real time web analytics
India Mill Chimney Climb, Darwen - June 2011. | Noteworthy Reports | 28DaysLater.co.uk

India Mill Chimney Climb, Darwen - June 2011.

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

Ojay

Admin
Staff member
Admin

India Mill Chimney Climb, Darwen - June 2011.

Ojay/Stepping Lightly/Ninjaboy

old.jpg



India Mill chimney now stands as a lone memorial to King Cotton

Built in 1867 by architects Ernest Bates of Manchester and modelled around St Marks Campanile in Venice the original structure was 91m

The original cast iron crown was removed in 1943 due to war damage reducing the overall height by 6m (20ft)

Home to Peregrine Falcons and fantastic brickwork, the chimney now tops out at 85m (279ft)


This chimney needs no introductions from me - Just watch a legend explain this iconic structure HEREhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R3-YwDZrzg


Rewind nearly 2 years and myself and Stepping Lightly stood at the foot of this beast

"One day we will stand on top of that"... Hmm


Having looked at many pictures including the iconic black & white shot of the 'old chaps' which I'm sure SL will dig out, a waiting game it was

We knew an inspection was probably imminent and after a chance conversation I overheard ladders were in place

No fucking about here, we had a small window of opportunity, SL was out of the picture so myself & Ninjaboy decided to hit it up,

I left SL a message and decided to make our ascent all the same, I always knew he'd race back from the airport for this one ;)


This was no mean feat, a 9M climb up the base, followed by a further 13m up the pitched roof to the ladders

Whilst lit up like an Xmas tree and surrounded by dome cameras was indeed, getting up was fun


Without further a-do I shot up the ladders without a care in the world until I reached the 31m mark and looked back down :D

It felt like the whole of Darwen was watching us, as the moon was strong and the sky was bright

I carried on up to the first ledge (approx 60m) from ground level and waited for Ninjaboy, stopping for a few pics before carrying on


2_1.jpg


3.jpg



As I hit the first overhang, suddenly the rope started to stretch.. WTF?

I couldn't pass the deviation between the connecting ladders so literally had to un-clip and free climb back down a good 40ft+ to the ledge below :eek:

As I neared Ninjaboy, told me that someone else was on the rope - Stepping Lightly no less, and within no time he joined us on the ledge

This was now starting to become emotional..


There was now a genuine buzz as we carried on up the ladders one-by-one towards the summit, SL naturally shooting off into the night sky

As I approached the final overhang (around 80M) my gear got caught around the fixings, I couldn't pull myself over or even move back down

A school boy error on my part no less, some scary shit as gravity was pulling back to earth, but I had no choice but to man-up and persevere

1.jpg


I soon got my shit together and made it onto the final ladder, a quick 5m climb and I joined SL, followed by Ninjaboy on the top of the chimney with the biggest grins ever


Plan B - Get a few pics and get the fuck down...


We made it

"You can ride a bike around here" - Fred Dibnah

7.jpg



India Mill

5.jpg



Darwen

6.jpg



And finally our ladder awaits

8_1.jpg



The sun was rising, I hadn't slept, full of mixed emotions we made it back down safely, bitten to death by midges for a quick ppl shot we packed up and f00ked off

9.jpg


Massive props to Stepping lightly, Ninjaboy & Blinker who made it up here ;)
 
Last edited:

johnsalomon

Germany is the "wurst"
28DL Full Member
Catherine needs to check her facts a little bit obviously, but its the done "thing" these days, reporters making stuff up to further their shitty careers.

I loved

They did not wear helmets.

Submitted, for your approval, is a graphic description of what happens to irresponsible, reckless, vandalous urban explorers who do not wear helmets when climbing valuable historical landmarks without permission:

3QH7i.png


And here, by comparison, is why you should always wear helmets, according to The Su...er...Lancashire Herald:

it2m8.png


In fairness, I think that the comments are the most reasonable and least YouTube-esque I have ever seen on an electronic news site...
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 77079

Guest
Guest
Ace report, looks scary as hell! Didn't know if you saw but there's a news report about you lot from when you did this l, lol!
 

albino-jay

g00n Buster
Staff member
Moderator
Yeah good to see this pop up again. Classic. It’s still a no from me 😂 that overhang looks awful.
 

Who has read this thread (Total: 302) View details

Top