I have a backlog of reports to post, but I'm going to start with the most recent. Pyestock.
While I've been typing this two reports have appeared - one from my partner for the day Mr Larkin. With the legal challenge to redevelopment defeated, I expect more people to visit while the place is still there ..
What can I say about Pyestock which hasn't already been said ? Reports on here, and the ngte.co.uk have already covered it better than I can in one report. The only thing I can add is what it makes me FEEL, a sense of nostalgia and loss for the days when it was operating - contrast what Britain was when the site was operating, with the present where selling things to ourselves is our biggest industry and the site's apparent future is as a distribution depot in that industry. Awe at the scale of it, and the sense of being a kid in a gigantic adventure playground. There are great photos to be had but I'm not convinced I've done the place justice in either of my visits.
Here's a quick story of a visit.
I'd been talking to Larkin about a weekday visit as we are both off work for different reasons, fixed a day and away we went. Since I'd been in April with Mookster and Larkin hadn't been before I decided to do as the best tour guides do and start what I knew the airhouse and then improvise.
We walked a fair amount of the perimeter (admiring the autumn fungi and chatting to dog walkers as we went). The was to go through rather than over the fence; since April a lot of the places where the chainlink had been cut and lashed back together have been replaced with new chainlink.
Security were active and when we were just inside we had heard the landrover pull up nearby, after a couple of minutes he drove off passing quite close by us. The driver looked to be one of "Ghurkas", not the English guy who had given me such a warm welcome seconds into my previous visit and walked me to the main gate.
The airhouse, which seems to have suffered a little since my previous visit, members of the freelance metal recovery community have been at work, glass which was not broken before lies smashed and so on. It might not be pristine but it's still awe inspring.
Air house control room. I checked my photos that broken glass wasn't on the floor in April
Roll of honour
Information for crane drivers
Trying to be arty with a shot down the middle of the turbines.
I love these
We've been having a laugh about the Penrith station sign penrith station sign - Google Search so when I saw this I had to snap it.
We came across a pile of letters on the floor from some kind of notice board so we had to a "28 Days" shot, it would have been rude not to.
While we're on set up shots, "In a storeroom in the air house, Larkin showed me his nuts"
If I took souvenirs I would have taken this; but I don't so it waits one of the offices in the airhouse for the next explorer, or the bulldozers.
Next stop cell 3. I climbed up into the crane cab just in time to hear the distinctive sound of a Landrover parking outside. Which of the following noises were security and which were the wind I don't know : I don't think health and safety keeps security out of the buildings - at least when they're alone - but I wasn't taking any chances and crouched out of view for several minutes before it hearing drive off. My muscles didn't appreciate this: I'd been to Cell 4 with Mookster and it was a lot more interesting - in fact I wasn't convinced we were in a test cell, so I was impatient to move on and forgot to get any photos before leaving the cab. What I learnt later made me wish I'd explored here a bit more thoroughly before leaving. If you find yourself looking at this alarm board, go down the stairs behind you
Back outside we made for the access Mookster had used for Cell 4. It had come to the attention of security since April. I was about to use a complicated alternative, when Larkin (who was good company all day) pointed out a simpler one. Before looking at the test cell itself, I knew there was branch of Monk's Tunnel which came up at the lowest level of the building and was sure it had to be on the Wier Road side of the building, so I started a methodical search and eventually found it. Not before visiting a control room and another a room with what looked to be smashed up lead acid batteries on the floor - I was glad not to have stepped in a puddle of battery acid.
The tunnel passes through the bottom of building 632 - the one across Wier road from Cell 3 and next to Cell 4, where I snapped this long abandoned tool box.
Rather than go (back) into cell3 we headed down the full length of the tunnel to the computer building. There are signs of water leaking into the Tunnel, cable on the floor and total darkness obviously, a place to have a good torch (and a spare). I guess the walk was about 100 meters, before we popped up in the computer building.
The Windows for workgroups hmm pre-windows 95 so 1994 give or take.
Can't remember when I last saw a bin for computer tapes.
Probably the most interesting thing in the computer building: a control board stitched from 2 shots - like the cell 4 one above.
A helpful sign.
Of course using the tunnels you can get between buildings without venturing outside and stay out of security's way. On the way back to cell 4 we called in at 3 smacking our foreheads when we realised just how near we'd got to the tunnel on the first pass. And so to cell 4. Epic, awesome, it's hard to a word to do the place justice.
Even from this (which I shot last time) you can't get the scale
A couple of signs.
We were both starting to tire so made our way back to our point of entry, which we could see had come to the attention of security while we'd been inside. Security presence here is small so they can be dodged, but they (both) do their jobs properly and deserve a bit of respect.
While I've been typing this two reports have appeared - one from my partner for the day Mr Larkin. With the legal challenge to redevelopment defeated, I expect more people to visit while the place is still there ..
What can I say about Pyestock which hasn't already been said ? Reports on here, and the ngte.co.uk have already covered it better than I can in one report. The only thing I can add is what it makes me FEEL, a sense of nostalgia and loss for the days when it was operating - contrast what Britain was when the site was operating, with the present where selling things to ourselves is our biggest industry and the site's apparent future is as a distribution depot in that industry. Awe at the scale of it, and the sense of being a kid in a gigantic adventure playground. There are great photos to be had but I'm not convinced I've done the place justice in either of my visits.
Here's a quick story of a visit.
I'd been talking to Larkin about a weekday visit as we are both off work for different reasons, fixed a day and away we went. Since I'd been in April with Mookster and Larkin hadn't been before I decided to do as the best tour guides do and start what I knew the airhouse and then improvise.
We walked a fair amount of the perimeter (admiring the autumn fungi and chatting to dog walkers as we went). The was to go through rather than over the fence; since April a lot of the places where the chainlink had been cut and lashed back together have been replaced with new chainlink.
Security were active and when we were just inside we had heard the landrover pull up nearby, after a couple of minutes he drove off passing quite close by us. The driver looked to be one of "Ghurkas", not the English guy who had given me such a warm welcome seconds into my previous visit and walked me to the main gate.
The airhouse, which seems to have suffered a little since my previous visit, members of the freelance metal recovery community have been at work, glass which was not broken before lies smashed and so on. It might not be pristine but it's still awe inspring.
Air house control room. I checked my photos that broken glass wasn't on the floor in April
Roll of honour
Information for crane drivers
Trying to be arty with a shot down the middle of the turbines.
I love these
We've been having a laugh about the Penrith station sign penrith station sign - Google Search so when I saw this I had to snap it.
We came across a pile of letters on the floor from some kind of notice board so we had to a "28 Days" shot, it would have been rude not to.
While we're on set up shots, "In a storeroom in the air house, Larkin showed me his nuts"
If I took souvenirs I would have taken this; but I don't so it waits one of the offices in the airhouse for the next explorer, or the bulldozers.
Next stop cell 3. I climbed up into the crane cab just in time to hear the distinctive sound of a Landrover parking outside. Which of the following noises were security and which were the wind I don't know : I don't think health and safety keeps security out of the buildings - at least when they're alone - but I wasn't taking any chances and crouched out of view for several minutes before it hearing drive off. My muscles didn't appreciate this: I'd been to Cell 4 with Mookster and it was a lot more interesting - in fact I wasn't convinced we were in a test cell, so I was impatient to move on and forgot to get any photos before leaving the cab. What I learnt later made me wish I'd explored here a bit more thoroughly before leaving. If you find yourself looking at this alarm board, go down the stairs behind you
Back outside we made for the access Mookster had used for Cell 4. It had come to the attention of security since April. I was about to use a complicated alternative, when Larkin (who was good company all day) pointed out a simpler one. Before looking at the test cell itself, I knew there was branch of Monk's Tunnel which came up at the lowest level of the building and was sure it had to be on the Wier Road side of the building, so I started a methodical search and eventually found it. Not before visiting a control room and another a room with what looked to be smashed up lead acid batteries on the floor - I was glad not to have stepped in a puddle of battery acid.
The tunnel passes through the bottom of building 632 - the one across Wier road from Cell 3 and next to Cell 4, where I snapped this long abandoned tool box.
Rather than go (back) into cell3 we headed down the full length of the tunnel to the computer building. There are signs of water leaking into the Tunnel, cable on the floor and total darkness obviously, a place to have a good torch (and a spare). I guess the walk was about 100 meters, before we popped up in the computer building.
The Windows for workgroups hmm pre-windows 95 so 1994 give or take.
Can't remember when I last saw a bin for computer tapes.
Probably the most interesting thing in the computer building: a control board stitched from 2 shots - like the cell 4 one above.
A helpful sign.
Of course using the tunnels you can get between buildings without venturing outside and stay out of security's way. On the way back to cell 4 we called in at 3 smacking our foreheads when we realised just how near we'd got to the tunnel on the first pass. And so to cell 4. Epic, awesome, it's hard to a word to do the place justice.
Even from this (which I shot last time) you can't get the scale
A couple of signs.
We were both starting to tire so made our way back to our point of entry, which we could see had come to the attention of security while we'd been inside. Security presence here is small so they can be dodged, but they (both) do their jobs properly and deserve a bit of respect.
