SteB
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,408
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Nov 15, 2005 22:44:50 GMT
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bryn
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,913
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Nov 15, 2005 23:04:10 GMT
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Wow, this is one of my other interests... Abandoned places and spaces etc. I went to Longbridge on a job a few years back, it's mad to think what once went on there is now no more.
I'm used to seeing this sort of thing in eastern Europe, it makes it even more cool when you consider it's so close to home. If you like the feel of that lot, check out abandoned.ru or abandoned-places.com ;D
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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RetroMat
Posted a lot
Column Shifting!
Posts: 3,444
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Nov 15, 2005 23:23:07 GMT
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wow some great pics on there didn't some one post some pics up on here of the site? there was an MGB shell lying in one corner
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Nov 15, 2005 23:31:20 GMT
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Great find - a gem of a forum. What is it with these really interesting and slightly forbidden pictures that attracts us to them? Must be the rush of getting caught! I almost filled my pants when I was snapping pictures at the now closed down mental hospital near my folks.....
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looks like they really did just turn the power off one day and send all the workers home. Loads of cars just been left...quite sad really...very sad in fact. Good bye British car industry. The big pile of what looked like scrap, thats not all being scrapped is it?
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i found this on www.austin-rover.co.uk a few days ago, would have posted it here but got utterly sidetracked by the whole urban exploration thing (in particular the urbex|uk site which is amazing and really well written). the pictures are awesome, it shows just how quickly everyone left with half-assembled cars dangling from conveyors. the cutaway cars in the basement are interesting too, one of those "oh yeah, i guess they must have to" things that you never really think about. i'm seriously thinking about a bit of exploration myself - nowhere as fancy as longbridge but with the east midlands textile industry taking a nosedive, i've got loads of factories to choose from!
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Never trust a man Who names himself Trevor. Or one day you might find He's not a real drug dealer.
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filmidget
East Midlands
Mostly Lurking
Posts: 1,652
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Been thinking the same thing myself Pillock. Don't mind saying that I know my 'drains' around Nottinghamshire too (But PLEASE don't venture into drains unless you know what you are doing! ) I'm a bit in the dark about photography in the dark though... Trouble is around Nottingham is that as soon as somewhere is unused it's knocked down to build blocks of 'city living' style' 1 bed apartments (whether it's anywhere near the city or not...) Reckon a couple of the main characters off that 28 Days Later forum must be pretty local too, looking at the locations they have visited (though they missed the fact that there is a tunnel under Great Central Road between the two Mansfield Brewery sites ) Phil
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'79 MG Midget 1500 - Still patiently awaiting attention '02 Vauxhall Astra 1.8 Elegance(!) - Better than you might think '03 Mazda MX5 - All new and shiny looking (thanks to Antony at Rust Republic) '09 Renault Clio - Needs to go.
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i read about the mansfield brewery visit, and the fact that in a short space of time between two visits a large part was burned down! i never knew about the tunnels though.
the problem with me going anywhere around here is that it'd have to be in the daytime, as i know full well the kind of people who take refuge in abandoned places at night. and i'm bound to get caught, i'm as stealthy as a rhino with tap shoes on.
there's the old courtalds factory about a mile up the road which has been empty for a while but no signs of demolition yet....
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Never trust a man Who names himself Trevor. Or one day you might find He's not a real drug dealer.
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Has to be said I've always been fascinated with that sort of thing too, Greenock's full of derelict industrial areas, a leftover of the time when the West of Scotland was vital to the economy, unfortuanately all the shipyard buildings and the Tate and Lyle Sugar Refinery are all gone these days, bar a few leftover walls and gates and piles of rubble, and the old warehouses by the waterfront are being turned into yuppie apartments just like Filmidget was talking about, although there are still a few derelict places, by the waterfront there is an old Smith and Rodley crane that used to take loads off of ships, an old pre war cable operated thing by the looks of it, faded and rusty but it's all still there, I'd love to get a picture of the Imp next to it but that would possibly involve breaking the padlocks on the gates nearby and going into a restricted area, I must have a look the next time I'm down there to see if there's any other way I could get a motor close. Another one I'd love to be able to have a look at is a tunnel that goes under the Clyde from one part of the old docks to another part that was built further out into the water, to make it easier for workers to get out to it, but I'm pretty sure they sealed that tunnel up years ago and bricked over the entrances, besides that I'm not sure just how watertight it is these days, it may well be full of water by now.
Then there's always the Rootes/Chrysler Linwood factory, which until a few years back (about 1997 I think) was still largely standing, and had a sort of haunting quality about it, my dad was involved in the final clearing out of the place just before they knocked down all the factory buildings that were left, now all that's left is the reception/showroom building at the front of the complex, the paintshop was replaced by a restaurant, and much of the land where the finished Imps would be parked to await being loaded onto transporters going to dealers or trains going down south was taken over by the WH Malcolm and T Houston haulage firm, the latter have shut down themselves since and the land has changed hands again. Shame, because it means very little of Linwood is still there, but as I said the front building is still there, and it's still partly painted in that turquoise/blue colour Rootes painted some of the works cars in, like the works Hunter that done the World Cup rally in the 60s.
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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That is just eerie. makes me feel a bit weird and spooked, i naively expected them to finish and sell the cars first. that is unbelievable. ventured into a half converted church one night drunk one night when it was lightening that was interesting so a fan of this stuff myself! lets hope they don't scrap the 'cars'/parts and put em on ebay instead. Very sad it had to close just when the cars were getting ok!
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it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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Nov 16, 2005 10:07:00 GMT
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SteB
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,408
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Nov 16, 2005 10:16:04 GMT
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Nov 16, 2005 10:30:58 GMT
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steB - try www.simoncornwell.com/urbex/ too (that's the urbex|uk site i mentioned) - the photos and locations are great, but his writings about them really give you a sense of what it's all about. lots of emphasis on asylums so it's ultra-spooky in places.
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Never trust a man Who names himself Trevor. Or one day you might find He's not a real drug dealer.
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bryn
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,913
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Nov 16, 2005 11:19:46 GMT
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Good to see I'm not alone in this fascination, I think for me it's the fact that these places were once thriving, centres of the community with a sense of purpose. They were built for a reason, with very little cosmetic consideration, meaning they are pretty much 'pure' buildings. They're size means they have an eery feel to them because of the past echoes you can almost feel...
My one piece of advice if anybody was trying to access a location is to try the official routes first, tell them you're writing a book on the subject, then you don't need to show them anything. It's worked for me many times, you can then take pictures without being rushed as a lot of inside shots have to be done on slow exposure with flash guns...
One of my favourite moments was sat at the bar in the old social club at the Met office building in Bracknell, five floors up and completely deserted, with rush hour traffic below me... Sweet. ;D
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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Kris
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,631
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Nov 16, 2005 13:54:30 GMT
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So I'm not the only one then! I have always been interested in things like this but didn`t think anyone else would be.
I've been having a look through those forums and its facinating to see that there is this sub-culture around us. My delivery driving takes me to some very strange places, RAF Upper Heyford for one, abandoned hangers and un-used runways.
Anyway back OT, I hadn`t thought about the fact that the cars on the line would never be finished and would still be there now, it makes me want to take a few of those shells and mothball them for 30 years until they are needed.
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bryn
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,913
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Nov 16, 2005 15:05:21 GMT
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Ooops, back off thread... Sorry Check out subbrit.org.uk... Cold war stuff all over Europe, nearly bought Poltimore Depot a couple of years ago, it's visible from the M5 just north of Exeter for those who are SW based. Back on topic, just hang around the gates when it gets pulled down. Somebody has to buy the salvage!
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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Nov 16, 2005 18:28:05 GMT
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Argh! Imagine if/when it gets pulled down. Its got Herbert Austin's old office inside, perfectly preserved supposedly. Awful.
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1972 Fiat 130 1985 Talbot Alpine 1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 + 1986 Mazda 929 Koop + Wagon 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 BEST CAR EVER!!!!!!!! 1979 Datsun B310 Sunny 4-dr 1984 Audi 200 Quattro Turbo 1983 Honda Accord 1.6 DX GONE1989 Alfa 75 2.0 TS Mr T says: TREAT YO MOTHER RIGHT!
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Nov 16, 2005 18:32:54 GMT
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I'd imagine they'd probably remove the contents of that to a museum or something and recontruct it, I wouldn't imagine something like that of historical interest would be totally destroyed, although the office itself would still be getting destroyed I suppose...
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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Reynolds501
Part of things
Volvos, they're boxy, but good.
Posts: 368
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Nov 16, 2005 22:26:44 GMT
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Did that Mira fall off those rollercoaster tracks?! my my, how slack Alton Towers have got these days! ;D Seriously though, that's a shame, it's kinda sad to see old forgotten cars like that. Those pics of inside the Rover factory were fascinating, must have been pretty eerie in there though! like a post holocaust scene! Glad there's so many others that enjoy poking around old places, I love doing that! there was an old place called Cotton College (funnily enough, near to Alton Towers), myself and friends used to spend hours there, it was a massive site. Unfortunately, some dickhead decided to quite badly burn one particular block, and that was it, no more access, 24 hour security installed. We never so much as scratched a door frame when we were there, but I guess it was only a matter of time before the idiots found such a great place
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