Dinosaur Graveyard, Derbyshire - October 2014

After the fail at Oaks Colliery Judderman pulled this little gem out of his black book.

So we jumped into the cars for a trip across the border from Yorkshire to Derbyshire for a trip to a rather very overgrown yard of mechanical beasts.

No history, no name, it was just what it is, rotting metal mechanical beasts.

















Not usually my cup of tea stuff like this, but strangely charming 5/10


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Oaks Colliery Pithead, Barnsley - October 2014

So I persuaded Judderman to drive across to Barnsley to visit one of this years summer urbex tourist hot spots, Oaks Colliery Pithead.

Oaks Colliery, or as its often called, Barnsley Main Colliery is a Grade II listed building due to its horrific mining disaster histories, a 1847 explosion killed 74, a series of explosions in 1866 killed 388 with many others maimed and injured. Various improvements in safety sadly didn't prevent the further loss of 22 lives in 1942 and 1947.

Autumn had firmly arrived and the roads swirled with fog and we arrived to find the tourist season had obviously closed after the summer excursions ( or is that incursions?)
 

 

Access denied !




So, a few shots of the place and time to move on.
 












We left with the fog still lingering, you can't win them all.


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Pool Parc Asylum - October 2014

Following on from Denbigh Asylum, we popped into Pool Parc Asylum as it was just round the corner - sadly a flying visit and like a muppet I left my tripod in the car.

This particular facility was in fact an overspill for Denbigh Asylum for around 80 "guests". Built in the 1820s as a private manor house, the hospital took over the building in 1937 and closed its doors in 1990.

A very darkened building welcomes you, with stairs to die for, pretty much all windows are boarded up so, you need a tripod and a good torch for a bit of light painting.







Proper spooky, Scooby Doo style, it was at this point Urban Spaceman brought to my attention some trapped birds in flight in the building, they weren't, the place was full of bats !!



Bats, lack of tripods, floors starting to squish, we left.





3/10 and full of bats (may have been a 6 with a tripod, a 7 or 8 without the bats).
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Denbigh Asylum - October 2014

The locals call it Denbigh Mental, some call it Denbigh Asylum, it had the official title of North Wales Hospital and it now sits rotting in development hell.



Grade II listed, built in 1848, the hospital closed in sections between 1991 and 2002.

Over the years this place has become almost mythical in exploring circles, with over excitable security, a very angry old man with a large dog, tales of ghosts and mysterious "things" appearing in photos - then add to that the Most Haunted TV crew taking up residency for a week with a show called "Village of the Damned".  This went down like a lead balloon with the locals as detailed in this article from the Telegraph.

I had done some aerial shots late 2013 and Denbigh Asylum was on my list for an explore for years, I had just never managed to get round to doing it and so myself and Spaceman thought we would take the overdue trip down to North Wales. We phoned Fruit Loaf McCheese with his cutting repy of  "Point me at the asylum, a phrase I think of often", it should be explained that the Fruit Loaf McCheese is not an explorer normally by choice but he agreed none the less.

 

Denbigh Mental had a lot to live up to....

 

But sadly it didn't.

Asylums normally have an eerie feel, when you wander you wonder what went on within its walls, this atmosphere was no longer present at Denbigh Asylum, its walls no longer talk or hint at what misery the building had witnessed.

Sadly we saw no ghosts, dogs, angry old men or maniac security but we did spot the recent fire damage which in the scale of things is minor compared to the rotten floors, collapsed corridors and the general hanging on for dear life state of the place.

 





Strangely, despite being closed since 2002, on stairwells you could smell that hospital smell of Idoform permeating out of the building.





 

 

Time for a few more externals before we left.







Well past its derp past date, we left this sorry place sadly disappointed as this once grand building clings on for dear life. A sad end to a sad building looms ever closer.

Whilst I've never understood why anyone would want to live in a disused asylum or hospital for that matter, hopefully some property developer (with money to spend) will step in and save whats left soon before it's to late.

2/10

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Sheffield Street Art - September 2014

So, I'm in Sheffield, time for a mooch so I parked up down near the old abandoned Stanley Tools factory which was sadly closed up again.

 

Driving round to park up, this little beast just jumped out at me, as it would ! The Black-eyed Girl ?



And then on with some more wonderful spooky shit, thankfully I found these on the street and not some darkly lit warehouse, the girl would definitely make you jump.







Once again I pottered round to Sylvester Street, Sheffield for a mooch, if in doubt or disappointment Sylvester Street always has something to look at....















Just don't forget to keep your eyes open and explore every side street in Sheffield, as street art is everywhere and top knotch.



 




Time for some proper derp exploration.....

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