Element Labs - Sheffield, April 2018

Visited with Tbolt and Snapt on one of our many trips to Sheffield.

Sadly it would seem that Sheffield's long held official title of City of Derp is rapidly coming to an end and finds of any quality are ever increasingly thin upon the ground.

Sadly this one was a tad meh.

Dear Ofo, do you offer rewards for the return of your pedal cycles ? I keep finding them dumped everywhere I go in Sheffield. Please understand I'm not holding them hostage, but clearly you must be missing a hell of a lot of them missing ???


3/10 

Rayne Precision, Froghall - November 2017

A little derpy engineering workshop. Small, easy and not a bad little mooch for what it is.

Visited with Tbolt and Snapt.

 

Nothing overly exciting to be honest, but killed half an hour and was a tad better than decorating with the Mrs at home.

2/10

Lost Gloryhole, Yorkshire - May 2018

Not sure what Snapt had in mind when he told us to visit this place.

But if you go into the woods today, you maybe in for a big surprise.

Still not sure why Snapt sent us, just an odd building with cock holes in various doors, walls and cupboards.  Also the occasional scribbled mobile number "ring me for a good suck"or words to that effect.

Rather a sordid place to be honest.

I suspect this place gets a little busy on an evening.

Haddon Tunnel, Derbyshire, November 2017

After a short break in explores I joined Tbolt and Snapt for chips and curry up in Matlock Bath followed by a quick mooch into the Haddon Tunnel in the failing light of the late afternoon Autumn murk.

Haddon Tunnel opened in 1863 and closed as part of the Beeching Report. Built to hide the railway from the sight of the Duke of Rutland as it passed his home, Haddon Hall. The now closed tunnel runs a total length of 967 metres.

Sadly I brought the wrong tripod for the job in hand.

Easy potter in, sadly I have been spoilt with tunnels and one gets a little complacent over time.

Sadly a 5/10 from me.

Dance in the Dark by Chris Alan and Melody Anne

Whilst down in my shed (or spider filled man cave as Mrs Hunter calls it) I had a very surprising message from the office of Melody Anne, a New York Times and USA Today best selling author, wanting to use one of my photos for the cover of her latest book.

It was an offer I couldn't really refuse and I didn't.

Dance in the Dark

Wellington Rooms, Liverpool - July 2017

The Wellington Rooms, Liverpool. Also known as The Irish Centre this Grade II Listed building sits rotting despite a £121,000 grant to fix the roof which to date has clearly not been done.

Built in 1815 the property has sat empty since 1997.

Having seen the building on a BBC4 documentary back in 2016 I had desperately wanted to take a glimpse of the the inside of the building. So myself, Blacksnake and Tbolt did when the word came around.

The simple fact is that in its heyday the Wellington Rooms would have been spectacular.

Having survived the damage of  the German bombings of Liverpool in 1941 it remains to be seen in what form this building will be saved in its latest fight.

Highways Department, Johnstown, Carmarthen - June 2017

We spotted this place on the side of a busy main road in Wales. After a frustrating day we popped our heads in.

Looked like an old school which had been later used by the Highways Department for offices. Not much to say about the place to be honest. It had potential from the road side but ultimately crap, thrashed to within an inch of its life.

Visited by Snapt and Tbolt between rain showers.

Given that Wales is obviously a country of milk and honey we did find it a little strange that the lights where left on despite the building being "alfresco" and looking empty for years.

Posted to save you the time and effort 2/10

Bethlehem Chapel, Wales - June 2017

Visited with Tbolt and Snapt on our delightful return journey thru Wales.

Situated in the middle of a very remote part of Wales, off the beaten track and then further and further down another remote country lane is a little chapel next to a phone box. You may need the phone box, this is an American Werewolf kind of place and you won't be getting a signal on your phone if you need to phone for help (thinking vehicle breakdown rather than being ripped apart by a Lycanthrope to be honest).

This rather, very, small chapel is sometimes referred to as Sinister Chapel, not very sinister but location wise very quiet, remote and a little atmospheric on a wet and windy day.

We rather liked this place.

Salem Chapel, Wales - June 2017

Snapt, myself and Tbolt continued to trundle around the country roads of Wales.

We had quickly realised Wales was a lot like the Lake District but without the traffic and the Japanese tourists. Wales was good but the weather was shite - just like the Lake District.

We imagined that back in deepest Pembrokeshire a strange man was playing with his dogs and fingering overly large cups of tea whilst sniffing bottles of festering milk.

We had had a lucky escape and whilst the weather was truly awful we stumbled into a little gem of an abandoned Wesleyan Methodist chapel.

Built in 1833 and then rebuilt in 1868 the chapel closed in 1973.

No externals, the place is enveloped with overgrowth and it at risk of collapse at some point in the near future.

A gem of a little chapel, we rather liked this one a lot.

Coach Graveyard, Wales - June 2017

A Welsh road trip, so what could go wrong ??

Tbolt, myself and the one only known as Snapt set off in the, very, early hours of the morning and well it all went a bit League of Gentlemen.

It should be noted that the chain of bizarre events that unfolded before us fell firmly at the feet of a crazy English pensioner (did I say crazy ?) what I meant to say was deluded. Said fuckwitt currently resides in deepest Pembrokeshire luring unsuspecting explorers to his lair with false promises of urbex gold.

As my Mum once said to me "you want to be carefull on that internet, its full of fucking nutters".

So when in Wales with at least a 5 hour drive home, 7 hours for poor old Snapt, it becomes derp hunting time.

"Oh look its a coach graveyard in the middle of nowhere, apply the brakes on the car !! "


 ;

It started to rain, again, and so we quickly returned to the car a tad wet. Snapt started up the Mystery Machine for our onward journey and we drove on into the mist.