is anyone into abandonments/ urban exploring?

[dotmarsdotcom]

by that i mean old abandoned places?

 

old abandoned houses, train stations, hotels. etc?

 

the more personal content still left inside them the better?

 

to make us think why, where, what?

 

I've been watching quite a few videos on you tube about it lately, and it interests me.

[Mihaela]

Yes, I've been doing this on and off for many years. It began in my childhood exploring old ruinous thatched cottages due for demolition in the name of 'progress' (new housing estates). I've explored abandoned schools, an asylum, an ice-house, an oilfield, farms, an orphanage, an empty manor house, a hermit's cabin, a charcoal-burner's shelter, many cold war bunkers, etc. - gathering bits of ephemera when I could. They evoke a poignant awareness of the transience of life, forgotten lives and the ultimate futility of so much human endeavour. They are full of surprises and interest, and remind me of how insignificant we are, and that in the end nature will take over from us.

SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI

[Aeolienne]

My favourite station on the London Underground network is Highgate because it's got an abandoned railway station above ground. That along with its sylvan surroundings and geometric sloping lines which give it a Zen-like quality.

[dotmarsdotcom]

it's good to read other people are into it too.

 

I thought I was weird.

 

well I am weird, but you know what I mean :-)

 

for me abandonments are safe places.

 

allegedly "normal" people have abandoned them, so I can go there and not be bothered.

 

..and feel safe.

 

it's like I love a walk in the rain, cause I know the normal people won't be out?

 

i.e. when I see small villages, I always see the looser "no body" folk who've got no life club near the high street? so they are near to people they can bully?

 

but when it rains they aren't there :-)

 

I like abandonments for that reason. the "normal" bullies aren't there.

 

I saw this you tube show the other day, about some abandonment/ urban explorer chap,

 

and he happened into a place where their was an amazing rare piano, worth £50,000 if it was restored. But he would not tell anyone where the location was :-)

 

I have respect for that chap. he won't let the bullies in. it's our place. normal people need not apply. that piano is safe.

[dotmarsdotcom]

i came across a fantastic old "station" hotel from the 1900's

 

back in the days before doctor beaching cut the branch lines.

 

it's sited for demolition in the next year, so i had to get into it.

 

(i lifted one of the window boards to get it, and replaced it after i'd been in.

 

a bit illegal i know, but i did no damage and replaced the boards after i'd been in.)

 

it was fun.

 

stank to hell of mould, but it was like stepping back in time.

 

would anyone be interested in seeing the video?

 

it's been sealed for probably 40+ years.

 

(and i promise there is no creepy "kids doll" fakely deposited like some urban explorers do... it's all genuine.)

 

all the best.

[Mihaela]

Ooh yes please! I like anything like that.

 

I feel the same about rainy, dull days for I know there'll be fewer people about. I spend lots of my time walking in quiet places. I've just come back from the woods now. I saw two deer and loads of squirrels. My ideal life would be to live in hut in the middle of a wood.

[dotmarsdotcom]

we have deer here too. very nice.

 

I love their shyness, and stealth. reminds me of me.

 

I also like to think I have a squirrel that always comes out when I'm in it's territory.

 

I know it could be a different squirrel each time, but i imagine in my head it's the same squirrel.

 

(I've yet to think of a name for it.)

 

re: the hotel video.

 

ok... i didn't think anyone would be interested, so it's nice someone is :-)

 

i've loaned the camera to a mate for a bit, but when i get it back i'll upload the footage, and provide the link.

 

I personally thought the hotel was cool.. cause a lot of abandonments get damaged by squatters, teenage kids, etc. but this one is pretty intact.

 

from what i could see i reckoned it has not been entered in 40ish years.

 

re: living in a cottage in the woods

 

what a lovely idilic idea :-)

 

i'm not sure i could handle complete isolation though?

 

for two reasons-

 

1) because i know what NT's are like. they would enevitably and eventually realise I was there,

 

and there is something about NT's that would make it so they just wouldn't leave one alone :-(

 

one would become the "mad cat lady (or guy)"..

 

the brunt of all the jokes from the nearest village after a year or two, and for some weird reason i've yet to understand...

 

...NT's would feel compelled to ruin it for me. i know not yet how, or why? but i know they would :-(

 

2) for some odd reason, 100% isolation just wouldn't work for me. i don't understand why, but i like being close (but not too close) to others, even if it's just to hear them coming and going, if not to have anything to do with them.

[Laddo]

Yes! I have never actually made it into an abandoned building, but I have wanted to explore one for years. I tried to get into an abandoned psychiatric hospital near where I live about a year about but it was too securely sealed off. If anyone knows of any recommended cool abandoned places near London/Kent, please do share!

 

I can relate to what you're saying about them being "safe", too. I love being totally alone in big empty places where no one can see me. I enjoy walking in the rain too for the same reason. I love any sort of walks, just don't like having to encounter too many people!

[dotmarsdotcom]

re: access to abandonments,

 

don't worry about them being securely sealed off.

 

most of them are not guarded.

 

if your really interested put a ladder in the back of your car, take some tools to undo the shielding. etc.

 

these places are not guarded like you think.

 

the only rules are ->

 

1) if you have removed any window/ door shielding's to get in, restore them before you leave.

 

2) when inside never move or touch anything. photos and video only.

 

3) if you upload your photos and video's, never reveal the location of the place (so vandals don't ruin it.)

 

(you'll need to strip the gps coordinates from your video/ photo's before you upload.)

 

4) if any security does approach you, explain your an urban explorer, and leave immediately.

 

5) be wary that abandoned places can often become hang outs for the homeless/ squatters/ drug addicts. etc.

 

always expect to find someone inside. if you don't it's a bonus.

 

my experience when I have, they are usually so "high" and lonely, just exchange greetings, explain why you are there, and leave immediately.

 

if you stay too long they will size you up for being a mark.

 

but initially they are probably as scared as you.

 

all the best.

Edited November 3, 2014 by dotmarsdotcom

[Mihaela]

Very wise advice, Dotmars - and interesting.

 

"be wary that abandoned places can often become hang outs for the homeless/ squatters/ drug addicts".

This applied to a very big old abandoned residential school I visited. Eventually they caused a fire, but the building still exists and has been empty for at least 10 years now. I found all the personal records and photos of the children scattered about when I visited soon after it had closed - many very recent. It doesn't say much for data protection. The place had an atmosphere of pathos - children's paintings crumpled and trodden on, exercise books, abandoned toys, a doll's head, clothes, etc. Quite sad and moving. What would their parents have thought, I wonder?

[Laddo]

Oh I'm not worried about bumping into security or anything - the boards over the windows were just too tightly nailed on at the abandoned hospital and I didn't have a crowbar or hammer to pry them off. I'm not really worried about bumping into any homeless people in abandoned places either, I'm just glad that they have found somewhere safe to live. Homeless people including the drug addicts are nearly always harmless anyway - a great deal of them are homeless and/or drug users due to needing to escape from horrible situations at home or in care and prefer to avoid other people. I wonder how many autistic homeless people there are out there?

 

That sounds quite spooky Mihaela! Almost like something out of a horror film. I bet you can almost hear echoes of the children playing in the old school... I love finding little old artefacts of human activity in places other abandoned. That's why I am keen to visit the station on the Highgate line that Aeolienne mentioned - I bet it is full of little pieces that give a clue of the day-to-day running of the station. It's not the same as exploring an abandoned building, but recently I found an old tent in the woods that looked like the campers had just abandoned it after it got destroyed or something. Most of the tent pegs and all the tent poles and guy ropes were gone for some reason but everything else was still there: a rusty old camping stove, some food packaging with an expiry date of two years ago and some tattered trousers and a t-shirt. I was amazed no one had found it since it had been abandoned. The whole thing felt kind of ghostly

[Mihaela]

 

I wonder how many autistic homeless people there are out there?

 

Exactly! There but for the grace of God go I...

 

I bet you can almost hear echoes of the children playing in the old school...

 

Loss and the transience of childhood (and life itself) has always haunted me, and places like that evoke these feelings very strongly. Places where other lives were lived by people I never knew.

 

I found an old tent in the woods that looked like the campers had just abandoned it after it got destroyed or something. Most of the tent pegs and all the tent poles and guy ropes were gone for some reason but everything else was still there: a rusty old camping stove, some food packaging with an expiry date of two years ago and some tattered trousers and a t-shirt. I was amazed no one had found it since it had been abandoned. The whole thing felt kind of ghostly

 

This reminds of when I was about ten and exploring the woods. I found a little abandoned cabin, complete with a little neglected garden, which had once clearly been tended. I later found out that a hermit had lived there who kept several cats, dogs and a pet seagull. Injured animals and birds were taken to him and he'd repair their broken legs and wings, etc. He'd fought in the war and what he experienced made him retreat from the world. Many of his belongings were still there, including an ancient radio from the 1920s (worked off accumulators that he got recharged in the village). His books ended up with the local historian, and I now have one of them. In the same village a woman lived alone in a small wooden house, and was teased by the local children who called her a witch. After she died, it emerged that she was a talented artist whose paintings of European cities and portraits fetch high prices. She'd attended an art school and exhibited her work yet nobody locally ever knew. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd both been aspies.

 

Nowadays there's little opportunity to live like this in England which I think is a shame and a sign of an unhealthy society. We are expected to adapt to fast, modern life, and many of us just can't.

[Aeolienne]

Oh I'm not worried about bumping into security or anything - the boards over the windows were just too tightly nailed on at the abandoned hospital and I didn't have a crowbar or hammer to pry them off. I'm not really worried about bumping into any homeless people in abandoned places either, I'm just glad that they have found somewhere safe to live. Homeless people including the drug addicts are nearly always harmless anyway - a great deal of them are homeless and/or drug users due to needing to escape from horrible situations at home or in care and prefer to avoid other people. I wonder how many autistic homeless people there are out there?

 

That sounds quite spooky Mihaela! Almost like something out of a horror film. I bet you can almost hear echoes of the children playing in the old school... I love finding little old artefacts of human activity in places other abandoned. That's why I am keen to visit the station on the Highgate line that Aeolienne mentioned - I bet it is full of little pieces that give a clue of the day-to-day running of the station. It's not the same as exploring an abandoned building, but recently I found an old tent in the woods that looked like the campers had just abandoned it after it got destroyed or something. Most of the tent pegs and all the tent poles and guy ropes were gone for some reason but everything else was still there: a rusty old camping stove, some food packaging with an expiry date of two years ago and some tattered trousers and a t-shirt. I was amazed no one had found it since it had been abandoned. The whole thing felt kind of ghostly

Unfortunately the abandoned overground station at Highgate is not open to the public; in fact the old station building is now a cottage. Maybe it might take part in London Open House weekend, who knows? Meanwhile there are some cool pictures here.

[dotmarsdotcom]

thank you for the pictures aeolinne.

 

I've learnt about stations similar to that here up north since I've got into the abandonment thing.

 

alas, it seems in the last 10 years, there's been a big push to remove all remains of stations like that from the face of the earth.

 

it seems the land developers have no interest in history, but merely in profit. what a shame.

 

right now, I am within half a mile of a fantastic old station I've only recently learnt about,

 

but it's all gone. filled in, and replaced by a load of modern industrial warehouses. completely characterless and completely featureless. there's nothing left except the subway, which they've filled in :-(

 

 

to mihaela & laddo,

 

re: the homeless & autistic folk & the... "but for the grace of god,"

 

I know what you mean.

 

I don't think I need to say no more.

 

all the best.

[dotmarsdotcom]

Hope no one minds, but i just got thinking about the homeless/ autistic subject & it's really struck a cord with me.

 

Perhaps the site should split this into a new thread?

 

It is a subject very close to my heart.

 

I’ve always dreamt of one day, being super rich and being able to afford to build loads of places for the “unwanted”

 

i.e. autistic/ aspergers people who are too much trouble for their folks to handle, so they get kicked out,

 

The attitude of “they are old enough now to know better" seems prevalent.

 

Seems to me plenty of aspies/ autistics are being kicked out of the family home in their 40’s, because apparently a decision was made they are “old enough to survive now.”

 

I think that basically translates to meaning, “mum or dad’s got a new boyfriend, and they've had enough, and it’s all too much to cope with anymore.”

 

Like I said I wish I was super rich and could afford to build some places for people to go.

 

What a deep subject eh?

 

all the best.

[Laddo]

That sounds like a good idea mars. I hope you don't mind me asking (and you don't have to answer if you don't want to) but have you experienced something similar before? I'm in the situation at the moment where I can't live at my mother's house any more. Despite the fact she has a lot of aspie traits and her husband is so blatantly full-blown aspie, everything I do slightly out-of-the-ordinary annoys her and always has done. She's of the opinion that I should just 'take things on the chin' when I have a breakdown and keeps trying to push me into jobs that she knows I will be very unhappy in and stressful for me, e.g. customer service at a supermarket. When I suggested to her that her and her husband have a lot of aspie traits, she would not admit to the possibility that both of them may have Asperger's. I also think my oldest brother has it, but again she will always deny this. It seems like some parents of autistic children don't want to admit that they have anything to do with their child's autism so they either blame it on various other factors (vaccines etc.) or just point blank refuse to acknowledge that it is genetic, so they start lashing out at their aspie children and boot them out.

Sorry to go off topic and rant, I'm just frustrated at the arrogance of some people. There are thousands of empty/abandoned buildings in the UK just sitting there for years upon years just because of all the confusions with property law etc. These could easily be used to house the homeless, but no, the government would rather just bury their heads in the sand and refuse to admit the growing homeless population in the UK. It's so unfair. We need change

[dotmarsdotcom]

hi again laddo,

 

it's ok to rant. I sure do it enough times. I think everyone does from time to time.

 

also I didn't really consider your reply a rant anyway. you just went into a bit of detail, because it was a subject close to your heart?

 

re: your asking me if I've ever been in the "unwanted at home"/ homeless situation,

 

I don't mind you asking :-)

 

I'm an open sort of chap.

 

(My observation is that most of us aspies usually are.)

 

I've never been in a homeless situation (be that situation due to not being wanted at home, or for any reason at all.)

 

but let's just say from time to time I've come close to it.

 

& because of my aspie condition, and the fact I find it difficult to make friends with so called "normal people", I have it seems befriended a lot of people on the fringes of "social acceptability" in my time,

 

and some of them have been homeless, living in squats, in the street. etc.

 

and sometimes it does appear to me the reason is, that they just ended up being no longer tolerated in the family home :-(

 

I've seen folks in their 40's that apart from minor "socialisation problems" are superbly intelligent, genuinely warm & lovely folks (when you get to know their "ways") who it just seems after withdrawal of family support, are thrown into the trap of homelessness.

 

and it can be a terrible trap. it appears to me once you are in it, it's very hard to get out of it,

 

without a fixed place of abode it seems one can end "up the creek without a paddle".

 

I.e. without having somewhere to have your mail delivered to for job applications & somewhere to easily launder and store your clothes...

 

...also somewhere to benefit from the economies of scale that come with bulk food shopping and having somewhere to store it. etc.

 

I would like to do more to help people in that situation. one day if I'm ever super rich I will.

 

re: your home situation.

 

thanks for sharing. it can not of been easy to do so.

 

I wish I could say something to make you feel better about that.

 

alas I'm not really qualified to advice in that area, except in those parts that I have personally experienced myself.

 

re: your mum's denial of your condition, and it's potential genetic origins,

 

I've had slight experience with that.

 

it was a long time after I'd moved out of home, that I started to suspect something was not right with me, and after reading up on aspergers condition...

 

...I noticed it said one of the ways to help determine if the condition is present, is to ask one's family members if they can recall certain patterns of behaviour that were present in my childhood, which would go towards confirming if "Asperger's" was a possibility.

 

so I called my mum one night out of the blue, and asked her.

 

she said she'd need to go away and think about it, and she'd call me back.

 

a few hours later she returned my call, and said "she couldn't help me, and she'd appreciate it if I never discussed the subject again."

 

- like you say. complete denial. it obviously hurt her to have to consider that her genes might in someway be to blame. etc. (not that there was any blame? I was not directing it that way at all!)

 

subsequently though, she denighs having said that (lol) & is a bit more relaxed about the subject, and last time we talked about it, I think we've worked out that it comes from dad's side.

 

...anyway.. the point of my going on about this is to say, I relate to what you say about that subject, and I feel for you, since one's mum is meant to be one you can always talk to about anything, so it's bad news when they shut certain doors (even if only temporarily.)

 

re: your mum being a bit high pressure on you about "getting a job"

 

perhaps your mum doesn't know much about the aspie/ autistic condition, so she doesn't really know how certain sorts of jobs are just unsuitable & impossible for folk with the condition.

 

i.e. very customer facing sorts of jobs.

 

my experience that qualifies me to say this, is that, back when my step son used to live with me, I must admit, I used to encourage him to get himself a "situation" also.

 

...but even I drew the line at forcing him to do "customer facing jobs".

 

he once in an attempt to please me, got a job at McD. I was very proud of him as you can imagine. it was his first real job. what dad or step dad wouldn't be proud of his effort,

 

but then I noticed him coming home each night, terribly unhappy, and explaining all the troubles he'd had with customers teasing him and picking on him. etc.

 

after four days, I suggested to him to quit, and we'd find another way.

 

re: unused housing.

 

your right there mate.

 

ton's of unused houses around. it's a crying shame. it is not surprising that squatters take things into their own hands.

 

I'm not supporting squatters who ruin the house they select, but if a squatter occupies somewhere that has been unused for a substantial amount of time,

 

& treats it with respect, and moves out when the owner is seriously going to do something proper with it, then such people have my sympathy.

 

I have been pleased about those times I've heard of an owner of a long term unoccupied house, and a squatter coming to an arrangement :-)

 

I.e. they are allowed to live there and act as "night security guard so to speak?" so long as there's no trouble with them leaving, if the owner becomes able to afford to develop it properly.

 

If I owned unused houses, I would be more than happy to allow squatters to use it on that basis.

 

all the best.

Edited November 6, 2014 by dotmarsdotcom