Fails of the Urban Explorer: Evasive Pubs

in Urban Exploration2 years ago (edited)

Here are a few miscellaneous public houses fails from 2021, one of them being just yesterday as I was persuaded to come out of my 'winter hibernation' for something special.

The something special place has now been secured, camera's added and has a SOLD sticker slapped on. We managed to get there before all this happened, and found it totally sealed.

Like good explorers we left, only to find via the grapevine someone else had managed to get in via a window later that day.

Did they break in? We tried all ways, and every window multiple times. They were all sealed. I know what happened but will not accuse anyone. You do need to look at your own integrity sometimes.

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After leaving the main course we ended up searching for fetid scraps. ‘The Wellington’, a real dingy old place is amongst them below.

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The Duke of York

Having been given some crappy information in the words, 'you can get in via the back way', we pulled up to this rather regal old boozer in Manchester somewhere.

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I would have preferred this to be the main image but some bastard had left their car in the way. All the other shit in the picture doesn't do it much good either.

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I used to drink in places like this when I was young, it would have doubled as a hotel at some point in time.

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Was it a question of getting here too late? The back was more like Colditz fortress with copious amounts of very new razor wire.

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We couldn’t even peek over to see if it was open. @anidiotexplorers left an expletive on the informant’s phone by way of a text message.

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The Albion

A few other explorers had already been in The Albion and it was doing a mini Tour Bus by the time we arrived.

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We had arrived a smidge late and the old entrance had some badly improvised stuck on boards. This would have been quite alright except anti-vandal grease had also been added.

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The bloke in the bar next door was giving us suspicious looks. It was the first venue of the day and as things generally go, that’s usually a fail.

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These disappointments in life, you need to adapt to.

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The Queensferry Hotel

This pub we once again happened upon while looking for another old derp.

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After walking a good half mile up a wide canal bank and realising our original target was in the stage of being renovated we backtracked and decided to give this one a go.

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As it was next to a large housing estate we needed to approach it from the canal side and discovered a breach in the outside wall.

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They had done an admirable job in protecting it, but that was no match for our tenacity and so trying to duck down we approached this well-boarded pub.

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In some areas, they had gone over the top. Despite being labelled as anti-climbing fencing, this herras stuff is not particularly hard to scale, blows over with the wind, and lifts quite easily from its blocks. Many a time I have scrambled under it, that’s if you are out of eyeshot.

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The Queensferry Hotel was off-limits that day, and so we left sulking and made out way to the next one, an ex-strip club, known for swingers, sadomasochists, and transvestite dogs.

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The Wellington

This is what you come out of hibernation for, I mean just look at it.. what a delight your eyes are feasting upon.

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As well as the pub which you can barely make out the sign for, there’s something next door which has been burnt out on the top floor.

@anidiotexplores has looked at this in the past and tells me it stunk of weed. It could have been a ‘grow’, or to the uninitiated, an illegal cannabis farm.

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A couple of houses are attached to the Wellington and we were uncertain whether they were inhabited.

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One had a smashed window, but it was the inside pane of a double-glazed window.

So what’s been going on in there then?

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The wall while not so tall was opposite an office block and looked a daunting climb.

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@anidiotexplores took it upon himself to have a mooch around the back, hoping the neighbours do not actually exist and possibly finding a back entrance.

I am a little jealous of his cat burglar climbing skills, he was over that left wall in seconds.

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A few grunts and distraught ‘ow’s’ later he retreated telling me stories of bushes that looked solid which were not and boarded entranceways.

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I am still wondering how that upper room got torched if you can’t get in easily to harvest your cannabis. It’s one of today’s greatest mysteries and will be on TV's Discovery channel soon.

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They just don't build them like they used to! That first building was a grandmaster! That would have been a heartbreaker for me. This is worthy of crawling out of hibernation, but, some of those lesser builds have some surprises in them.

The Duke of York? Yes, please! Another sweet piece of history just waiting on you. Too bad they were a no-go.

The rest you wouldn't have bothered leaving a warm house for that, but, on a warmer day, maybe. :) Still and all, now you know that it was no good. But those first two! Wowsers!

They used top etch designs and wording into the stonework. I never bothered looking at things like this when I was young, but now appreciate all the work that must have been done when the world was a bleaker place than now.

I am always amazed by the workmanship of yesteryear but even more amazing is that are tools and equipment are far superior to what they use and yeah there is no comparison and the beauty of their designs. Elegance, charm and most of all, grandeur. I have no idea why we don't do something buildings like that anymore except for perhaps cost. But there are tons where cost is not a factor and they go a different direction with the money. I have great appreciation for this kind of work. Thanks for coming out and giving us the the show.

You are so lucky to have all of that history there. I was blown away by it during my first visit to London in 2019. It's sad to see so many old dilapidated/vacant buildings though. Is the trend in the UK to tear them down and rebuild now? I know at one time some of these would have been prime candidates for renovation.

Many are now being renovated as the lockdown thing eases a little. It's very bad for us explorers and some cities which were previously mecca's like Sheffield have dried up.

Shudda stayed in the nest lol. Did you try the hawarden castle the other side of the bridge? or the british steel main offices across the road? I failed all three couple of years back. ( though I had an office there back in the 90's)

When I worked in said steelworks, always used to pop to the 'ferry hotel on a Sunday lunchtime, 1pm always had a couple of strippers on. Happy Days

Didn't try either. We were on a schedule, and there was something on this side of that wide canal that was a bust. We had to walk for friggin' ages up there.. it sucked!

i dont see why you walked the canal, its right on the main road?

The pub is, our intended target was a mile up that damn canal..

we don't like to make it to easy for you english invaders !!

I bet the Duke of York would have been an amazing one!

Nice to see you out of winter retirement :0)

I'm firmly back in hibernation again. The house I mentioned was a faf, with the neighbours coming out to give the bus loads of explorers a load of shit. We were quiet so they didn't notice us.

You certainly don't want to be harangued by neighbours in these cases. Well done for the ninja eluding skills!!

That first one is a grand building. You won't see anything like that built these days. One of our village pubs is being sold and I've heard it has to stay a pub. We shall see. We've lost a lot since we moved here, but it must be a tough business.

Anyway, at least you get out of the house :)

Anyway, at least you get out of the house :)

I mentioned this to my comrade, that was the best reason to go out last week. We did manage 2 though, both were terrible.. even the Turd Factory got sealed up.

Yes, I agree, It was a very grand-looking building. You can just imagine what it once looked like in its best days.

They look so interesting! It's too bad they didn't work out. Where do you find out about these places or is that a magician's secret?

It's kind of secret where they come from. The community is incredibly guarded about sharing info outside their circle. Too much arson, theft and vandalism.

The York was kinda cool and I had fun imagining what it may have looked like in its hay-days.

I had to step away, grab a drink and prepare myself when I read this:

an ex-strip club, known for swingers, sadomasochists, and transvestite dogs

But then I was let down. WTF?

That... is all for the future! There is an old swingers club in Staffordshire which I still need to visit.

Awesome. Now I have something to look forward to. Not sure what I would do without the thought of dilapidated houses of ill repute.

Careful on that razor wire too, that shit is unforgiving as hell.

cool photos

Hit and miss, appears many grander old buildings are being saved to possibly clean up for reuse.

Run down old square boxes may as well be bulldozed down not to attract grass farms or druggies to burn the place down.

Nice photography non the less, do like buildings with character, The Duke of York in red bricks with black trim well worth saving I's say, perhaps you may get a pint again!

!BEER

The last one was far from grand. It may get demolished, but it's adjoined to those other houses. Was there anyone living there.., I'm not sure?

Eyesore, might as well go with a slam dunk and rebuild at the price of land.

I remember your Duke of York post. I wonder and it would be nice to see inside Duke of York.

I remember your Duke of York post.

I hope not, I don't want to duplicate content.

The Duke if York looks like a really cool building. I like the color. Too bad you couldn't get into that one. I bet it would be cool inside. It was probably a nice spot in its day

That was the toughest of the lot. Even if we had got past all that wire, it may have still been secured in the yard.

It must be really good inside if it's that locked up... they're hiding something special in there for sure.

Lol

You never can tell. Often they are deathtraps with bad roofs and holes everywhere. The outsides can make them look good.

Yeah, I believe it.

My spirit haunts many an old boozer!

Cool photos. However I am missing some from inside. But please do not make a crime just to make me happy !LOL

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There was no getting inside any of these lest I would lose my knackers!

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The first pub to be in a Gothic style ... It looks like a house from a horror movie!

This looks incredible. I need to do some of these.

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