Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Now ye're talking - to an Urban Explorer

2

Comments

  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    crustybla wrote: »
    Wow, your site is amazing, photos are fab! Those asylums though, hellish places. You must shudder sometimes. Have you ever been in a place and couldn't wait to get out?

    Thanks.
    One or two, but never due to the feeling I get from things that happened there in the past. I find it intriguing discovering hints of the things that took place, especially in the old asylums, but it never makes me feel uneasy about being there myself. Things that might make me want to leave are usually physical things like the presence of a lot of asbestos or dangerous conditions.


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,183 ✭✭✭✭Nekarsulm


    I had a look at the 1994 act, and if that has not been updated, presence on a premises if not causing someone to be fearful, is not criminal, and only becomes so if refusing to leave in an orderly fashion, or if the trespass intent was to commit an offence.
    Maybe there are other laws governing it, but I did not come across them if so.

    http://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/1994/act/2/section/13/revised/en/html

    http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1994/act/2/section/11/enacted/en/html#sec11

    As I said there might well be others, but the above seems to coincide with the English law you previously explained.

    ;)

    This is correct, but actually only applies to buildings and their immediate "curtalige".
    ie, the enclosed yard or area surrounding the building.

    In open fields you are almost powerless to demand people leave your property. Lots of examples of groups of people hunting with dogs on farmland with impunity.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,820 ✭✭✭FanadMan


    You mentioned that your foot went through some floorboards. Do you keep up to date with vaccinations, you know, just in case? Have you ever suffered any injuries? Have you or your mates ever used skills like lockpicking to enter a building?


  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    FanadMan wrote: »
    You mentioned that your foot went through some floorboards. Do you keep up to date with vaccinations, you know, just in case? Have you ever suffered any injuries? Have you or your mates ever used skills like lockpicking to enter a building?

    I do keep up to date with vaccinations, but that isn’t specifically just for exploring. I have suffered a few injuries, minor injuries are part and parcel of this game, small cuts and bruises etc. I’ve only had one more serious injury when I caught my leg on a piece of broken glass while going through a window. That required a few stitches. We are always very cautious, and we don’t take any big risks to try to maximise our safety.

    I know people who have used lock picking to gain entry into a building, but I never have myself. Some of the guys I know have crazy skills, for example some are adept at rope access and regularly abseil into buildings, Mission Impossible style!


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators Posts: 11,920 Mod ✭✭✭✭miamee


    What's the most unexpected place you've explored?

    What's the most surprising thing that you've discovered?

    What do your friends and family think of your exploring, do they ever want to come with you? :D


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 558 ✭✭✭Larsso30


    how do you decide on a location, do you research places and choose from there or is it something you may of heard of or past by and take your research from there?


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,472 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    Great thread. :)

    I've a personal and professional inrerest in the built environment and would be very inrerested in following or helping your explorations OP.

    Former industrial and institutional building are a real treasure trove of information and design. Please feel free to PM me.


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,472 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    Great thread. :)

    I've a personal and professional inrerest in the built environment and would be very inrerested in following or helping your explorations OP.

    Former industrial and institutional building are a real treasure trove of information and design. Please feel free to PM me.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,761 ✭✭✭Effects


    JupiterKid wrote: »
    I've a personal and professional inrerest in the built environmen

    What sort of pro interest?


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,499 ✭✭✭Sabre0001


    Very interesting topic! Thanks for doing this AMA.

    What's the diciest situation you've had to talk yourself out of?

    How did you find out about this community initially? And what initially captured your interest?

    What are the most exotic places on your list to be seen?

    🤪



  • Advertisement
  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    E mac wrote: »
    Most surprising building you have discovered ?
    miamee wrote: »
    What's the most unexpected place you've explored?

    What's the most surprising thing that you've discovered?

    What do your friends and family think of your exploring, do they ever want to come with you? :D

    Most unexpected I would say was an old slate mine in Wales which has formed a huge underground cavern with a lake in the bottom. At one end, there’s a small hole to the surface allowing light to shine in, and below the hole was a mountain of old cars which had been dumped through the hole in the 70s or 80s.

    Most surprising…. A French naval ship that still had missiles and torpedoes on board. It had been retired from service and parked up in a bay along the French coast, so we boarded using a dinghy, and discovered the full array or armament still on board.

    My friends and family are always interested in where I’ve been, but not many of them ever want to come on a trip!


  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    Larsso30 wrote: »
    how do you decide on a location, do you research places and choose from there or is it something you may of heard of or past by and take your research from there?

    All of the above! The majority are found through research on the Internet, from news articles, heritage websites etc. but sometimes we just get lucky – a few months back we were visiting a city to see one of our favourite bands play and just happened to drive by a huge abandoned building incorporating a courthouse, police station and fire station, all disused. After watching the band, we went to check out the building and it turned out to be one of the best finds of the year.


  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    Sabre0001 wrote: »
    Very interesting topic! Thanks for doing this AMA.

    What's the diciest situation you've had to talk yourself out of?

    How did you find out about this community initially? And what initially captured your interest?

    What are the most exotic places on your list to be seen?

    The diciest situation we’ve had to talk ourselves out of…. Getting caught inside a live power station at a chemical works! It didn’t appear to be in use from a distance, so we made our way through the chemical works and got to the power station surprisingly easily, and realised it wasn’t quite as disused as we thought. It was very much in use, in fact! So, you know, we went inside anyway and pretty quickly got spotted! The police were called, and an investigation by special branch ensued. We managed to explain our way out of it without being arrested and we were even given a lift back to our car!

    I had been interested in photography before I discovered urban exploring, and was quite interested in a photography technique called light painting, whereby lights are moved around in front of the camera during a long exposure in order to build up a scene in the photo that doesn’t exist in real life. It’s a bit weird, really, but I found that abandoned buildings created an ideal backdrop. Through trying to find more abandoned buildings I stumbled upon the urban exploring community and it kind of took over my life from that point!

    I have a second trip to Chernobyl planned, this time to see inside the new safe confinement they have built over the nuclear plants old crumbling sarcophagus, so that should be interesting. I don’t usually have much on my list that’s particularly exotic because I go visit soon after finding places. Although, there are some abandoned space shuttles in Kazakhstan that I wouldn’t mind seeing…


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,039 ✭✭✭face1990


    Have you ever visited a location with the permission of the owners?


  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    face1990 wrote: »
    Have you ever visited a location with the permission of the owners?

    Yes, one or two and I always state that we got permission on my website. Sometimes it’s not possible to enter a building but one way or another get talking to the owners and they allow us inside. The ex-headquarters of Rosemary Conley (she made health and fitness videos in the 90s) set in a huge country house is one such place, we got talking to the groundskeeper who allowed us to go inside and take photos.

    Over on the continent, and e specially in Eastern European countries it’s commonplace for owners to charge people to enter and take photos, but this isn’t a practice I’m keen on as I don’t consider it to be proper urban exploring, I would class it more as a museum.


  • Registered Users Posts: 28,703 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    I have a second trip to Chernobyl planned, this time to see inside the new safe confinement they have built over the nuclear plants old crumbling sarcophagus, so that should be interesting. I don’t usually have much on my list that’s particularly exotic because I go visit soon after finding places. Although, there are some abandoned space shuttles in Kazakhstan that I wouldn’t mind seeing…

    you may already know of this youtube channel. thank you for taking part in the discussion

    https://www.youtube.com/user/bionerd23/featured


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,670 ✭✭✭Bluefoam


    Have you ever discovered something completely different from what you expected, such as the building was used for a purposed that it was not built for (or not presented as), or tunnels leading to interesting places...?

    I am fascinated by tunnels, Dublin has allot of interesting underground places that are largely unexplored...


  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    Bluefoam wrote: »
    Have you ever discovered something completely different from what you expected, such as the building was used for a purposed that it was not built for (or not presented as), or tunnels leading to interesting places...?

    I am fascinated by tunnels, Dublin has allot of interesting underground places that are largely unexplored...

    I don't really have interesting stories to tell about places that were not what we were expecting, just a lot of disappointments - theatres that had been converted to offices, factories that have become warehouses, that kind of thing. It happens quite a lot, we never know if there's going to be anything left inside, and quite often there isn't.

    I once followed a tunnel under a power station that lead somewhere I didn't expect... I thought if I followed the tunnel all the way it would lead to the control room above, but it went further than I thought and I popped up into a sub-station further along, which was in use. I found myself surrounded by huge Tesla style devices buzzing away. I got out pretty quickly!


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,472 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    When exploring a place, have you ever found it to be occupied, either by the owner(s) or squatters?

    If so, what happened? Did you continue your exolorations or leave?

    Do you document the places you have explored?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 342 ✭✭VeryTerry


    What are the insurance implications if someone was to hurt themselves on somebody else's property?


  • Advertisement
  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    JupiterKid wrote: »
    When exploring a place, have you ever found it to be occupied, either by the owner(s) or squatters?

    If so, what happened? Did you continue your exolorations or leave?

    Do you document the places you have explored?

    Yeah, we have found a few to be occupied. If we visit a place that turns out to be lived in, we will leave immediately – partly because we don’t want to invade someone’s home, and also because we’d probably get caught which would be really awkward. Quite a lot of industrial premises are only part-used and we’re happy to look around the out-of-use areas of those.

    We have found evidence that squatters have lived in places that we have visited, but only one where they were still living there. That was a theatre, and they were kind enough to allow us inside.

    I post reports from each location on my website.


  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    VeryTerry wrote: »
    What are the insurance implications if someone was to hurt themselves on somebody else's property?

    Weirdly, it's an owners responsibility to ensure the safety of people on their land, even if those people are not permitted to be there. It would be within my rights to make a claim against them if I was to injure myself. However, if you ask me, I think that is absolutely bonkers! I would never dream of actually doing that, I know I'm not supposed to be there and therefore morally couldn't bring myself to blame the owners, even though legally I actually could.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 27,502 Mod ✭✭✭✭Posy


    When I seen this thread, I immediately thought of Chernobyl and Pripyat, somewhere I would love to visit, personally.

    Was an entire abandoned town just an urban explorer's idea of heaven?! :pac:
    What was your visit there like, was it as unsettling as it looks in any pictures of it, and what was the best/worst/eeriest part of it?

    Is it difficult to get to, or does it appear to be growing in popularity with visitors?


  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    Posy wrote: »
    When I seen this thread, I immediately thought of Chernobyl and Pripyat, somewhere I would love to visit, personally.

    Was an entire abandoned town just an urban explorer's idea of heaven?! :pac:
    What was your visit there like, was it as unsettling as it looks in any pictures of it, and what was the best/worst/eeriest part of it?

    Is it difficult to get to, or does it appear to be growing in popularity with visitors?

    Chernobyl and Pripyat was by far one of the most interesting places I’ve ever visited, not only as an urban explorer, but as a life experience as well. The abandoned wastelands left behind were what we were there for, obviously, and it was fascinating to see such a huge area completely abandoned. We visited with guides, who showed us around the most interesting parts, but I found it to be very rushed and I’m never keen on being toured around somewhere. This was a few years ago, and there is more of a tourist trade there now, so I would image those tours are even more rigid. We had a bit more to our trip than that though, we actually stayed in the homes of workers in Slavutych, the town they built to rehouse residents of Pripyat. We travelled to the power plant with the workers on the train they take every day, and experienced a bit of what their life is like now. We spoke with people who were there at the time of the disaster, heard their stories, were told about their colleagues, friends, who they lost. We visited their memorials. This, to me, was far more unsettling than visiting the homes they used to live in. It was real life!

    As I say, it’s a bit easier to visit now, and we are planning another trip away from the tourist trail, where we should be a bit more free to look around ourselves, and see a lot more of the power plant itself.


  • Registered Users Posts: 249 ✭✭fleabag


    What's the fascination with these places? Is is the aesthetic look, the potential for what you might discover ... ? I'm intrigued by empty places as well and would like to know what it is that keeps you hooked.
    Also, do you make a living at this, that is can you earn enough by being an urban explorer that you can do it full-time?
    Thanks!


  • Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭Atlantic101


    Have you explored any abandoned Railway Bridges / Viaducts? Do you always heed "KEEP AWAY" signs?

    I explored the 'Red Iron' railway bridge near Waterford city a good few years ago.

    That's a great spot! Not the safest to do on a windy winters day though


  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    fleabag wrote: »
    What's the fascination with these places? Is is the aesthetic look, the potential for what you might discover ... ? I'm intrigued by empty places as well and would like to know what it is that keeps you hooked.
    Also, do you make a living at this, that is can you earn enough by being an urban explorer that you can do it full-time?
    Thanks!

    The potential for what we might discover, you got it spot on there! We just never know what we might find, and I love getting a little insight into what we don't normally get to see - the grand interiors of country houses, or the inner workings of industrial sites. Add to that the feeling of excitement we can get when visiting these places too, it can be quite rewarding on a personal level to get in and satisfying when the pictures turn out well.

    There are a select few people who have managed to make a living through urban exploring, or variants thereof, however that has tended to be more though other channels such as contacts in the art industry. For me, I do it because I enjoy it, not because I want to make a lot of money from it. I have banner adverts on my website which covers cost of the website itself, and I will sell prints if people ask, but I feel if I try to make it into a job it will stop being enjoyable.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,981 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    Have you ever been contacted by legal representatives or 'the law' about a place you previously entered and photographed?

    Have you ever been told to take down pictures you took of the insides of such a place?

    Ever been brought to court or nearly to court for an 'entry'?


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,761 ✭✭✭Effects


    Have you ever been contacted by legal representatives or 'the law' about a place you previously entered and photographed?

    Have you ever been told to take down pictures you took of the insides of such a place?

    I know this happened to a guy a few years back for posting pictures of the Techrete factory in Howth.


  • Advertisement
  • Company Representative Posts: 31 Verified rep I'm an Urban Explorer, AMA


    Have you ever been contacted by legal representatives or 'the law' about a place you previously entered and photographed?

    Have you ever been told to take down pictures you took of the insides of such a place?

    Ever been brought to court or nearly to court for an 'entry'?

    There was an incident involving party hats, and another involving the oil industry. One of those was a little more worrying than the other, I'm sure you can work out which!

    royal-hotel-news.png

    bbc-news-cromarty.png

    There were further news articles for both cases saying we'd been identified by the police. Oddly enough, we never heard a thing about the oil rigs we'd been on, but did get a letter from the police regarding the party hat incident, offering us some "advice".

    I have been contacted by owners of properties on a few occasions. I'm always respectful, and have removed reports from my website upon request.


This discussion has been closed.
Advertisement