Urban exploration

Our man goes in search of abandoned adventure

I crept along as quietly as possible, skirting the walls of an old redbrick hospital building, avoiding open spaces where I might be seen. The windows were boarded up, and when I read the signs screwed on the boards, I felt a twinge of fear.

“Danger: Asbestos. Do not enter.”

“Warning, regular foot-patrols in the area.” 

My guide told me not to worry. I followed him into a derelict building with a corridor that faded into pitch-black darkness. The paint in the stairwell was flaking off and peeling, bits of paint littering the old, stained carpet. Upstairs were a series of bedrooms, many with mattresses, bed frames, sinks, showers – all once lived in by old patients of the mental hospital I was exploring, abandoned ten years ago.

An underground sport

My mission was to try and understand urban exploration, a relatively new sport that involves going to man-made places that people no longer see. This largely means abandoned buildings, or underground tunnels and drainage systems, usually in or under cities.

People who explore drainage systems call themselves ‘drainers’, and there is more danger involved in this side of the sport, with risks of disease from sewage, even from drowning in a sudden flow of water. The saying amongst the ‘drainers’ is “When it’s raining, we don’t go draining”. Several people have died pursuing this hobby.

Others go into out-of-bounds areas in buildings that people still inhabit, known as infiltrating. My first time would be more mainstream, but no less nerve-wracking. Hooking up with a more experienced explorer, we decided to check out the derelict West Park mental hospital in Epsom, Surrey, now quite famous amongst urban explorers.

A mental excursion

I met my mentor, Adam, who insisted that neither his real name or photo be published, near the hospital site on a mild, overcast Tuesday afternoon. I had thought that Adam was going to be some kind of expert on the site, but he had only been to this hospital once before, as well as Hellingley Asylum in East Sussex, and an old MOD barracks in Surrey.

When we met I asked him whether there was anywhere he would really love to explore. “The catacombs” he replied, without hesitating to think. “Paris.” This is an enormous network of tunnels stretching for miles underneath the French capital, which once held the remains of Parisian residents until the bones were removed over two hundred years ago. It is something of a holy grail for urban explorers.

He says it’s not completely out of bounds, but he is excited by its expansiveness, and mystery. It is thought that there are parts still hidden that no one has ever seen.

Gaining entry

Adam beckoned me to a hole in a fence on the outskirts of the hospital, and after walking stealthily through wet knee-high grass, we got to the wire fence surrounding the abandoned buildings, which was tellingly out of shape from people climbing over it.

As soon as we were in the old grounds, all signs of human activity disappeared, paths were overgrown with moss, the concrete broken apart by weeds.  There was also the silence, making me jump every time I heard a bird in a tree or a twig snap, expecting to see a guard appear at any minute.

My heart was racing as we walked towards the first large building and the signs outside it came into view: asbestos, security guards, 24 hours CCTV, No entry: danger. I had a sinking feeling as they reminded me of the illegality of what we were doing.

One building we went in was clearly an old dormitory, full of bedrooms, many still equipped with all the things that a bedroom could need. There were curtains hanging in the windows, armchairs completely intact, the padding spotless. Some rooms had shower units, the glass panelling unbroken, though stained brown at the edges. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining what must have happened here and who would have lived here, even what kind of illnesses they may have suffered from. It was just an old building, yet the eerie atmosphere made it seem full of ghosts, of memories - of old inhabitants.

An ugly beauty

The hospital was completed in 1924, the last of five in the surrounding area, treating thousands of mentally ill people in a huge conglomeration, with one helping those with age-related problems, such as dementia, and another people with epilepsy. Most of West Park was closed in 1999, although there is a section still in use, while the abandoned parts will be either demolished or converted into hotels and conference centres.

After the dormitory building we came to a yellow ground-level building, sitting squat and inconspicuous in the hugely over-grown grass and bushes.

I opened the door, stepped in and saw a long wide hall with windows on either side. The floor was completely covered in water and looked too dangerous to walk across. There was a scattering of small, bright red and blue plastic chairs complete with small tables to work on, and I immediately thought it must have been used by children. It is hard to explain what was so interesting and engaging about this room. The green, algae-covered, discoloured plastic floor, peppered by pieces of fallen ceiling, the beige paint peeling off the walls. It is as though the overall look of decay leads to an unusual kind of wholeness and beauty.

As we disappeared into a nearly pitch-black room full of old beds, I was terrified. In the darkness I could see a kind of contorted mess in front of me. There was a bed stripped of its sheet, up against a wall, but it had a thick rubber mattress, clearly sealed to the bed frame, and I could think of a million grizzly reasons why they would have a bed like this in a mental hospital. The only thing that it needed were arm straps on either side. Yet, despite my anxieties, I felt driven to see more.

The sport takes off

Adam said the sport has taken off in the last three or four years. "There’s an exploring website, 28dayslater, and people post up reports of buildings they have been to, with pictures," he said. "These days, different people post reports all the time, not just once or twice a month, but sometimes four or five times a week!”

Apparently there is a padded cell in the hospital that Adam wanted to see, but after three hours we were quite tired and decided to turn back.

As we left, I asked him how he got into this unconventional pursuit. He said he remembers seeing something about it on television and then he looked it up on the Internet and he was amazed at what he saw – the buildings people had visited; the incredible photographs they had taken.

“So, why do other people do it?” I asked.  He said most explorers he has met talk about the excitement of going somewhere no one has been, almost as though they relish the exclusivity of it. For him, it is much more of a personal thing.

"There is something quite sad about these places, and that you can go there and it’s like you can see a kind of story in the rooms. See what people did, how people lived which, at the same time, is kind of peaceful, you know?”

Want to know more about Urban Exploring? Take a look at the links below.

www.28dayslater.co.uk

This is probably the largest forum for UK-based Urban explorers. The members post a report of their latest explores, with a description of the site and accompanying photos. Some of the photography is breathtaking. The site is quite secretive and according to the rules, you have to go through certain hoops to become a full member.

www.urbanexplorers.net

According to its description, this is the longest running collection of Urban Exploring information online, and includes places people have explored from around the world. It also has information about the sport itself with safety and equipment tips for people doing it for the first time. There is also more about “infiltrating”, with people exploring things like the steam tunnels in still used buildings, including videos as well as pictures.

www.prettyvacant.fotopic.net

An interesting site from a female British explorer, which has an enormous collection of photographs from around Britain and also Ireland. She even has pictures of the Big Brother house after it had been abandoned, and you can also purchase some of her photos from the site.

www.sub-urban.com

A fascinating site about people who go "draining", with an enormous range of photos and reports of old sewers and storm drains around Britain, as well as Canada. This site is made by people who take this side of urban exploring very seriously and who find the tunnels genuinely beautiful, particularly in terms of their complicated structure and immense size. There is little here about the precautions to take before going draining, so be warned that it is dangerous and it would be wise to go with someone who is very experienced.

Disclaimer

WideWorld is happy to explain to its readers the excitement and enjoyment of unusual sports, but we’ve got to stress that they should only be taken on with due care and preparation. Because of the nature of Urban Exploration, you may find yourself in a legal grey area: make sure you research your adventures wisely!