Southall Gas Works
It's been ages since I did a non-draining report, so though I'd give a little update on this place. I gave it a quick look last year some time and soon saw that it still wasn't going to be a walk in. Very busy railway on one side, live private road beside it and open but well used land surrounding a partly live gas site. Having said that access certainly isn't as difficult as it used to be. The open land surrounding most of the site is now being developed, which provided a bit of cover from anyone who may have been keeping an eye on it over the Easter weekend. I'd no idea what security was still in place around the tower itself and it was good fun trying to figure it all out. Love that about solo exploring - trying to figure out what's what from fuck all info! I'd heard of electric fencing, razor wire, live cameras, dead cameras, PIR's. Well it's all still there, make your own judgement about what works and what doesn't - I'd hate to spoil it for anyone that's not done it!
Some history about the site here..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southall_Gas_Works
Having walked through most of the building site and being pretty sure no-one was about i set about finding a way in past a few more fences to the stairs on the other side. They were an education, fuck! They looked knackered, long and only supported every 15m or so. They also overhang the walkways below so my mind was very much focused on what would happen if they went and what I would grab onto in front of me if they did. The problem was that as much as i tried to convince myself they'd get worse further up, they didn't. They shake a bit in the middle, though, so no running now. Embrace the exposure and tiptoe! They're only 80 years old....
Once at the top, yeah, you get a view of fuck all! London's miles away and the surrounding areas are dull to say the least. Part of the site's still very much in use to reduce gas pressure and store gas, so is very noisy.
I noticed there were no doors or usable hatches so I headed over to what must still be the only way in from the top. (This pic was taken on my way out in case yer puzzled!)
I didn't really like the look of this from above! It's easy to convince yourself that one slip would lead to death in darkness but it was such a tight squeeze that it'd probably be quite difficult to fall far. Having said that my feet easily and reassuringly reached these diagonal cross bracings so I could just step off on to the beams below
From here it was an easy shuffle across to the next diagonal bracing. Some of these were above 90m of nothing though, so i chose the one that led down to the timber boarded platforms below. Its just a big climbing frame, really, no stress
Wasn't sure what it'd be like returning that way in the dark though, with only light pollution and a hand torch.
From here these stairs, again suspended above thin air, led down to another platform giving access to the collapsible suspended staircase down to bottom that I really wanted to see. This hangs from the roof with each successive pair of zig-zags hanging from the pair above. As the piston rose and fell, the staircase would unfold/ fold like a concertina. As much as I wanted to walk down them, daylight was fading and I wasn't sure if there was still a way out/ in from the bottom. I've heard pics looking up into daylight at the top are way better than in darkness (and there's a lot to light paint) so that'll have to wait for another day
Getting back out to the roof wasn't as hard or scary as I'd expected and as it was dark now I grabbed a few more pics before leaving. The stairs were great going down. Still tiptoed but loved the exposure that looking outwards gave, knowing that they probably wouldn't fail now. Was grinning all the way!
Thanks for looking!
It's been ages since I did a non-draining report, so though I'd give a little update on this place. I gave it a quick look last year some time and soon saw that it still wasn't going to be a walk in. Very busy railway on one side, live private road beside it and open but well used land surrounding a partly live gas site. Having said that access certainly isn't as difficult as it used to be. The open land surrounding most of the site is now being developed, which provided a bit of cover from anyone who may have been keeping an eye on it over the Easter weekend. I'd no idea what security was still in place around the tower itself and it was good fun trying to figure it all out. Love that about solo exploring - trying to figure out what's what from fuck all info! I'd heard of electric fencing, razor wire, live cameras, dead cameras, PIR's. Well it's all still there, make your own judgement about what works and what doesn't - I'd hate to spoil it for anyone that's not done it!
Some history about the site here..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southall_Gas_Works
Having walked through most of the building site and being pretty sure no-one was about i set about finding a way in past a few more fences to the stairs on the other side. They were an education, fuck! They looked knackered, long and only supported every 15m or so. They also overhang the walkways below so my mind was very much focused on what would happen if they went and what I would grab onto in front of me if they did. The problem was that as much as i tried to convince myself they'd get worse further up, they didn't. They shake a bit in the middle, though, so no running now. Embrace the exposure and tiptoe! They're only 80 years old....
Once at the top, yeah, you get a view of fuck all! London's miles away and the surrounding areas are dull to say the least. Part of the site's still very much in use to reduce gas pressure and store gas, so is very noisy.
I noticed there were no doors or usable hatches so I headed over to what must still be the only way in from the top. (This pic was taken on my way out in case yer puzzled!)
I didn't really like the look of this from above! It's easy to convince yourself that one slip would lead to death in darkness but it was such a tight squeeze that it'd probably be quite difficult to fall far. Having said that my feet easily and reassuringly reached these diagonal cross bracings so I could just step off on to the beams below
From here it was an easy shuffle across to the next diagonal bracing. Some of these were above 90m of nothing though, so i chose the one that led down to the timber boarded platforms below. Its just a big climbing frame, really, no stress
Wasn't sure what it'd be like returning that way in the dark though, with only light pollution and a hand torch.
From here these stairs, again suspended above thin air, led down to another platform giving access to the collapsible suspended staircase down to bottom that I really wanted to see. This hangs from the roof with each successive pair of zig-zags hanging from the pair above. As the piston rose and fell, the staircase would unfold/ fold like a concertina. As much as I wanted to walk down them, daylight was fading and I wasn't sure if there was still a way out/ in from the bottom. I've heard pics looking up into daylight at the top are way better than in darkness (and there's a lot to light paint) so that'll have to wait for another day
Getting back out to the roof wasn't as hard or scary as I'd expected and as it was dark now I grabbed a few more pics before leaving. The stairs were great going down. Still tiptoed but loved the exposure that looking outwards gave, knowing that they probably wouldn't fail now. Was grinning all the way!
Thanks for looking!
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