I hadn't got a clue which direction they were in, so I resorted to sitting on a stair case and drinking more beer till a short time later when they returned.
It was getting towards late afternoon now, the light was fading so it was time to head home, and in our true and typical fashion, it was time to get the BBQ on, Pierre is one of the finest BBQ masters on this planet, and as for Becci’s salads, well its salad I like and I don’t usually like salad so you get what I'm trying to say, we ate copious amounts of meat, consumed plenty of alcohol, had a “Easter bonfire” they celebrate Easter by having loads of bonfires, I think that’s so much better than a chocolate egg, but that’s another story, so as the flames started to die down from the bonfire it was time to go to bed, as we would have another day ahead of us exploring.
I got a phone call from Pierre saying that we should head back to his house as dinner was on the table, so being one for ever turning down food we made our way back to his home only to be greeted with a Sunday dinner that his mother had cooked for us, and he had brought back for us, this was such a nice gesture considering we were so far away from home, now with full bellies it was time to head back out to our last location before heading back to this stupid little island that we call home.
Schacht Rossenray was out last location on the card, another coal mine closing very recently, this was a big one, the mine shaft is exactly 666 meters deep and it is in the shape of an inverted cross, the work of the devil some may say, the climb to the top of the headstock was certainly hellish.
In true fashion once we reached the top we cracked a few beers open whilst trying to walk off our jelly legs from the climb whilst looking at the winders for the lift shaft, looking out of the windows at the top we could see all the Easter fires across the land, that was pretty awesome in itself, never mind the massive infrastructure I was inside.
It was time to make are way down and back to the cars, this is now the part I hate the most, having to head back home, so myself and James said our emotional goodbyes to Becci and Pierre, I hate leaving these two, I'm so thankful to of met them back in 2012, and the are now friends for life, I guess I have to thank the urban exploration forums and community for that also, so thank you.
Driving back to the ferry, playing some of my favourite bands, drinking beer (as always) and the sunset made for some spectacular viewing through the Netherlands.
Sailing back on a big rusty dilapidated ferry wasn’t a nice way to end the trip, “The Pride Of Canterbury” is probably the worst place I've ever been, that’s two hours of my life I'm never getting back, however the full moon light the sea beautifully so that was quite memorable.
Arriving back at the humble abode of Mr Bones it was time to get our heads down with it being 2am and with more exploring ahead and a long journey home, sleep was needed.