Friday 28 May 2010

Misc. Debris

Various pictures from various excursions in the last 7 days.




Monday 24 May 2010

The Works

The Works is a massive CSO pipe in the Collyhurst ghetto.

Visited with Morse.










Sunday 23 May 2010

Vin Diesel

Visited with Eotech.

Named after the stench of diesel that fills the air. Easily one of the dirtiest, most polluted drains I've ever been in.






Here's a video of it...

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Milanese Adventure

Apologies for not posting in a while. As you're about to see, I've been a bit busy.

I spent this weekend in Milan with nckt and Babystrangeways where we did what we do best.

After a rude awakening at userscott's Italian gaff on our first morning by the owners of the empty retail unit, we had to get out to find a new place to stay and make our mark on Milan.

Not too long went by before we found ourselves 20 floors above a four star hotel next to the Central train station. This would become our home for the next few nights.




There was even a chaise lounge...




The bedroom...

We slept until 2am when I was woken up by voices. I was convinced we were going to get thrown out of our second residence. As the voices came nearer I realised that they weren't hotel staff but drunken Polish people who had become inadvertent urban explorers by getting pissed, going on the rooftop and taking pictures. These n00bs were using their flash though.

The strobe of their camera flash lit up the crane that we were sleeping under. They were stood no further than ten feet away from us, but the spot we'd chosen was so good that they failed to spot us.

Waking up the next morning was incredible.



Walking around that day we spotted a building site on the same scale as Salford's MediaCity. We had to get to the summit.


Having done MediaCity previously, I had a good idea of what we had to do to get through the site undetected and where security would and wouldn't be on the site. However this was in a completely different country. A country where privately-hired security guards protect scaffolding with pistols strapped to their waists.

Shit.

After some ducking and diving, it took us 45 minutes to get from the first fence to the concrete shell of the building.

We searched for ages for stairs to the top only to find them unfinished at the 7th floor. This 20+ floor building might need some re-thinking.

Eventually getting to the top via stairs and scaff climbing the wind was unforgivingly blowing the platform we were on. Not having a tripod means I only got one picture from this incredible mission.


At least it was a good one.

A while later after climbing back down and looking to sneak our way out, I saw someone on a nearby balcony looking at us with a phone held to his face.

Our 45 minute ninja mission turned into a 45 second dash across a building site leaping over and under all sorts of perilous obstacle.

We were back over the fence in a jiffy and disappeared into the balmy Milanese night.

Friday 7 May 2010

Hyde Falls

This deep culvert was discovered by Dan Helsing who first walked its length from the infall to the falls with nckt where they couldn't continue without rope.

The following night I tagged along with them and we headed up through the outfall.

It starts as a concrete box with a plughole draining into it.

This way to my secret lair...

Dan Helsing keeps a look out...

From here it gets rocky and bastardly treacherous. Proceed with caution. Seriously.

It then opens up into the chamber that Dan and nckt reached the night before. WOW. The chamber is vast and echoes the sound of the water hammering down onto the rocks below both falls. I'm sure I have tinnitus from that place.


Thursday 6 May 2010

Middleton Mine

After a night of hilarity camping in the Goyt Valley with Yaz, nckt, Siologen, Gone, Rookie, Little Mike and Appo we headed off to nearby Middleton Mine.

Middleton is a former Limestone mine which closed in the early part of the 21st Century.

There are 22 miles of tunnels underground. To call them "tunnels" is misleading. The place is vast.

Absolutely HUGE.

Appo and nckt pose with their childbait.

L-R Appo, nckt, Rookie, JG, Gone. Pic by Gone.