My first report so please edit if I've written something I'm not supposed to!
The site - as there are so many reports on this site, I shan't bother you with it's history however I will tell you about the explore!
The explore - This is my third ever experience of urban exploring. The first two were the ISI headquarters at Fernhurst and the old brickworks at Selborne. Both of those two sites are very easy to access so this site really came as a surprise to me, especially as I was on my own!
I left home at 0530 and drove the hour to the site. I parked to the North at a car park and used an app called FatMap (highly recommended) to get my bearings. I'd used Google maps aerial views to plan an approach the day before but, as is so often the case, the lie of the ground was much different in reality so I had to make some adjustments to my approach as I went along. It was dark, but I didn't use the headtorch that I'd brought with me for fear of alerting anyone of my presence. As others have written, there are some horrible bramble bushes surrounding the quarry that are quite impenetrable unless you have a penchant for pain! It took a while to find areas of the bushes that were thin enough to get through, but finally, I was standing on the edge of the site looking down from the edge of the quarry.
I thought that at 0700 on a Saturday there wouldn't be much activity but I was wrong. There were lorries and forklifts working away and blokes chatting and standing around everywhere. I almost decided not to go any further for fear of being caught but from where I stood I could see plenty of dead ground and plant life that would cover my movement on entry. I worked my way down to the ground level of the buildings but couldn't find any entry point and actually spent quite a bit of time wandering around until I found one. The ground is thick glutinous mud, churned up by the tracks of diggers and the wheels of lorries and obviously with plenty of old cement in it. Needless to say, I got caked in mud and struggled to find a way in for so long that I was beginning to think of turning around. I'd come far enough, right? I then saw one possibility and decided to give it a go, thinking that if this didn't work I'd just turn around and go home. There were too many people working to try anywhere else. So I tried it and I'm so glad I did! I got in, followed a route in that has clearly been used previously, and gained entry. to the main factory. Inside was like a post-apocalyptic paradise! It was deathly silent save for the dripping of water from the roof and a huge internal space filled with walkways, stairways and rooms to explore.
I'll let my pictures do the rest of the talking. I left the same way that I came in and felt elated at having pulled it off alone. It was great fun and I look forward to doing more!
My view from the entry.... quite a lot of activity!
Some parts probably are actually fairly dangerous so be careful where you stand! Also, a hard had genuinely wouldn't be a bad idea in here... there were solid objects falling fairly often around the place.
And there we have it folks. Like I say, I've only been doing this for about 2 weeks and this is my first report so give me some feedback!
Cheers all.
The site - as there are so many reports on this site, I shan't bother you with it's history however I will tell you about the explore!
The explore - This is my third ever experience of urban exploring. The first two were the ISI headquarters at Fernhurst and the old brickworks at Selborne. Both of those two sites are very easy to access so this site really came as a surprise to me, especially as I was on my own!
I left home at 0530 and drove the hour to the site. I parked to the North at a car park and used an app called FatMap (highly recommended) to get my bearings. I'd used Google maps aerial views to plan an approach the day before but, as is so often the case, the lie of the ground was much different in reality so I had to make some adjustments to my approach as I went along. It was dark, but I didn't use the headtorch that I'd brought with me for fear of alerting anyone of my presence. As others have written, there are some horrible bramble bushes surrounding the quarry that are quite impenetrable unless you have a penchant for pain! It took a while to find areas of the bushes that were thin enough to get through, but finally, I was standing on the edge of the site looking down from the edge of the quarry.
I thought that at 0700 on a Saturday there wouldn't be much activity but I was wrong. There were lorries and forklifts working away and blokes chatting and standing around everywhere. I almost decided not to go any further for fear of being caught but from where I stood I could see plenty of dead ground and plant life that would cover my movement on entry. I worked my way down to the ground level of the buildings but couldn't find any entry point and actually spent quite a bit of time wandering around until I found one. The ground is thick glutinous mud, churned up by the tracks of diggers and the wheels of lorries and obviously with plenty of old cement in it. Needless to say, I got caked in mud and struggled to find a way in for so long that I was beginning to think of turning around. I'd come far enough, right? I then saw one possibility and decided to give it a go, thinking that if this didn't work I'd just turn around and go home. There were too many people working to try anywhere else. So I tried it and I'm so glad I did! I got in, followed a route in that has clearly been used previously, and gained entry. to the main factory. Inside was like a post-apocalyptic paradise! It was deathly silent save for the dripping of water from the roof and a huge internal space filled with walkways, stairways and rooms to explore.
I'll let my pictures do the rest of the talking. I left the same way that I came in and felt elated at having pulled it off alone. It was great fun and I look forward to doing more!
My view from the entry.... quite a lot of activity!
Some parts probably are actually fairly dangerous so be careful where you stand! Also, a hard had genuinely wouldn't be a bad idea in here... there were solid objects falling fairly often around the place.
And there we have it folks. Like I say, I've only been doing this for about 2 weeks and this is my first report so give me some feedback!
Cheers all.
